The Australia Desk

It's the 100th episode of the Australia Desk but the guys can't afford to celebrate as Steve's sunk all their funds into Tiger Airways which means they have nothing now Tiger are grounded. DOH! The boys discuss the issues that have contributed to the grounding, the way it has wound up as a public relations disaster for Tiger and the fact that the grounding has happened right at the start of the Vi...

Grant's out near Wangaratta flying hot air balloons and is, in fact, standing in field waiting for his retrieve crew to find him... Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines have linked up as partners which, together with Virgin Australia's Etihad, Delta and Air New Zealand partnerships is taking a lot of international passengers off Qantas who are now being funnelled to Virgin. Not much more to say...

Steve's been crook so the boys try to do a quick Australia Desk ... well, at least they tried! Airservices Australia are working with SAAB to run a trial Remote Air Traffic Control tower in Alice Springs that will be controlled from Adelaide. Qantas group's April domestic traffic levels are up but they're still talking voluntary redudancies to reduce headcount by 300 to 400 people. A few of Qantas...

Once again the boys are trying to present a short OzDesk episode (yeah right, as if!) so they're going to race through a few items before getting to an item they want to cover in more detail. The RAAF has sent via road trip the first F-111C to arrive in Australia (and also the last one to fly) to the RAAF Museum at Pt Cook here in Melbourne. Qantas are trying to make it harder for their elite freq...

The boys are recording early as Steve's going to visit family on the weekend and needs to have this one sorted before he leaves. A RAAF PC-9 trainer (A23-039) has crashed near RAAF Base East Sale here in Victoria with both pilots ejecting safely. This is the third ejection from a PC-9 in Australia since they first went into service in November 1987. The interim report on the Qantas A380 catastroph...

Grant's dumped Steve 'cos he keeps going on about his L-39 ride, so he's brought in Steven Force from the Airspeed podcast (aka Steve Tupper) to help out and keep the Steve Balance happening, although it may not work out quite the way he thought as new Steve doesn't quite get the news items. The Delta and Virgin Australia alliance (aka Delta-V) has been approved. Virgin Australia are giving their...

Steve & Grant haven't been up to much this week but there's plenty to say about Virgin Blue, erm, that's Virgin Australia now! Virgin Blue has renamed itself to Virgin Australia following serious negotiations with Richard Branson and Singapore Airlines. It's likely that V Australia and Pacific Blue will soon be merged into the Virgin Australia brand. It's a total re-branding and Steve notes th...

The boys are back after Easter and there's a few news topics to cover: Two guys have flown a single engined aircraft from the USA to Australia, replicating Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's flight as part of a fund raiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The RNZAF have received the first of their upgraded P-3K2 Orions while their remaining A-4K Skyhawks are going up for tender. Australian air traf...

Steve had to be up early this morning as he & Grant joined Steve Tupper and other podcasters on the annual Not at Sun N Fun show. That hasn't stopped them getting together later that evening to review the latest aviation news from Down Under. The RAAF celebrated their 90th anniversary at RAAF Base Point Cook, which is the oldest continuously operating military air base in the world. Cole Griff...

It's a cracker Autumn in Melbourne with nine days in a row of flyable weather for the hot air balloons over the city. We give a shout out to Wheelies with Wings which is the Australian organisation that gets physically disabled people flying. The RAAF are using their C-17s a lot for their Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Recovery so they are very happy to receive their 5th aircraft. Fuel surcharges...

Steve's bored this week being back at work after the high of covering the Avalon International Airshow last week and Grant's pretty much the same. Fortunately there's some Down Under aviation news items to cover that can distract them. Speaking of Avalon, reports are out showing that crowd numbers were up this year and are set to exceed 180k on the public days alone. We also met up with a lady who...

Recorded live on the last day of the Avalon International Airshow and the boys are in the back end of a KC-135 (serial 62-3575) with Grant lying on the Boomer's couch looking out at the people hiding from the heat in the shade of the aircraft. Between Avalon experiences, they go through a few of the Down Under avaiation news stories. The RAAF are going to buy a fifth C-17. A number of contracts re...

The big news this week is that another large earthquake has hit Christchurch causing significant damage and fatalities. It also shut down New Zealand's ATC system which is run from a single centre in Christchurch, effectively turning the whole country into an uncontrolled airspace. You can donate to help recovery efforts via the Red Cross of New Zealand's donation page . Meanwhile, there's plenty...

The boys are going to try for a shorter OzDesk to say thanks to Max for running the full length version of the previous week's segment, rather than the cut down version. Lets see how they do with: Jetstar are backing down on going for non-reclining seats and Qantas are also backing down on having middle seats in business class. Virgin Blue are increasing their fuel surcharges and increasing baggag...

It's a busy news week with lots happening so this week's OzDesk is going to be longer than normal. Hopefully the Geeks will forgive us as it's important aviation news from Down Under. Qantas is increasing their fuel surcharges due to increasing fuel costs but are also increasing their base airfares for exactly the same reason. Double dipping anyone? Air New Zealand has introduced their newest A320...

Steve's moved the studio into a submarine due to the floods but the boys are still able to talk about some news topics. We remind the Geeks that way back in episode 100 we noted that Jetstar were trialling iPads for IFE so this latest news out of the USA isn't that revolutionary. Qantas, Virgin Blue and a few other Australian airlines are using fuel surcharges to ensure they earn enough to not go...

Grant is out in the boonies looking for the Virgin Blue's missing profit margin but still can't find it. Actually, he's out flying hot air balloons but he's still able to call in and join Steve in reviewing a few Down Under aviation news stories. Air New Zealand has been buying shares in Virgin Blue as they're seeking to increase their share holder voting power. A Qantas 737-400 experienced a de-p...

There's some interesting news items this week but also one that Grant was somewhat involved with... Air New Zealand is buying up to 14.9% of Virgin Blue's shares which has some wondering if they're trying to get more control and a few remembering how Air New Zealand purchased Ansett before it went under. Air New Zealand have said that by getting more involvment in Virgin Blue, they provide more ch...

Grant's Android based application aviation research involves playing Air Controller to help the Geeks with their assessment of aviation applications for pilots. Meanwhile, Steve assures us that he's not doing the same with Angry Birds... No, really... In the news this week: Devestating floods in Queensland have destroyed a number of aircraft and even a couple of hot air balloons that were stored i...

Fortunately the boys weren't killed by the ending of the previous OzDesk episode (see #128) and are finally back in Australia and the studio, only to find lots of messages on their answering machine from the Geeks. Ooops... Better get back in the groove and review some aviation news from Down Under: Qantas returns its fifth A380 to service which clearly means that their Rolls Royce engines have be...

The boys are at a factory in China to check out the Christmas presents they've had made for the Geeks. Despite some shennanigans with the gifts, they manage to reference the following aviation news items from Down Under: Qantas have received their 7th A380 with the 8th being delayed. Singapore Airlines are getting annoyed with Rolls Royce as they too are experiencing engine issues on their A380s....

Yet again there's lots of news about Qantas but then, the A380 is a lot of aircraft isn't it! A380s are back flying again but Qantas is only using them on the Sydney to London via Singapore route as Rolls Royce's thrust limitation rules prevent them from using A380s on flights to/from Los Angeles. The RAAF's first KC-30A MRTT will be delivered on December 22nd in Spain and should then arrive in co...

Well, it's Happy Turkey day for our American friends but we don't celebrate that one down here. Maybe it's because we're thankful every day to be here in Australia? Four of Qantas' A380s have had their Trent 9000s swapped for ones confirmed to not have their oil line fault. Alan Joyce has received praise for his handling of the A380 grounding but the media spotlight is still on the airlines with m...

It's been a cracker day for a BBQ with Moorabbin Flight Services and our friends from Downwind but the boys are back in the studio to record this segment. Qantas' A380s are still grounded and Singapore Airlines have grounded theirs too as Rolls Royce confirms the fault in their Trent 900 engines. Hopefully the two new A380s Qantas is going to receive have the upgraded Trent 900s that have had the...

The boys are recording from inside the PCDU-mobile on a wet, cold and miserable day after attending the Qantas 90th birthday celebrations in Melbourne. They're recording with ATC Ben who notes that it took Qantas Ambassador John Travolta two goes to get into Melbourne in his Qantas painted 707. A Qantas 767 returned to Perth after developing vibrations during cruise and the media scrum at the Melb...