Qantas

An air safety investigator today said it appears that shrapnel from an oxygen cylinder explosion aboard a packed Qantas jetliner pierced the floor of the passenger cabin and sheared off part of a door handle. The blast Friday on a flight from London to Melbourne blew a large hole in the Boeing 747-400, causing an emergency landing in the Philippines. Australian Transport Safety Bureau official Julian Walsh said the shrapnel knocked the handle out of position.

At the end of the Oct. 24 "Report on Airline Safety Rates Individual Carriers," a disclaimer states: "Christopher Reynolds travels anonymously and accepts no special discounts or subsidized trips." Pity he accepts bogus figures. As a pilot, chronic international traveler and non-Australian, I'm amazed that any article on airline safety could so conspicuously exclude Qantas Airlines. Since their inception, Qantas has never had a passenger fatality. But it seems that Reynolds doesn't allow facts, poor research or lack of travel experience to get in his way. I should add that I am not a Qantas fan. Their meager 38-inch seat pitch in business class, indifferent cabin service and semi-useless frequent flier program is a real turnoff.

Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's state-owned international carrier, said today it will reschedule deliveries of Boeing aircraft because of the decline in air travel. "The number hasn't been determined, nor the time span involved," a Qantas spokesman said. "But we are not canceling any orders." Representatives of Qantas and Boeing met Monday to consider the rescheduling. Qantas has ordered seven Boeing 747-400 aircraft worth $200 million each and four Boeing 767-300s worth $130 million each.

Qantas Airline canceled all flights today because of an engineers' strike, affecting about 10,000 passengers. The international airline said it was trying to transfer passengers to other carriers, but that it would be impossible to accommodate all of them. About 500 engineers began the stoppage Monday in a pay dispute.

Qantas Airways Ltd. has agreed to a sweetened $8.7-billion buyout offer led by Macquarie Bank Ltd. and private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, sources said today. The offer of 5.60 Australian dollars a share, 10% above Qantas' last trade, was unanimously endorsed by the Qantas board after the bidders dropped their demand for a breakup fee, sources close to the transaction said. The board had rejected an offer of 5.50 Australian dollars on Wednesday.

A bitter and protracted domestic pilots dispute savaged earnings at Qantas, Australia's international airline, its chairman said today. After posting a record $136-million profit in 1988-89, Qantas' profit fell 93.1% to $9 million in the year to June 30, 1990, Chairman Bill Dix said in the annual report. The pilots' eight-month dispute over a pay claim, which ended earlier this year, cut operating profits at the state-owned carrier by $127 million, he said.

British Airways and Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd. said Tuesday that they were holding talks about a potential merger, sparking hopes of consolidation in the hard-hit aviation industry. Both companies issued statements saying they were exploring a potential merger with each other "via a dual-listed company structure." Neither British Airways nor Qantas provided further details.

Qantas Airways Ltd. placed its first order with Airbus Industrie that includes 12 of the proposed A3XX super jumbo jets. Australia's largest airline said it will spend $4.6 billion on 31 new aircraft over 10 years. Sydney-based Qantas also said it will buy seven Airbus A330-200, six Airbus A330-300 jets and six Boeing Co. longer-range 747-400 jets.

Australia-based Qantas Airlines grounded flights across the globe Saturday amid an intensifying labor dispute that is disrupting international travel for thousands of passengers. The company's domestic and international departures were canceled after Qantas announced that it is locking out workers represented by three of its employee unions, including those that represent pilots and baggage handlers. Qantas advised its customers not to go to the airport until further notice and said a full refund will be available to any customer who chooses to cancel a flight.

Qantas Airways, Australia's largest airline, became the third foreign airline this year to admit to price-fixing. It agreed to pay a $61-million fine to the U.S. government and to cooperate with the Justice Department's continuing investigation. Qantas sought to eliminate competition by fixing the rates for shipments of cargo to and from the U.S. from at least January 2000 through February 2006, according to charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.