When will the 747-300's retire?

[Rhys Xanthis]

Originally Posted by Marty H

Did another B743 go u/s last night in PER? DJ298 had QF pax onboard is the reason I ask.

i believe QF648 was due to be ops by 763 coming from MEL, which was delayed by 2 hrs. (QF481, was meant to be ops by 743).

Apparently the 743 had to stop in Adelaide because the weather changed to fog after it left. Apparently there is an investigation into why it changed...

[Mick F]

Why would there be an investigation into why a forecast changed?

Welcome to the world of weather. Constantly changing, therefore it needs to be constantly updated.

Mick

[Montague S]

Originally Posted by Rhys Xanthis

i believe QF648 was due to be ops by 763 coming from MEL, which was delayed by 2 hrs. (QF481, was meant to be ops by 743).

Apparently the 743 had to stop in Adelaide because the weather changed to fog after it left. Apparently there is an investigation into why it changed...

only relaying what ive been told

how do you figure this?

QF 648
Operated by:
Qantas Airways
Depart: Perth 1 Jun at 23:35
Arrive: Melbourne 2 Jun at 04:50
Stopover: -
Total Time: 3:15 hours
Aircraft: Boeing 747-300

QF 481 was operated by 743 from MEL-PER and did land 2hrs late and turned around and went back as the Sydney flight. Its the Sydney-Perth flight from last night that caused the problem which I have already pointed out was cancelled and due to be operated by 743.

[Nigel C]

Maybe it was the scheduler who had the fog in his eyes...

[Rhys Xanthis]

montague - my mum was on the flight (481.). it was meant to be ops by 743, but online check in led to a 2-3-2 config, obviously not a 743.

[Brett A]

I was on the 11.45am QF580 flight from Perth to Sydney last Tuesday (27/5). When I got to the airport, the boarding time had been changed to 12.30pm. No biggy I thought. But then things started to get worse and we were eventually told that the 743 that had arrived from Sydney (I think) had a problem with its navigation which could not be fixed and so they would tow a plane from the international terminal to replace it. Revised boarding time 4.10pm.

At the time, I said to my friend whom I happened to meet at the Q Club that we would be pushing to get in before curfew in Sydney.

From my recollection, we finally boarded about 4.30pm and then a further series of delays occurred. First, an unruly passenger was kicked off and his bags had to be located. Once that was done, we were told that the fuel gauge in the cockpit was not working and because the plane had been using its APU since it had been pulled over from the international terminal, they didn't know how much fuel was in it. This meant they had to do a manual check with fuel rods.

And then the clincher, all the time that the plane had been sitting at the international terminal and then at the domestic terminal, it had not been catered.

From recollection, we finally took off between about 500pm and 530pm and were told that Qantas were on the phone to Canberra to get an extension on the curfew. At this point, I leaned over to my friend and told her that this was probably unlikely given what I had read on this forum about flights in similar circumstances not getting an extension. I made a bet with her that we would end up in Melbourne.

We were eventually told that Canberra had in fact given them an extension until 11.20pm. Perhaps the new government are taking a different approach to this issue? However, the flight path showed us landing in Sydney at 11.27pm! I then asked the head purser (who was going around getting feedback from everyone) if we were going to Melbourne. He declined to answer that question.

When we passed Melbourne I thought that was probably a good sign and at top of descent, the captain told us we had a further extention until 11.30pm. I think our wheels touched down in Sydney at 11.29pm.

Even with all the delays, I thought Qantas did a good job of keeping everyone fully informed. The captain and all the crew were extremely apologetic throughout. They kept me and my friend served with wine and peanuts. Admittedly, we were in business class so I can't comment on economy class.

I think the moral of the story however, is not to book on a 743 from or to Perth if you want to get there on time.

Happily, my return flight on the Thursday from Sydney at 7.20pm left on time and arrived 10 minutes early. And yes it was a 743!

[Nic P]

Monty - I prefer to watch films on flights, I find craning my neck to read a book quite uncomfortable, plus I'm not a huge reader.

I felt most sorry for the QF 583 Pax who had no where to go in Sydney - I saw the QP staff unloading blankets and pillows!

Further to my earlier post, we only ended up being about 45mins late leaving today - better than the past two flights!

[Philip Argy]

ADF chief backs push for larger VIP jets

Defence Force Chief Angus Houston has urged the Government to consider buying or leasing bigger VIP aircraft.
He says the RAAF operates two jets now but they are too small to carry an entire entourage for a travelling federal minister or prime minister.
Media organisations called for change last year after a Garuda airline crash in Indonesia, when Australian journalists who would have travelled on then-foreign minister Alexander Dower's plane were killed.
Air Chief Marshal Houston has told a Senate committee he supports a change.
"Senator if I might chance my arm I think it would be really good if we went for a couple of bigger aeroplanes for the VIP task, because frankly the 737 aircraft is too small for the task," he said.
He told the committee that the risks were shown tragically in the Garuda crash.
"It's imperative we look after our journalists in places where the airline standards are perhaps not as high as they are in our own country," he said.
"I think it's fine if you're in Australia, but when you're travelling in many places around the world there are concerns about certain carriers and their particular airworthiness and flying standards."

[Andrew McLaughlin]

Perfect use for retiring 743s?

You're kidding, right?

[Philip Argy]

What's the saying about killing two birds with one stone ...