The anti-discrimination tribunal is hearing the case of eight former Ansett flight attendants aged between 36 and 56 who allege they were refused jobs at Virgin Blue because of their age. One flight attendant referred to the selection process as little more than a
'cattle yard' and a 'one-hour viewing area' for beautiful women.
Virgin Blue has denied accusations it employs only young and attractive staff despite evidence it hired just one woman over the age of 35 from a group of 760.
Head of guest services Martin Daley told the tribunal that Virgin Blue looked for
'core competencies' such as: the 'Virgin flair', teamwork, communication skills and assertiveness when hiring new staff.
The editor-in-chief of men's magazine FHM, John Bastick, also gave evidence to the tribunal that he chose a group of Virgin flight crew to be on his cover because they were
'a spunky lot'.
"We're always looking for young attractive women and unfortunately there's a shortage of women in Australia who want to strip down to their smalls," he said.
Australia's air safety watchdog is on alert as a result of whistleblowers at Boeing alleging the company used
'dodgy' parts in planes bound for Australia. Three senior Boeing employees have filed a lawsuit against the aircraft manufacturer, claiming Boeing ignored defective parts used to build planes, including some sold to Australian
carriers.
Peter Gibson, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said
yesterday he was on the lookout for warnings from America 's Federal Aviation
Administration about safety issues.
He said if the issue was serious enough CASA would ground Qantas and Virgin Blue flights.
Qantas passengers are now permitted to make phone calls from their mobile phones on domestic flights once their plane has landed.
Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti says the decision follows research done in America and Europe
which has "proved that mobile devices can be used once the aircraft is on the ground and clear of the runway"'.
Virgin Atlantic has launched its international frequent flyer program, Flying
Club, offering instant gold membership to a limited number of Qantas gold card
holders, and double miles for some travellers flying out of Sydney.
Instant gold membership is available to the first 500 gold Qantas (or Cathay
Pacific) cardholders to book and fly 'upper class' with Virgin Atlantic from
Sydney to Hong Kong or London.
The airline says benefits of membership include the ability to use points to
upgrade bookings on international flights, no point deductions for booking with
a partner airline or for requesting a statement, and the ability to redeem
points on Virgin Atlantic for anyone (not just nominated members).
Qantas flight 93 to Los Angeles became the first flight to take off from the newly upgraded main at Melbourne Airport.
In a $50 million upgrade, Melbourne Airport's main north-south runway has been widened by 15 metres to cater for the Airbus A380,
the world�s largest commercial aircraft.
Chris Barlow, the airport�s CEO, said this phase of an overall $220 million
expansion was completed ahead of schedule and in time for Melbourne's 2006
Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, it was reported in the Daily Telegraph that the perimeter of Sydney Airport's third runway is collapsing and will need major engineering work!
After only 10 years in operation the runway's sand base is seeping through the retaining sea wall into Botany Bay.
The paper said potholes and cracks on the roadway near the edge of the runway
have been detected but were not posing any safety problems.
The federal government recently announced plans to amend the Trade Practices Act
in relation to component pricing in a number of industries, including aviation.
Virgin Blue had for months been campaigning for a change to the act, claiming
the airfare plus tax and surcharge pricing 'confusing and misleading'.
"All-inclusive pricing is the most transparent and upfront way of advertising
airfares,� said Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey. �People want to
know that the advertised amount is what they are going to pay and not get any
nasty surprises when they get to the end.�
No more nasty surprises, all fares are now quoted with taxes and surcharges.
An alliance between Air New Zealand and Qantas might be possible after the Australian Competition Tribunal overturned a 2003 decision by the ACCC.
Qantas was forced to abandon its plans to take a 22.5 per cent stake in Air NZ due to the ACCC decision.
Last month, Justice Alan Goldberg and the tribunal ruled in favour of the airlines. Goldberg said the fact that companies such as Pacific Blue and Emirates now serviced the trans-Tasman routes showed that the Qantas/Air New Zealand proposal was not anti-competitive.
