Is Qantas having more incidents or has there just been more reporting of it?

[gilly]

I've just heard about the latest incident where a Qantas 747 had to return to SYD (I think it was SYD) after there was smoke in the cockpit on a flight to Buenos Aires.
This and the recent run of incidents being reported across the media since the A380 engine failure a couple of weeks ago made me wonder if they really are having more problems lately or are we just hearing about it more.

I know for a fact there are normally plenty of small things that happen that don't make it onto the 6 o'clock news. You just have to browse the ATSB site for evidence of those.

Your opinions please.

[oz_mark]

If it had not been for the A380 incident, I doubt we would have heard of the others. I suspect they're just being reported more, but without access to the stats, can't be 100% sure.

[samh004]

I’d agree that things are being reported more. I think this latest incident would have been reported regardless, but other little bits between now and the A380/747 SIN issues mightn’t have been picked up.

[ozmille]

I must say I have never seen a national carrier being so slammed in the press anywhere before. It seems every little issue get's blown out of proportion and often misrepresented in the press (eg picture of QF30 with the whole in the fuselage after the QF6 incident)...

Mille

[Mal]

I must say I have never seen a national carrier being so slammed in the press anywhere before. It seems every little issue get's blown out of proportion and often misrepresented in the press (eg picture of QF30 with the whole in the fuselage after the QF6 incident)...

Actually, the UK press does slam BA quite well all the time ... so it isn't unprecedented.

However, Qantas does get special attention in Australia from the media. I blame AAP, News Ltd, Fairfax and Steve Purvinas (especially) for the attention it gets.

[maninblack]

Sorry but todays incident does not sound trivial, we await the official findings. QF74 was not trivial, QF32 not trivial, nor QF30.

[oz_mark]

Sorry but todays incident does not sound trivial, we await the official findings. QF74 was not trivial, QF32 not trivial, nor QF30.

No one said they were trivial - the question is whether there are more incidents or whether they are just being reported more.

[Mal]

From my perspective, that is their job - to report on the news, to analyse what it means, to cover angles.

Yes, it's their job to report on the news, not wild speculation on things that are not relevant. The misleading headlines, the scare mongering, the over-reporting of various events that aren't events and especially their denial of other major incidents (eg EK's MEL runway experience) is what I dislike.

There are reasons why News Ltd is known as NoNews around here.

[maninblack]

No one said they were trivial - the question is whether there are more incidents or whether they are just being reported more.

Hard to know the statistics but these incidents are significant and deserve the attention they are receiving. The fact that an engine failed on the flight bringing QF32 passengers and crew home did not help matters - I couldn't believe it

[oz_mark]

Mal, can I ask why you think that news organisations should come in for blame for reporting on the Qantas incidents, examining its track record, looking at the potential issues for reputation and revenue etc?

From my perspective, that is their job - to report on the news, to analyse what it means, to cover angles.

The problem is that they tend to pick and choose the angles they wish to report on, and don't always give a balanced view. How much analysis against other airlines have we seen - are they better or worse?