Safe Airlines?

[HelperElfMissy 42]

>>And the fact that they fly a lot less miles than some of the other major airlines - therefore the odds are smaller!

 

I had a seat that was broken and leaning to the right and backward on my Narita-Perth flight in January this year. Nothing that could be done. Had to sit in it for the duration and then get Physio when I got home. No apology. No response to my letter of complaint.

 

Having said that.....> the two flights I have made with QANTAS since then have been delightful.

 

However, I am keenly aware that the cost cutting, the corner cutting and poor customer service is definately leading to a deterioration in the Airline. It is only a matter of time.

[soubriquet 0]

I`ve never had a problem with Qantas, other than they won`t fly my children unaccompanied from Perth to Narita. They do have an aging fleet and have severely disrupted their maintenance system by rationalising part of it from Sydney to Avalon, and the rest to Malaysia.

 

There is no avoiding the fact that new aircraft are more reliable than old aircraft, no matter how good the maintenance. Qantas` fleet is old. Singapore`s fleet is new.

[2pints-mate 0]

Quote:

Had to sit in it for the duration and then get Physio when I got home. No apology. No response to my letter of complaint.

You should have pushed harder on that one Mamabear. (Easier to say on hindsight perhaps...)
It takes a lot to get me really annoyed, but when I am I am on a mission and don't lose grip, sometimes even if it ain't really worth it in the big picture.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Yes you are right 2pints. My QANTAS travel consultant has given me a more direct email address to send my complaint to where it should not get 'lost', however 6 months after the fact, and with more important things going on I haven't got the 'fight in the dog' for something that is over.

 

I also let go an incident involving my son being detained by shop security on suspicion of shoplifting (which he didn't). They took him into a back room and interrogated and swore at him at 14 yrs of age! I let that go after 3 phone calls and an ignored letter of complaint. My issue was with how they dealt with a minor without even calling a parent!

 

I have the fight initially - but there is just so much else going on - and I really don't have the spiritual energy to fight the bureaucracy in what is in effect an endless bashing of my head on a brick wall! I know that is what they are counting on too... But it all comes back to the 'do ya wanna be RIGHT or HAPPY' question for me. I know I am right - but the fight is not making me happy - so I let it go and choose to move on to other brighter occupations of my mind.

 

Like chatting to you

[2pints-mate 0]

Understand all that lot Mamabear

[Mantas 3]

My Qantas story (should we start a Qantas is crap thread?)

 

Our flight to Tokyo was scheduled for a 10am departure, meaning our departure from home was about 4.30am. The next 5 1/2 hours of travel that I arranged went as smooth as a swiss watch. Then Qantas took over. We were delayed 1 1/2 hours before take off, not a problem, we are on holidays. We get into the air and I'm just getting into the movie then the Captain come over the PA and tells us that we haven't left Sydney air space yet because there is a problem with one of the wing flaps, we have to re-land in Sydney. AAAaaaarggh!!

 

They land the plane way faster than I've ever experienced before, the fire trucks following us down the runway had the kids excited. We used the full 3000m strip to land. We spent the next 2 hours sitting on the plane while they decided on what to do. Once they realized that the flap was stuffed we were taken off the plane and there will be another one for us leaving that night!

 

Basically we spent the next 8 hours in queues. We queued to get back through immigration, queued for luggage, queue for busses to go to a nearby hotel where we queued for lunch (bear in mind each queue had 284 people in it). After lunch we queued for a bus, check-in, immigration etc. to get back on the plane.

 

We finally left at 11PM that night. My young kids had been up since 4.30 that morning.

Not too many Qantas fans around that day.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Mantas!

What a horrid expereince! You and the Mrs must have been absolutely EXHAUSTED by the time you arrived at Narita! Poor kids - but as a parent - POOR PARENTS!!!

[HelperElfMissy 42]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/30/2318534.htm

 

Now a Cathay plane has similar trouble...

[thursday 1]

Cathay Pacific Airways (0293) said mid-air damage suffered by a Boeing 747-400 aircraft with 363 passengers on board involved an air-conditioning vent but there was no danger.

 

The plane was on a flight on Tuesday from New York to Hong Kong via the western Canadian city of Vancouver.

 

"After landing [in Vancouver], it was found that one of the air-conditioning access panels had detached from the aircraft,'' the company said. "There was also some minor damage to other parts of the fuselage.

 

"The fiberglass skin panel is a secondary structure which has nothing to do with structural integrity. The event had no impact on the operation of the aircraft" - Reuters

[soubriquet 0]

The ATSB preliminary report is out today. Available as a pdf here.

 

http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2008/AAIR/aair200804689.aspx

 

Very interesting reading, plenty of photos and diagrams of the event.

 

Abstract

 

"On 25 July 2008, at 0922 local time, a Boeing Company 747-438 aircraft (registered VH-OJK) with 365 persons on board, departed Hong Kong International airport on a scheduled passenger transport flight to Melbourne, Australia. Approximately 55 minutes into the flight, while the aircraft was cruising at 29,000 ft (FL290), a loud bang was heard by passengers and crew, followed by the rapid depressurisation of the cabin. Oxygen masks dropped from the overhead compartments shortly afterward, and it was reported that most passengers and crew commenced using the masks. After donning their own oxygen masks, the flight crew carried out the 'cabin altitude non-normal' checklist items and commenced a descent to a lower altitude, where supplemental breathing oxygen would no longer be required. A MAYDAY distress radio call was made on the regional air traffic control frequency. After levelling the aircraft at 10,000 ft, the flight crew diverted to Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, where an uneventful visual approach and landing was made. The aircraft was stopped on the runway for an external inspection, before being towed to the terminal for passenger disembarkation.

 

Subsequent inspection of the aircraft by the operator's personnel and ATSB investigators, revealed an inverted T-shaped rupture in the lower right side of the fuselage, immediately beneath the wing leading edge-to-fuselage transition fairing (which had been lost during the event). Items of wrapped cargo were observed partially protruding from the rupture, which extended for approximately 2 metres along the length of the aircraft and 1.5 metres vertically.

 

After clearing the baggage and cargo from the forward aircraft hold, it was evident that one passenger oxygen cylinder (number-4 from a bank of seven cylinders along the right side of the cargo hold) had sustained a sudden failure and forceful discharge of its pressurised contents into the aircraft hold, rupturing the fuselage in the vicinity of the wing-fuselage leading edge fairing. The cylinder had been propelled upward by the force of the discharge, puncturing the cabin floor and entering the cabin adjacent to the second main cabin door. The cylinder had subsequently impacted the door frame, door handle and overhead panelling, before falling to the cabin floor and exiting the aircraft through the ruptured fuselage.

 

The investigation is continuing."