QF NB

PASSENGERS were terrified when a jet descended 19,000ft within a minute after a bird allegedly cracked the cockpit windscreen yesterday.

Accountant Glenys Cummings, 50, said she thought the plane was going to crash.
"People were frightened - you could see it in their faces," she said.

The Qantas BAe 146 carrying 79 passengers was at 27,000ft when it got into trouble on its daily Darwin-Nhulunbuy-Cairns flight.

thadocta

A bird at FL270? Yeah, right.

Dave

d00t

cracked windscreen....rapid decent... reminds me of that british airways thing a few years back (ok ok..i watch too much discovery channel)

QF WP

Don't you just love air Crash Investigation, dOOt - Mrs QF WP doesn't quite understand my fascination for watching planes going down

d00t

dude that seriously is the best G rated show

NM

Forget the bird, how did the BAe146 manage to get up that high ?

Maybe that's why they used frozen chickens to test aircraft windscreens?

Itsalongwaydown

I also challenge the ability to descend 19000ft in less than a minute.

perthite

Low cost carrier Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd, which is struggling against high jet fuel costs as its battles to take market share away from Qantas, is expected to post lower annual earnings in line with guidance.

It will be the first report from chief executive Brett Godfrey since ports operator Patrick Corp Ltd increased its stake in the airline to take majority control in April.

Analysts say the profit announcement, due Wednesday, will be examined for signs of a change of strategy or business model driven by Patrick chief Chris Corrigan to boost the airline's earnings.

Mr Corrigan said earlier this year that while he supported the carrier's model, it needed to react more effectively to the highly competitive market challenges posed by rival Qantas.

Analysts say the airline needs to reposition itself in a weakening consumer market and tackle high fuel costs to drive medium term growth.

As well, the business travel market remains a key opportunity and the airline is believed to be mulling the start up of a frequent flyer program to attract more customers from this lucrative market.

perthite

LOW-COST carrier Jetstar expects to have a 12 per cent market share by the end of the financial year, driving another nail into Richard Branson's boasts that Virgin Blue could take 50 per cent of the market.


I found the following quotes in the article interesting (both about consumer backlashes)

NM

That would be an exciting ride - perhaps somewhat similar to those we pay big money for thrills at Disneyland, Dreamworld etc. What rate of decent would be experienced on those "weightless experience" flights where they fly a parabolic course to get the feeling of zero gravity? Of course that is all to do with the ratre of change of the rate of decent, but still I would think something more like 6-7000 fpm would be more realistic for a controled emergency decent.

NM

May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Auckland International Airport Ltd., New Zealand's busiest, will continue to charge departing international passengers NZ$25 ($18) from Oct. 1 to meet the costs of terminal development projects.

Previously, the departure charge included NZ$5 to meet the costs of security, the airport company said in a statement to the stock exchange. From Oct. 1, the costs of security will be a charge on airlines and will be included in the cost of tickets, the government announced on April 13.

djMEL

Flyertalkers may be interested to read the reasons for the decision of the Australian Competition Tribunal to authorise the Qantas-Air New Zealand alliance that was mooted some time ago.

Even though authorisation was given by the Australian regulators in October 2004, the reasons were only published by the Tribunal yesterday (16 May 2005) in Sydney. They are available at <http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/ACompT/2004/9.html>. Note however that authorisation was denied by the NZ regulators in September 2004.

Whilst there's some interesting information about the Australian and New Zealand airline industries buried deep in the decision, if it's all a bit too technical and legalistic, the Executive Summary is still quite informative.

NM

A Jetstar aircraft has been evacuated on the tarmac in Hobart after sparks and smoke were seen coming from an engine.

perthite

HOME-GROWN brands such as Telstra and Qantas have this year plummeted in the opinion of Australians, failing to make our top ten most trusted brands.

While two years ago Telstra was our most trusted brand, this year it fell to 98th -- equal with fast food chain McDonald's, whose healthier product range failed to halt its decline from 59th last year.
Qantas fell from 9th last year to 20th, possibly affected by its associated budget airline Jetstar, according to researcher David Lord, who compiled the survey for Reader's Digest from 1500 online responses in February and March.

Telcos were among our least trusted brands, along with home loan providers, banks and cardit cards. American Express fared worst, scoring less than 5 out of 10, marginally below Diners Club, Wizard Home Loans, Macquarie Bank and RAMS.

QF WP

Patrick Corp boss Chris Corrigan has again pressed the Federal Government to curb "rapacious" pricing behaviour by Sydney Airport, and called on Canberra to block Singapore Airlines' bid to compete on the Qantas dominated Sydney-Los Angeles route...

Company travel costs are expected to rise in July in the wake of a Qantas decision to cut commissions, industry sources say...

Airline group Air France-KLM has announced a 20% rise in annual profits, despite the impact of high oil prices...

and slightly OT:

Surfing the Web at work is an increasingly common habit that could be even more addictive than coffee, according to new research into Internet usage in the office...