The Men Who Killed Qantas

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27th October 2009, 03:13pm - Views: 10024






Tomorrow (Wednesday 28 October) the topical new book THE MEN WHO

KILLED QANTAS by journalist Matthew Benns will be released.


THE MEN WHO KILLED QANTAS

Greed, Lies and Crashes and how they destroyed the reputation of the world’s

safest airline

Published by William Heinemann Australia, RRP: $34.95


Recently Australia was told of former Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon’s

final payout of $10.7 million. The public must wonder how Qantas can justify

such large bonuses and executive payouts in the face of redundancies,

particularly when its current cost-cutting has raised questions about the

safety of the airline’s operating procedures.  

 

The Men Who Killed Qantas is a history of Qantas from its early beginnings.

The book covers the ill-fated DH86, scandals that have beset the airline,

corporate greed and how penny-pinching may have contributed to a string of

accidents. The books discusses the issue of toxic air leaking into the cabins of

Qantas planes, affecting the health of some crew and passengers, and dispels

myths surrounding the national airline, such as the memorable quote that

Qantas never crashes!  


Qantas is full of staff who remember the good old days, when the airline’s

emphasis was on safety, not profit. However, many of them now feel that this

is not the Qantas of today.  


“QANTAS – PRIDE OF A NATION OR A NATIONAL DISGRACE?”


MATTHEW BENNS IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW 

Please contact Annabel Rijks at Random House Australia on 02 8923 9834 or

via email at arijks@randomhouse.com.au


SOME POINTS FOR DISCUSSION


TOXIC AIR: Investigative journalism exposes a toxic fumes scandal that has

put and continues to put the health of passengers and crew at risk.


EXPLOSION: In July 2008 a Qantas Boeing 747 depressurised over the South

China Sea after a hole was blown in its fuselage. Later investigations

concluded it was caused by an oxygen bottle that had exploded. Aviation

sources informed newspapers that routine corrosion checks had revealed the

jet suffered from significant rust corrosion.  


MAINTENANCE: An internal audit in 2006 into maintenance carried out in

Singapore revealed that the general quality trend of maintenance checks

‘appears to be heading in a negative direction’. 

In 2008 it was revealed that some Qantas maintenance procedures were not

only failing to meet CASA’s standards, they were even failing to meet the

airline’s own internal standards.






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