Australian Aviation Podcast Network

This week, Australia's so-called Golden Triangle has been reassembled, with passengers now allowed to travel freely between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane without isolation. On this week's episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, Phil, Adam and Boo chat about the scramble to reclaim market share as Virgin and Qantas wake from hibernation. The team also discusses the role of unions in 2020, Qant...

This week, Qantas confirmed it was to outsource around 2,000 ground-handling jobs, despite an alternative proposal drawn up by the TWU and consulting firm EY. What now for those facing redundancy? On this week's Inside Aviation catch-up, Phil and Adam discuss the fallout and ask whether Qantas got it right or wrong considering its huge JobKeeper subsidies. Plus, with a vaccine weeks – or maybe day...

Whisper it, but with borders opening and vaccines arriving shortly, are we witnessing the beginning of the end of aviation's worst year in a century? This week, host Phil Tarrant and guest Adam Thorn discuss whether this is the moment we've all been waiting for or just a false alarm before another state lockdown? Plus, the team talks about the latest developments in the Hamad Airport invasive sear...

It should have been the biggest story of the year. But after a 20-month flight ban – the longest in aviation history – the US Federal Aviation Administration has finally cleared the 737 MAX to fly again. Now what? In this week's Inside Aviation, Phil and Adam discuss this and other stories breaking around the world. Will the industry be welcoming the Max back now it's got bigger problems to deal w...

Stephen Loosley served in Parliament during the Hawke and Keating Governments, where he chaired the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Senate Regulations Committee. On this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Steven Kuper talk to guest Stephen Loosley about the fallout from the election of Joe Biden as the next US president. What wi...

Last week, the world celebrated as we edged closer to having a coronavirus vaccine. But the good news also raises questions for international border openings. In our Inside Aviation catch-up, Phil Tarrant, Adam Thorn and a returning Boo chat about what this means for removing restrictions. Is it as simple as a 'shot in the arm' solving our problems, and how will it affect Australia? Finally, The t...

This week, we reported how Qantas is set to launch two new flights from Canberra, just weeks after smaller airlines took the gamble to service the more unusual routes. In this episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, host Phil Tarrant and guest Adam Thorn discuss if Qantas' move is bad ethics given the pandemic, or just a larger competitor rightly taking advantage of a free market? Plus, with a...

After more than 20 years, Tasmania is finally set to host flights to New Zealand, as the federal government gears up to make the most of the soon-to-be-expanding travel bubble. It's rare good news spurred on by the COVID crisis. In this week's Inside Aviation, Phil and Adam discuss the latest developments in the industry, which is slowly coming back to life as borders reopen. They also talk about...

With borders opening and COVID cases falling, there's a sense of optimism in the industry that has been missing for months.  But that good news means airlines are gearing up to battle for market share in the post-pandemic world.  This week, host Phil Tarrant and guests Adam Thorn and Christian "Boo" Boucousis discuss who is going to win out as Rex gears up to flying capital cities, and Virgin plan...

The story that 13 Australian women were invasively searched by Qatari authorities at Hamad Airport this month has refused to go away. In the last few days, the Qatar government has finally issued an apology – but it seems to be more concerned with shifting the emphasis onto the missing baby. On this week's Inside Aviation, Phil and Adam discuss the impact on the industry, and whether Qatar will ev...

The story that 13 Australian women were invasively searched by Qatari authorities at Hamad Airport has become international news. On this week's episode, host Phil Tarrant and guest Adam Thorn discuss what the industry repercussions are and who is to blame? Should the Australian government have done more to keep Qantas repatriating citizens? Is it right that Qatar Airways now dominates our skies?...

Earlier this month, the Australian Aviation team welcomed Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah on to this podcast to talk about his plans for the airline. And now, out of nowhere, he's gone. This week, a bemused Phil Tarrant and Adam Thorn discuss just what might or might not have happened? Did owners Bain do the dirty or do we need to give the new CEO the benefit of the doubt? Are the unions givin...

Among the chaos of COVID turning the industry on its head, it's often easy to forget the effect this once-in-a-century event has had on the unsung heroes in air traffic control, and the tech that supports them. In this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, Adam Thorn speaks to Martin Rampl, the managing director of Frequentis Australasia, which supplies the communication and informat...

On the previous episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah appeared on the show to talk through the business' bold comeback plan that will see it slot in between being a low-cost carrier and large international airline. Or as he calls it, the company will morph into a "high-quality, value airline". This week, host Phil Tarrant and guests Adam Thorn an...

As Australia's aviation industry tinkered on the brink in March, Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah had to contend with not just COVID, but trying to save the company from liquidation. Now, after an exhausting six months, he appears on the Australian Aviation Podcast to discuss just how he managed to keep Virgin alive – and its comeback strategy. In particular, he reveals what he thinks went wron...

Crisis? What crisis! As COVID-19 paralyses the industry, regional carrier Rex has announced it's on the brink of receiving $150 million in investment to launch flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as soon as next March. In this episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, host Phil Tarrant and regular guest Adam Thorn discuss whether the carrier is shrewd or stupid to strike Qantas at a t...

Hawker Pacific is one of the leading aircraft sales and support companies in APAC, and one of the largest independent companies of its type in the region with 800 employees.  In this special episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, host Phil Tarrant talks to the business' Vice President, Middle East and APAC, Ian D'Arcy, about RBI Hawker, a collaboration between Hawker and Bell that specialises...

Last week, the sale of Virgin was finally complete after a months-long administration process that had enough twists and turns to script a whodunnit. But now Bain's deal has been rubber-stamped, what exactly is going to happen moving forward? In this episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, host Phil Tarrant and regular guest Adam Thorn talk through the story behind the final week of the sale....

In July, Australia limited the number of people who could arrive back into the country to manage the flow into hotel quarantine. The problem is, the decision has pushed up prices to eye-popping levels and reduced availability. In this episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, host Phil Tarrant and regular guest Adam Thorn discuss how this slow-burn story has exploded in the last seven days. They...

In amongst the border closures, groundings and rows, it can be easy to forget the impact of COVID-19 on airline pilots themselves, who have found their industry has effectively shut down. In this episode of the Australian Aviation podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Christian "Boo" Boucousis speak to Mark Sedgwick, the executive director of Australian and International Pilots Association, about how pi...

Despite many Aussie citizens struggling to get home from overseas under the tightly capped limits of new arrivals in each state, the government has announced a pilot program to resume international student flights to Adelaide in September. In this week's episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Phil Tarrant and Adam Thorn discuss the impetus for this controversial move, as well as the late...

Despite initially indicating it wouldn't have to go to shareholders for money, Sydney Airport has now asked shareholders to pitch in $2 billion to help it through the challenges brought on by the pandemic. With Qantas only raising a fraction of its $500 million goal and border restrictions hitting both organisations quite hard, will the airport see the kind of enthusiasm it needs from shareholders...

Gary Criddle's remarkable career has seen him work as a pilot for the Royal Australian Navy, RAAF as well as commercially, where he has flown 767s and A380s. He's also practised as an examiner, specialising in both air show display flying and warbirds. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, Gary joins hosts Phil Tarrant and Christian "Boo" Boucousis to talk about his earliest aviation...

At the start of July, the federal government announced a $270 billion commitment to defence spending for the coming decade, and a new holistic strategy for dealing with an increasingly uncertain world in the Indo-Pacific. In this exclusive interview, the Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, AO, DSC, gives host Phil Tarrant the inside story on how his team is rethinking what a modern air fo...

Tension between two industry groups has come to a head as airports accuse airlines of neglecting to pass on their government bailouts by not paying various fees. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Adam Thorn speculate over whether airports will eventually get paid and discuss Brisbane Airport's CEO's gloomy forecast for recovery. Tune in to hear all about a...