Aviation woes

UK airlines cut costs along with safety

Pilots of airlines operating in Britain have been forced to make 28 emergency landings due to fuel shortage this year raising worries that flights’ safety is being sacrificed to cut operating costs..

Press TV,

21 August, 2012

According to figures published by British Civil Aviation Authority, the Virgin Atlantic with two forced landings at London Stansted Airport in January and the low-cost Irish airline Ryanair with three emergency landings in Spain were among the involved companies.

The forced landings due to fuel shortage come as the passenger jets of airlines operating in Britain should carry enough fuel to complete their flights and reserves to take them to an alternative airport where they should be able to circle for 30 minutes before gaining landing permission.

"There is pressure on pilots by airlines to carry minimum fuel because it costs money to carry the extra weight, and that is quite significant over a year,” a retired pilot told the Exaro website.

Safety chiefs at the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) say the airlines are carrying the minimum reserve fuel possible to cut costs but they fail to consider the combined impact of airport traffic and bad weather conditions leaving airliners running low on fuel.

“The way in which aircraft are being developed in becoming more fuel efficient, there is less need for fuel,” said BALPA’s head of safety David Reynolds.

“However the problem comes when there are delays. The infrastructure in the South East is creaking … The very bad weather that we had in December caused pandemonium in the south-east of England. Aircraft were arriving and finding that they suddenly had nowhere to land because the airfield had closed or everybody else had gone there,” he added.

Embattled Qantas chief forgoes bonus and pay rise

Google,

20 August, 2012

SYDNEY — The embattled chief of Qantas Airways Alan Joyce said Monday he would forgo any bonus or pay rise, joining a growing list of high-profile top executives at Australian companies who are doing the same.

Qantas is struggling with soaring fuel costs and worsening global conditions and has indicated it will this week post its first annual loss since privatisation in 1995.

In a statement to the stockmarket in June, the airline said it expected underlying profit before tax -- its preferred indicator -- to be Aus$50-100 million (US$52-104 million) in the year to June 30.

This compares with Aus$552 million in the previous year.

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