Media Reaction to QF Troubles

[jamesD]

The media is there to sell papers first, and report the truth second.

So of course they're not going to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

 

[straitman]

The media is there to sell papers first, and report the truth second.

So of course they're not going to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

It would be good though if OCCASIONALLY they would truthfully cover a good story. The outcome could actually be the same :!:

 

[mannej]

Easter plans on hold over Qantas flight faults | Perth Now

In Adelaide, a flight connecting with Perth and then bound for Johannesburg was delayed when a fuel leak was detected in pre-flight checks.

Can anyone tell me what flight this is? All I can obtain is that SA282/SA283 was cancelled today at PER, nothing about a flight from Adelaide (which SA do not serve)

 

[thewinchester]

Interestingly, it seems some of the press are starting to dig into this whole supposed mess - and its not as straight forward, and straight up as it seems:

http://www.frequentflyer.com.au/com...tory-blemished-qf-737-a-22495.html#post313031

 

[serfty]

...
Can anyone tell me what flight this is? All I can obtain is that SA282/SA283 was cancelled today at PER, nothing about a flight from Adelaide (which SA do not serve)

I believe Qantas codeshare on SA282/SA283 as QF304/QF303...

... there that dang QF number, must be Qantas's fault. ...

 

[serfty]

There have been some tail scrape incidents that could have disastrous in the region in recent years.

The Pilots and Passengers of EK 406 were extremely lucky to be able to disembark back at MEL.

Also note the tail scrape of SQ 269 in AKL ....

 

[pauly7]

Do you really think Uncle Rupert really cares about filling his media outlets with high quality journalism, or do you think he cares about filling his media outlets with stuff that will cause people to hand over cash to him. Until he buys shares in QF or QF pull all advertising from his papers, we will continue to see shody articles bagging QF, as the bulk of the readers probably never fly on QF anyway, .

I'm pretty sure Uncle Rupert has shares in DJ

Which would explain the slant - how th complete brake failure on a DJ ERJ coming into land gets a 1 by 1 inch article while a Qantas toilet doesn't flush gets a front page lead in, editorial and a *special investigation*:mrgreen:

 

[mannej]

During my daily flick through of the West this morning, I came across an article "Focus Again on Qantas Safety" thinking that it would be another Qantas=bad etc, however Geoffrey Thomas still manages to amaze with his ability to write a fairly open article that is able to be unbiased towards either side using stats to back up his article.

And the moral(s) of his story was- Qantas must be doing something alright, as they have the lowest turn back rate, and that the offshore maintenance is not as bad as the media makes it out to be!

 

[thewinchester]

During my daily flick through of the West this morning, I came across an article "Focus Again on Qantas Safety" thinking that it would be another Qantas=bad etc, however Geoffrey Thomas still manages to amaze with his ability to write a fairly open article that is able to be unbiased towards either side using stats to back up his article.

And the moral(s) of his story was- Qantas must be doing something alright, as they have the lowest turn back rate, and that the offshore maintenance is not as bad as the media makes it out to be!

I've always respected Geoffrey's ability to write a balanced and reasoned article, specially considering he works for The Worst. His profile gives you an insight into the man, and basically he's lived the industry so knows what he's talking about.

As a side point, I have to deal with that paper in a media role as part of my job, and I won't tell you the nicknames I have for some of their reporters (sic). It's a shame the article hasn't made it to their website yet, would like to read it - but don't want to buy a copy as I'm already well stocked on toilet paper.

 

[mannej]

I do agree that the West is not the best paper going around, but Geoffrey's articles are a highlight due to the reasons you have posted

 

[oz_mark]

Specialist journalists will always be better than a generalist. The generalist generally has a short time frame in which to craft a story, and often don't have a detailed understanding of all the issues at play, and don't always check the 'facts' they get from their sources.

Geoffrey Thomas is usually quite balanced, although can work himself into a lather if he thinks QF are about to buy 777's.

 

[mannej]

Geoffrey Thomas is usually quite balanced, although can work himself into a lather if he thinks QF are about to buy 777's.

QF and the T7, thats a whole new story

 

[JohnK]

Even with all these minor incidents Qantas must be doing something right. Most of the top airlines in the world are fairly safe and they all experience minor incidents.

Does BA get the same type of coverage in the UK as Qantas gets in Australia? Does AA get the same tyoe of coverage in the USA as Qantas gets in Australia? Does LH get the same type of coverage in Germany as Qantas gets in Australia?

 

[straitman]

Even with all these minor incidents Qantas must be doing something right. Most of the top airlines in the world are fairly safe and they all experience minor incidents.

Does BA get the same type of coverage in the UK as Qantas gets in Australia? Does AA get the same tyoe of coverage in the USA as Qantas gets in Australia? Does LH get the same type of coverage in Germany as Qantas gets in Australia?

The media coverage of QF incidents is totally out of proportion IMHO. But then again my perception of the media coverage in Oz is that it is generally totally out of proportion.

As I have said on many occasions here I have many friends who fly for QF and they do not have concerns about the company's safety, which I believe is always a good indicator. They do have concerns about the direction that the company management is going but that is another story.

 

[anat0l]

Does BA get the same type of coverage in the UK as Qantas gets in Australia? Does AA get the same tyoe of coverage in the USA as Qantas gets in Australia? Does LH get the same type of coverage in Germany as Qantas gets in Australia?

Does EK or SQ get any sort of coverage in their home countries in the same way that Qantas does in Australia?

There's a real acid test. (Not to mention that one of those is pretty hard ball government who owns the airline.)

 

[mannej]

Does EK or SQ get any sort of coverage in their home countries in the same way that Qantas does in Australia?

There's a real acid test. (Not to mention that one of those is pretty hard ball government who owns the airline.)

I can tell you that the Malaysian media are more worried about MH's financial performance compared to what happens flying wise.

MH had two A330's fail (1 aborted take off, 1 turn back en route to PER) on the same night, yet I did not hear anything until I got back home (and even then there was hardly anything in the media regarding it)

 

[oz_mark]

The media coverage of QF incidents is totally out of proportion IMHO.

The way it is reported, you would think nothing happens to any other airline - except of course things happen pretty much daily to any airline of size.

 

[under the radar]

The way it is reported, you would think nothing happens to any other airline - except of course things happen pretty much daily to any airline of size.

yes..QF bashing is a national pastime and over the last few years so is JET* (guilty by association!!!)
issues/incidents will always happen anywhere there is a human component...hows the saying go?
"im only human"!!!

 

[anat0l]

yes..QF bashing is a national pastime and over the last few years so is JET* (guilty by association!!!)
issues/incidents will always happen anywhere there is a human component...hows the saying go?
"im only human"!!!

People may be only human but if an error causes people in a plane to die then it's a whole different story (and a lot more difficult to counter with a simple "I'm only human!" argument). Perhaps that's a downfall of our species.

In any case, it hasn't happened yet, thankfully... (well, at least not since WW2 anyway)

 

[under the radar]

People may be only human but if an error causes people in a plane to die then it's a whole different story (and a lot more difficult to counter with a simple "I'm only human!" argument). Perhaps that's a downfall of our species.

In any case, it hasn't happened yet, thankfully... (well, at least not since WW2 anyway)

sorry..wasnt my intention to be simplistic..just a bit more realistic..
my apologies