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Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

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Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#101

Post by local_crmdgeon »

fukawi2 wrote: post #77
hristov wrote: post #20

I like the a380 because it treats the lowly economy passenger (i.e., me) the best of all the large planes. It has the most headroom (even though it has two stories) so the cabin feels more airy and less cramped. So this is good news.

The one thing I don't like, and this may just be Emirates cabin configuration, but the space between the seat back and the cabin wall on the widow seat is too large to be able to rest your head "comfortably" against the wall to sleep. I flew MEL DXB LON KEF a couple of weeks ago. First 2 flights were A380, and the last was 757. I got better sleep on that 4 hour flight than either the other 2 legs (13 and 8 hours).

No, this is a common complaint. The size is too big to lean on and too small to do anything useful with. I've flown First on AF and it's no better up there.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#102

Post by tacticus »

noahtallen wrote: post #12
InTheArena wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The A380 was Airbus trying to out-American the Americans, by being the biggest plane, and by betting big on mega-hubs like Dubai, Heathrow, and LAX. There was a great paper that argued that Airbus could only do so because the risk of the decision was mitigated by government launch aid. Airbus's view of the market was wrong, and instead, we have the rise of more city pairs. Not small cities certainly - but right now,…

> Airbus walked away from what made them successful to go after the "we are the biggest" crown... But they have direct competitors for these types of routes too. A350, A321-XLR, the various neo planes. All of which are as good as Boeing’s options! (And even some which Boeing doesn’t have, like the A220.) As an outsider, it seems like Airbus is in a fantastic spot, at least until Boeing starts shipping the 777X and wo…

> if Boeing ships the 777X

Though even a 737\757 replacement is 10 to 15 years away with airbus getting more and more of the order book.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#103

Post by adgjlsfhk1 »

SgtBastard wrote: post #62
rob74 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do pilots need a different type rating to fly the 737 Max? No? Then it's a bit strange to say that it has nothing to do with the 737...

IANAP, but a lot of the root cause analysis around the 737 max crashes was that they were sufficiently different and so should have required re-certification of pilots before being allowed to fly them. Due to the costs involved, Boeing made the ultimately fatal mistake of minimising these changes to airlines so that pilots didnt know what they were flying (insofar as some of the subsystems).

IMO this is a bad take. MCAS was a fine system, the different aero charicteristics were fine. The only problem is that Boeing cheaped out and made MCAS depend on a single sensor for critical decision making. If they just had 3 sensors like any other saftey critical system none of these problems would have happened.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#104

Post by testrun »

WalterBright wrote: post #60

> striving to meet their emissions-reduction goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. This is part of the reason Qantas has invested heavily in kick-starting Australia’s sustainable aviation fuel industry. This is one of the most destructive frauds otherwise intelligent people are suckered into. It's based on the idiotic notion that a C atom from a biofuel results in "green" CO2 emissions. The CO2 emitted is exactly the sa…

Kerosene produced from oil adds carbon to the atmosphere (carbon positive), biofuels take carbon out of air and after burning put it back (carbon neutral). There is a big difference.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#105

Post by testrun »

empressplay wrote: post #22

Having escaped Australia during the middle of the pandemic, I'd like to correct this article: Australia's only long-haul carrier during the pandemic was United. Thanks United for getting me out of Australia!

I am glad you escaped. I am an Australian.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#106

Post by GrifMD »

akhayam wrote: post #79

I miss flying A380s--such a pleasure. Other airlines (I am talking to you, Emirates): you bring it back too!

It's always a treat to fly on. I managed to score some first class award tickets on Etihad's A380s from Sydney to Abu Dhabi to London... for July 2020. As you can imagine, that didn't work out.

I fly Sydney to LAX on Qantas usually once a year and somehow I always get swapped from an A380 to a 787 :/

I understand that this plane isn't the most fuel efficient, and that the A350, 787, and 777X are replacing it, but the A380 just feels a little "golden age of flying". The multiple decks, the bars on some planes and the crazy first class suites (and their showers) really made it a cool plane. It was the first plane that flew on that had enhanced pressurization (Qantas economy LAX to MEL back in 2010), as I mostly flew AA's old 737s back then.

I do acknowledge, that a lot of the things I'm lamenting are premium products, I really do. The cost for first and business class tickets on most A380 flights are ridiculous, and frankly the only time I've flown business is either via upgrades or award tickets (thank you credit card bonuses). Still, you've got to admit they are cool planes. What other plane could you actually take a shower on?

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#107

Post by fastball »

local_crmdgeon wrote: post #101
fukawi2 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing I don't like, and this may just be Emirates cabin configuration, but the space between the seat back and the cabin wall on the widow seat is too large to be able to rest your head "comfortably" against the wall to sleep. I flew MEL DXB LON KEF a couple of weeks ago. First 2 flights were A380, and the last was 757. I got better sleep on that 4 hour flight than either the other 2 legs (13 and 8 hours).

No, this is a common complaint. The size is too big to lean on and too small to do anything useful with. I've flown First on AF and it's no better up there.

Why would you need to lean against the wall in 1st class?

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#109

Post by jojobas »

fukawi2 wrote: post #77
hristov wrote: post #20

I like the a380 because it treats the lowly economy passenger (i.e., me) the best of all the large planes. It has the most headroom (even though it has two stories) so the cabin feels more airy and less cramped. So this is good news.

The one thing I don't like, and this may just be Emirates cabin configuration, but the space between the seat back and the cabin wall on the widow seat is too large to be able to rest your head "comfortably" against the wall to sleep. I flew MEL DXB LON KEF a couple of weeks ago. First 2 flights were A380, and the last was 757. I got better sleep on that 4 hour flight than either the other 2 legs (13 and 8 hours).

That would be due to the wall tilt on the lower deck. The seat couldn't be closer to the wall, there is no gap at the seat level.

Re: Qantas is bringing back Airbus A380s from the California desert

#110

Post by [deleted] »

popey wrote: post #78

There's a famous air-show where I live - Farnborough. Some years back there was an A319 and an A380 on show. They went up for a display in the sky, one after the other. The way the pilot threw the A319 around was pretty amazing, then the A380 went up and did basically the same manoeuvres. Pretty spectacular to watch these things. My brain still doesn't quite understand how the hell those metal birds stay in the air!

[deleted]
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