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.
NEWS 
