Qantas news stories on Newser

Aussie Finds Maggots in Airline Snack

Mark Russell — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:10:00 CDT

Coffee, tea, or maggots? That's the unpleasant dining option several passengers discovered on a recent Qantas flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, reports the New York Daily News . Victoria Cleven says she was eating snack mix when she noticed something wrong, "like hair or something over my mouth," she said....

Overweight People Should Pay More to Fly

John Johnson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:03:23 CST

The former chief economist at Qantas thinks it's about time that airlines charged heavier people more for plane tickets as a matter of policy. "The rationale is simple," writes Tony Webber in the Sydney Morning Herald . "The fuel burnt by planes depends on many things but the most important is...

Qantas Has 'Epic PR Fail' With Twitter Campaign

Matt Cantor — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 07:07:05 CST

It’s been a rough stretch for Qantas. First, the Australian airline abruptly stranded customers around the world amid a contract fight with its unions; then those talks collapsed entirely; this week, the firm ticked off customers again with a contest on Twitter . It asked people to tweet their “dream luxury...

Qantas Offers Free Tickets to Grounded Fliers

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 15:15:05 CST

You may be eligible for free tickets if last year's Qantas airline shutdown left you stranded, the BBC reports. Last November, Qantas grounded its entire fleet —and left travelers stuck in 22 cities—after a mid-air engine explosion forced an emergency landing in Singapore. Now the airline is offering free...

Aussie Court Ends Qantas Strike, Grounding

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 10:49:32 CDT

An Australian court has ended the Qantas Airways standoff that abruptly grounded the entire fleet yesterday, as tens of thousands of stranded passengers scrambled to find rides. After 14 hours of testimony, which included government arguments that forcing the airline back into operation was in Australia's best economic interests, the...

Qantas Grounds Entire Fleet in Labor Dispute

John Johnson — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:21:29 CDT

Be glad you're not booked on a Qantas flight. The Australian airline abruptly grounded its entire fleet today because of a nasty labor dispute, reports the BBC . The move came so suddenly that some planes turned around while taxiing on the runway, notes AP . Qantas is paying for people to...

Rolls-Royce Paying $100M to Qantas for Engine Blast

Rob Quinn — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:42:10 CDT

Rolls-Royce has agreed to compensate Qantas for the mid-air disintegration of an Airbus A380 engine last year. The Australian airline grounded all of its A380s for weeks after the incident last year, which investigators blamed on an oil fire caused by a manufacturing defect. The disintegration triggered an emergency landing,...

Qantas Crew Peeved by 'Capt. Travolta' Video

Kate Schwartz — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 13:45:05 CDT

John Travolta's latest leading role isn't going over too well with Qantas airline's crew. The actor, clad in a pilot's uniform, opens the airline's three-minute safety video, announcing, "This is your captain speaking—well, maybe not today." (Click here to watch the video .) He continues, "But I can guarantee...

Passenger Showed Qantas Co-Pilot Airbus Damage

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:51:05 CST

When the Qantas Airbus A380 engine blew apart on Nov. 4 , it was a passenger who pointed out the extent of the damage. The passenger, who also just happened to be a pilot, was watching a tail camera feed on the plane's entertainment system when he noticed that the Airbus...