Thread: Qantas, your thoughts

Of course many (all?) of the B737-400's were inheritated from the now defunct Australian Airlines (TAA) in the early 90's. (Hence the rego VH-T**)
Whilst I appreciate your analogy Ron, Isuzu owners probably aren't too concerned if a cargo door popped open whilst cruising along.

Thanks for that link clean32, the B7373-400 are a bit younger than I thought. They must have flogged some of the older ones.

Thats a great list Artur,,

now cross off the airlines started within the last 15 years,,

Originally Posted by p38arover

Like the A380?

Late edit. I just looked at the fleet ages. That shows just how reliable the 747 and 767 are that they can stay in use for so long. Why upgrade if the vehicle does the job well? (Hmm, sounds like Isuzu County owners! )

well you have a point, but the older aircraft regardless of maintenance to tend to have more problems and do spend more time sitting on the tarmac while you are on the phone ( which Quakas will charge you for) trying to explain to your contact at your destination that you will be 3 hours late, then 6 hours late, then tomorrow if your lucky.

The older aircraft that they have, have not got the newer fittouts and are by far much less comfortable.

There is no comparison between a 747,767 and an airbus, always try to get an airbus, the 700s may have been great in there day, well were great in there day going from a DC10 to a 747 was brilliant but going from a 700 to an airbus is light years ahead.

besides most of the airlines in and out of aussie and around Asia have a healthy dose of aussie and kiwi pilots who are usually the cream of the crop, that tends to leave the dregs behind.

worse airline, Aeroflot, converted bomber, mind you we did do 1 1/5 hours on one motor and the pilot did manage to sober up before he put us down on a frozen river. The only casualty was a chicken that got out and was blown away by the prop wash, the owner was not allowed to exit the aircraft ( -47) until help arrived 3 hours latter. It took 6 days to get to my original destination. But I did get the golden ticket, free Aeroflot flights, as many as I wished for 12 months. I was to polite to refuse the ticket.

Only time I have been on an aircraft when the Russians on board didn’t clap once landed.

Now all we need isVladTepes to chip in with another rude ignorant and smartass comment

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Of course many (all?) of the B737-400's were inheritated from the now defunct Australian Airlines (TAA) in the early 90's. (Hence the rego VH-T**)
Whilst I appreciate your analogy Ron, Isuzu owners probably aren't too concerned if a cargo door popped open whilst cruising along.

Thanks for that link clean32, the B7373-400 are a bit younger than I thought. They must have flogged some of the older ones.

I was a bit surprised as well, but then it has been a couple of years since i took much notice.
apparently that list is what is owned by the airlines which is not necessarily what is operated by the airline. There new airbus is on lease with emirates and they have about 10 700s that they lease. I couldn’t fined out about the other airbus. it seems to be a common practice for some airline to buy new airframes and dry lease them out until the first major refurb ( 3-5) years before operating the aircraft themselves
if that is the case then it would being the average age down to about 14 years.
LOL had a quick look at pprune

Hope this is easier to read.

I can't say I know how old the individual carriers are.

I too like to fly QANTAS over most others, although they are becoming very similar as cost drive service down to what people are prepared to pay.

I do think that the Q crews are getting lazier, but you still get the occasional gem. When flying long haul Melb to LA most crews turn out the light and don't give a **** about the passengers, I have the occassional crew member that kept looking after me through several movies while many others slept.

MEA.....................Average age: 2 Years & 3 Months
JetBlue.................Average age: 2 Years & 8 Months
AirTran.................Average age: 3 Years & 7 Months
Emirates...............Average age: 4 Years & 9 Months
Virgin Atlantic........Average age: 6 Years
SAA.....................Average age: 6 Years & 8 Months
Air New Zealand.....Average age: 7 Years & 4 Months
EVA Air.................Average age: 7 Years & 6 Months
Etihad..................Average age: 7 Years & 7 Months
Continental...........Average age: 8 Years & 2 Months
Air France.............Average age: 8 Years & 8 Months
British Airways.......Average age: 9 Years & 1 Months
Kenya Airways.......Average age: 9 Years & 1 Months
Qantas.................Average age: 9 Years & 4 Months.
KLM.....................Average age: 9 Years & 8 Months
Air Canada............Average age: 9 Years & 9 Months
Thai Airways.........Average age: 10 Years & 4 Months
Northwest............Average age: 10 Years & 8 Months
Lufthansa.............Average age: 10 Years & 9 Months
United..................Average age: 11 Years & 2 Months
US Airways............Average age: 11 Years & 5 Months
Japan Airlines.........Average age: 12 Years & 4 Months
Varig Brazil............Average age: 12 Years & 6 Months
American Airlines....Average age: 12 Years & 8 Months
Air India...............Average age: 14 Years & 8 Months
PIA.....................Average age: 15 Years & 2 Months

I think that the number of take offs and landings probably has a greater bearing on aircraift safety than age, as these are fairly stressfull events for the airframes.

Its hard to argue with their safety record, but their service has plummeted in the last 10 years as they have cut costs to remain competitive. I've flown domestically a fair bit over the last 10 years, same as many others no doubt, and I've found Qantas to be way behind the competition when it comes to value for money.

Their frequent flyer programme is terrible, Qantas Club has become a place for bogans to smash down free Crownies pre-flight (have a look in an Emirates Lounge one day for a comparison) and their customer service staff can generally be described as rude and unhelpful. Of course there are good people working there, who will go out of their way to help and are hard working - but I've had too many bad experiences to spend my money with them any more.

As an experiment, try and speak to someone at Qantas over the phone - not a call centre person, but an actual Qantas employee. I had reason to attempt human contact with them recently and was told I had to write a letter and post it to a PO Box somewhere - they would reply by post... What a load of bull****! Not only are their policies in this area arcane, the call centre staff (complaints resolution area) were rude, condesending and aggressive. What was the issue? I wanted some FF points refunded when I cancelled a flight that I booked using points - the reason? I had been medically evacuated home from a holiday and therefore didn't need the flight anymore. The phone bitch acted as if I was a moron for thinking that they would give my points back, for a flight I wasn't using and was 2 weeks away - not only would they keep my points, but obviously they would re-sell that seat. I know thats business, but it ain't a way to keep customers happy. It just goes to show - their so-called "loyalty programme" actually only works in one direction: you remain loyal to them.

When work is paying they book me on Qantas (only reason I keep my FF membership) so I don't have any choice, but if its my coin I go Virgin or Jetstar.

I will say though, they have the best business class seating around.

Cheers,

Adam

Originally Posted by clean32

LOL had a quick look at pprune

pprune they should call it pwhinge - what a waste of electrons.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

What about the B747 that ran off the runway in Thailand a couple of years ago - or did they repair that one. No one injured but made a bloody mess of the airframe.

They do have a few old aircraft - the B737-400 nearly 20 years old and the first of the B747-400 are over 15 years old.


More info:
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/...904538_001.pdf

Looks like they did repair it.

That was 11 years ago - I am getting old

They repaired it so it wasn't recorded against their name as a "hull loss". They had to battle that one out behind closed doors and they spent a ridiculous fortune on repairs.