The Australia Desk

We managed to dig up a couple of interesting stories and they're not *all* about being nasty to Qantas: Virgin tops Qantas in SkyTrax awards, coming in at an improved 12th best in the world against Qantas' fall to 15th Qantas are deploying iPads to their pilots for flight crew operating, policy and training manuals, as well as flight plans and, eventually, nav charts & approach plates The Aeri...

Grant's back from Mildura and he's exhausted. He's been flying hot air balloons all week and has not only had his first solo (on July 4th, no less!) but he's finally completed his private pilot (balloon) certificate. Woo hoo! We speak some more about Grant's solo flights, his check flight on a very cold Saturday morning and the NOTAM produced to warn people of his balloonatic ways. Unfortunately,...

It's "Carbon Tax Sunday" and Grant's out in the cold empty rural lands near Mildura so we bring Anthony "The Voice" Simmons (Max Flight's favourite Australian) to help with the news discussions. Once Grant's given us an update on the balloon flying he's doing out there, we discuss: Tiger's just passed the first anniversary of their grounding by CASA - yes, it's been a whole year! They're opening n...

We're very impressed with Episode 202 last week as the Geeks got to hang out with the amazing collection of aircraft at the Udvar-Hazy Centre. Not only was it a great episode but we also have to give a big shout out to Tim Bell from Australia who made the effort to catch up with the Geeks & give them some Fruit Tingles :) Meanwhile, we go through the following topics: The South Australian gove...

Oh no, Grant's fallen down a well as he tried to see just how low the Qantas share price has gone! Fortunately Steve was able to pull him out with a bucket & they were able to discuss: Qantas share price plummets to $0.97c after Alan Joyce gives the shocking news that profit for 2011/12 will only be $50 million to $100 million, a far cry from the $230 million to $240 million previously expecte...

Dan Webb's been a co-host of the Airplane Geeks for about 150 episodes and has finally graduated from university (oops, sorry, college :) As such, he's moving on to full-time employment in the airlines and has to leave the Geeks. We'll certainly miss him for a number of reasons, not least of which will be the "ummms," "rainbows & unicorns" and so much more :) To say "Bye" to Dan, Steve spent h...

It's a momentous day as we're recording what we *think* is our 146th Australia Desk segment. Apparently it's also a big number for the Airplane Geeks - something about a double century? Must be a cricket score! Meanwhile, we're joined by ATC_Ben who's managed to stay out of the news in his job but is able to tell us about his view of the 787 when it visited Melbourne last week: a fast moving blip...

Boeing have brought 787 ZA003 down under on segment #7 of the DreamTour, stopping in Melbourne long enough for Steve & Grant to get a tour and record an interview. Taking advantage of being able to hang out live instead of via Skype, we recorded this Australia Desk sitting on the tailgate of the PCDU-Mobile in the Qantas Engineering car park: Qantas have announced they'll be closing down their...

At first glance the boys thought this week's Australia Desk would just be the sound of crickets and them scratching their heads as they tried to figure out what to report on. Fortunately, they took another look & found a few interesting stories that could be quickly reviewed for you, including: Alligator Airways are still grounded as the Federal Court upholds CASA's side of the argument Austra...

Steve & Grant are still tired after their mega-road-trip up to the Wings Over Illawarra 2012 airshow near Sydney, covering over 1,600km and an airshow in a single weekend. Still, they're not about to let being tired get in the way of reporting on some interesting topics, including: The Qantas pilots union loses an appeal in the Federal Court against their inclusion in Qantas management's Fair...

Steve, Grant and Allan have made the long haul up to the Wings Over Illawarra 2012 airshow where the weather is beautiful, the aircraft amazing and the caffeine is flowing after driving over 800km to get there. Despite the helicopters bumping rides next to the hangar, the show must go on and the following topics are discussed: CASA grounds yet another animal named airline as Alligator Airways is b...

The boys are back again after skipping last week's Australia Desk due to health & work issues (no really, it wasn't alcohol related at all!). So, after all that rest, they're ready to dive back into the topics, including: Tiger drops its super-low-cost $1 fares (plus fees & taxes, of course) and is looking towards better use of technology to win more customers The Federal Government introd...

Grant drives over to the studio to discover Steve's got a new "Get Rich Quick" scam scheme he's cooked up around biofuel! Qantas flew an A330 (VH-EBP) from Sydney to Adelaide & back on a 50/50 blend of jet fuel & used cooking oil Qantas confirms that they'll be the only airline in the world paying carbon taxes in three jurisdictions (Australia, New Zealand & Europe) Qantas' first A380...

It's April 1st and Grant's wearing his Darth Vadar life support breathing unit as he recovers from his recent illness. So, despite the wheezing and pauses for resuscitation, the boys manage to chat about: Qantas launches Jetstar Hong Kong in conjunction with China Eastern - if the Hong Kong government will allow it to go ahead (& what will it mean for the big A320 order with AirAsia and Jetsta...

This week Grant is unavailable as he's rather sick. In fact, he's so sick that Steve has only received a single email all week long. Most concerning! Meanwhile, Steve's been to Adelaide in South Australia for the Parafield 2012 air show and raced back home to get the AusDesk out. Rather than trying to do a tired solo commentary on the list of news items we had assembled, Steve's giving us a sneak...

Steve & Grant join the Geeks for a live record of the Australia Desk which has made Steve very happy as he doesn't have to edit it! Despite the perils of recording live, the boys managed to discuss: Virgin moves ahead with its restructure into two parts but Qantas isn't happy about it Qantas A380 VH-OQA (Nancy Bird Walton) has completed $135 million of repairs & is back in the air again af...

It's a wonderful Autumn day and Grant's hung over but what the heck, on with the show: Red-Q was supposed to be Qantas' new premium configured single-aisle A320 international airline that would be 51% controlled by the foreign country it was based in yet would still bring back enough profits to solve the claimed woes in the Qantas international division. Perhaps no surprise but it seems to be dead...

On the ramp at Tyabb airport following the Tyabb Airshow 2012, Steve & Grant are joined by ATC Ben to record this Australia Desk segment. In fact, we even had Steven Pam capturing the whole thing on video for posterity & including a few bloopers & extra bits. Check it out on the PCDU YouTube channel where it's called Airplane Geeks Australia Desk #188 video . Air Australia (ex Strategi...

Grant's picked up some sunburn after spending the day playing with aircraft & recording content at the RAAF Air Pageant at RAAF Base Pt Cook while Steve got close while driving a train near Pt Cook on the way to Werribee. Air New Zealand acknowledges profits are sliding and is going to have to let 441 jobs go by the end of June Virgin Australia reporting increased profits, partly thanks to the...

It's summer time & Grant's been busy with ballooning but not all is wonderful in aviation down under as Air Australia (ex Strategic) has gone into administration with reports of massive amounts being owed. In the interest of getting a comprehensive view of the situation, Steve & Grant call up Ben Sandilands for a chat. The discussion ranges from facts to rumours, trading while insolvent, i...

It's another beautiful day in Melbourne but it's not all sunshine & dreams for everyone: Qantas have discovered hairline cracks in another A380, this time one that encountered severe turbulence over India. As per the EASA directive, Qantas have been inspecting all their aircraft to find which ones have the cracks so far Etihad are finally starting to turn a profit & are very happy with the...

Steve's back from his holidays, Grant's not on his own anymore and both of them are hanging out for tomorrow, the day when their kids go back to school! Meanwhile, change is in the air for some other folks too: Rob Fyfe is stepping down as CEO of Air New Zealand (and chair of the Star Alliance network) at the end of 2012 after 7 years of hard work turning around the airline New Zealand government...

Grant's all on his own in the studio and there's no sign of Steve. While he's waiting, he's checking out his new "mood machine," a device that detects the ambience of its environment & plays music suitable to the moment. Finding no solace in this, he checks the headlines: The latest rumour shoots down the idea that Qantas & Malaysian Airlines are teaming up to set up a joint venture premiu...

It's Sunday and there's work to do outside so the guys are going to try get through the news quickly... Yeah, right, as if... More A380 cracking issues for Qantas to keep an eye on and these ones are different to those previously reported on. Australian Army grounds Blackhawk fleet as a precautionary measure due to fractures being found in some bolts in the aircraft. China Southern establishes the...

There's a storm coming for Milton Jones, the reality TV star of Channel 10's "Keeping up with the Joneses" as he's in trouble with CASA due to potentially breaking a few regulations, some of which may be on the unpublished video footage that CASA have been prevented from viewing. Speaking of regulatory hassles, there's a uniquely Australian airworthiness directive for specific Beechcraft Debonaire...