No surprise to hold off on this investment. Wise move. Interesting that Qantas is still flying its QFA9/QFA10 Mel/Per/LHR & return route once a week despite having shut down its international network. Anyone know the purpose of this weekly flight? Passengers? Cargo? Slot maintenance? Expensive if it is flying empty.

(Written on 2020/05/08)(Permalink)

The fact that Boeing spent weeks / months resisting this change suggests that it has learnt very little about the need for a return to a "safety first" approach to aircraft design and construction. After all the focus on the 737 MAX design , it will probably be one of the safest planes to fly in, but it will take many years for the travelling public to trust Boeing to keep it that way.

(Written on 2020/03/13)(Permalink)

My assessment is this. Like most components on an aircraft, the AoA sensors were built to a high standard and rarely failed. However some did fail at a critical stage during takeoff. Those that did fail on aircraft with OPTIONAL extras that detected failure and warned the pilots, did not cause an accident, just an incident. Those that failed on aircraft without the OPTIONAL extras relied on the pilot guessing correctly what was going wrong and taking corrective action in a matter of seconds, and where they did not, the plane flew itself into the sea or the ground.

(Written on 2019/03/30)(Permalink)

Interesting, on my phone (android) aeroplane mode turns off wifi, bluetooth and cellular (and celular data). One can turn them on again individually if the airline permits but not all airlines have wifi in flight. However at least I got the answer to my question, thanks.

(Written on 2019/02/27)(Permalink)

WiFi is also switched off in Aeroplane mode. I think the answer is that the airline has to tell its passengers to switch Bluetooth (only) on and override the Aeroplane mode default settings.

(Written on 2019/02/27)(Permalink)

Bluetooth is switched off in Aeroplane mode, at least it is on my phone.

(Written on 2019/02/27)(Permalink)

You are making am assumption that I would hesitate to make. However assuming your assumption is correct I am interested to know what form of communication they are using between the seat and the phone.

(Written on 2019/02/27)(Permalink)

Just how will the passengers phone communicate with the seat when it is in Aeroplane mode? Aeroplane mode switches off network access, wifi and bluetooth. Sounds like a seat perfect for Ryan Air, but not its passengers.

(Written on 2019/02/27)(Permalink)

The trouble was that the plane was not flight tested prior to filling it with passengers and giving it to a flight crew as repaired and airworthy.

(Written on 2018/12/07)(Permalink)

Yes, and as usual, the only winners will be the lawyers. Clearly there is a degree of fault / blame with both Boeing and Lion Air. Both companies are trying to position themselves as having less blame than the other. As you say, it will take years.

(Written on 2018/12/07)(Permalink)