The World of Aviation

Lockheed Martin CEO Bob Stevens has admitted that more money and time will be needed to complete the F-35 JSF program in the wake of news reports claiming the program is headed for further delays and cost escalations of up to three years and US$5 billion. Speaking to US finance media on November 4, Stevens

Qantas’s fleet of Airbus A380s remain grounded after last week’s QF32 uncontained engine failure, with the airline confirming that “anomalies” have been found on three engines on two A380s after inspections. Two Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines have been removed from A380 VH-OQC in Sydney, with a third removed from a Qantas A380 in Los Angeles,

News of two further inflight incidents overshadowed Qantas’s 90th anniversary celebrations for staff at its Sydney Jet Base on Saturday. Six minutes after takeoff from Singapore on Friday evening passengers and crew on 747-400 VH-OJD operating QF6 bound for Sydney heard a bang and saw sparks emit from the aircraft’s number 1 RB211 engine. The

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has told media he believes a material failure or design defect was responsible for Thursday’s uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on Airbus A380 VH-OQA operated QF32 shortly after takeoff from Singapore. “This issue does not relate to maintenance, this is an engine issue,” Joyce told media on Friday

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has said at a media conference that the airline’s fleet of Airbus A380s could be back flying within a few days, while passengers on the ill-fated QF32 service have now departed Singapore. Joyce told reporters that it had agreed with Rolls-Royce and Airbus on a series of checks on the Trent

Qantas management and the union which represents its maintenance engineers, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) have become involved in a very acrimonious public debate over outsourcing maintenance in the wake of the QF32 engine failure incident yesterday. In a statement released yesterday evening, ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas alledged safety was a growing