This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

South African Airlines

Jump to new
Thats terrible news - and pretty clearly demonstrates that these issues are no laughing matter.
 
have you considered the security and dangers of Africa and then compared that to the risk of an aircraft incident - in some Jo'burg shopping centre car parks young people carry weapons (rifles etc) to protect you and your car whilst parked there!!!
 

cuttlefish said:
Thats terrible news - and pretty clearly demonstrates that these issues are no laughing matter.
Click to expand...

Mate with a nervous missus and dodgy airlines I'd cancel your trip. Take a road trip around Australia instead.

gg
 
Cuttlefish, let's remember that apart from the dreaded Olympic Games, this is a completely dead media time. Parliament is not sitting. The world essentially goes on hold for the duration of the great sports spectacular.

Hence I suspect any routine stuff that occurs with Qantas aircraft is being reported where it would not be in more interesting times. After the major incident with the Qantas plane where the oxygen tank caused the problem, and nothing else to do, the meedja will have been all over Qantas incident reports which they would have had no interest in previously.

None of the subsequently reported events have represented any danger to passengers or crew, so best to keep a sense of proportion I guess.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.
 
http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/absolute-circus-as-jet-forced-down/2008/09/01/1220121083212.html

ho hum ... a few more minor incidents here and there ... nothing can phase me now ... :sleeping:

(extract from article below).

On July 25, a faulty oxygen bottle blew a hole ]in the fuselage of a Qantas Boeing 747-400 flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne.

The blast caused the aircraft, with 365 people on board, to depressurise and it rapidly descended several thousand feet before making an emergency landing in Manila.

On July 29, a Adelaide-Melbourne flight returned to Adelaide when a wheel bay door failed to close, while a hydraulic fluid leak forced a Boeing 767 to return to Sydney.

Hydraulics caused a flight to be delayed almost three hours in Sydney on August 4.

Three days later, a noisy air-conditioning fault forced the grounding of a jet that had recently returned from routine maintenance in Malaysia with 95 defects.

Then on August 12, Qantas announced it would temporarily pull six Boeing 737-400s from service after discovering an irregularity in maintenance paperwork.

On August 13, a Qantas Boeing 747-300 from Melbourne was grounded in New Zealand after an engine shut down on approach to Auckland.

On the same day, Qantas flight QF31 to London - the same flight affected by today's incident - was delayed because a crucial screw needed urgent maintenance, while a Boeing 767 jet had a hydraulic failure that affected the plane's steering as it landed at Sydney on a flight from Melbourne.

The plane left a trail of hydraulic fluid as it touched down, forcing the runway to close for 40 minutes as the spill was mopped up.

Two days later, on August 15, a technical problem delayed a Brisbane to Melbourne flight for more than 30 minutes, while a small body panel fell from a Qantas jumbo en route to Singapore from Melbourne.

On August 17, a rudder problem delayed the departure of a Sydney-bound plane at London's Heathrow Airport by more than 16 hours.

Three days later, two flights were cancelled between Perth and Sydney and Perth and Melbourne because of technical problems.
 
Well after all that the flight here was pretty uneventful and the Qantas service was better than I've experienced in the past as well.

Not a bad sort of timezone - go to bed early, get up around 3 a.m. to manage ASX positions (wouldn't be bothering to monitor things that closely normally but have been doing some options trading around the US events). The asx closes around 8 a.m. so can have breakfast and spend the day doing other stuff, and come home in the afternoon to see whats going on in the US. Must be fairly similar for those in a England or European time zones - I could get used to it - always frustrates me wasting daylight hours in front of a screen.
 
Glad to know all is well, Cuttlefish. Hope you have a great holiday.
 
Well a very nice trip - had a lot of fun driving around the national park seeing the animals in their natural environment and exhibiting such a wide variety of behaviours - indescribably different to seeing animals in a zoo.

Unfortunately Qantas lived up to their recent standards. We were told once aboard the flight that the rudder wasn't working properly and some parts were going to be replaced (on the tarmac, while we were in the plane - yeah that made my wife feel really safe and comfortable . Every half and hour we were told it was going to be only another half an hour, while the cabin got hotter and stuffier and the people on board got more nervous and restless.

They eventually took us off the plane after over an hour because the repairs were taking longer than expected - which was a relief, I was getting downright nervous because nothing they said was ringing true.

Then after about 4 hours of sitting in the waiting lounge the flight was cancelled and postponed to the next day. Some hotel rooms were organised but all very inconsistently, a lot of people sleeping in hotel lobbies and the airport. The flight the next day was relatively smooth though one of our bags went missing (now located and being delivered to us tomorrow).

We only flew Qantas because they were the only direct flight to Sth Africa, but suffice to say next time I book a flight anywhere Qantas doesn't exist for me - I will not fly them again anywhere, ever, period - sitting in the plane not believing a word we were being told with the prospect of flying across the indian ocean in the middle of the night with a recently replaced rudder part wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.

I commend the hapless lady from Qantas that was left pretty much on her own to work overtime trying to generally sort out the mess created by the event and managing to organise a lot of rooms etc.

I have very little time for the Qantas captain who was long on spin and seemed to find the whole situation very amusing, grinning from ear to ear as he made each new announcement - easy to be jovial when you know where you are going to be sleeping that night.

The whole experience was both nerve wracking and extremely humiliating and the company is an embarrassment to Australia.

Qantas - Never EVER again.
 
Cfish

glad you enjoyed Africa - like the market QANTAS seems to be on a downhill!

Personally I prefer middle eastern airlines
 

You really should stick to caravanning.

I always assume that

1. The plane will crash

2. I'll get stuffed around with delays right from the check-in

3. The plane will develop some fault.

4. If I land in some godforsaken place there will be a revolution.

Folk like you should not travel, you annoy others with your antsy fits at check in and boarding.

I generally avoid people like you by travelling First or Business Class.

gg
 
So there, Cuttlefish! Clearly it's all your own fault.

GG, your charm, diplomacy and tact know no bounds.
Such a privilege to receive your wisdom.
 

If you assume #1 will happen first, the rest will not matter one iota.
Could always sit at the back, planes never fly back into much?
Suppose First Class gets a birds eye view of the event as it happens.

Caravanning...

 
Garpal Gumnut said:
I always assume that

1. The plane will crash

2. I'll get stuffed around with delays right from the check-in

3. The plane will develop some fault.
Click to expand...

Clearly you fly Qantas regularly then.


Garpal Gumnut said:
I generally avoid people like you by travelling First or Business Class.
Click to expand...

And you afford this by saving petrol in your 1998 commodore.: Let us know when you've woken from your fantasy. Or did you mean the First Class Loser seats?

Garpal Gumnut said:
I drive a 1998 Commodore, and prior to the change was getting 13 litres per 100k and since the change this has dropped to 11.
Click to expand...
https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12714&highlight=commodore
 

lol.

You'd be surprised how many people in first and business drive 10 yo Commodores. The savings on buying a new Camry or some such would fly you a long way in both.

The other trick is to use an OPM American Express Card. I was taught this by a knight on the runway down from his "hut" at Sabu Sands in June of this year.

gg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
  • Locked
PRK - Patrick Corporation
2 3
Replies
47
Views
12K
RichKid
R
IRAQ: the Big (neo) Con
Replies
1
Views
6K
basilio
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more...