Union Peddling Lies & Untruths Over A380 Incident Claims Qantas
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The union representing Qantas Licenced Aircraft Engineers appear to have had a lapse in intelligence after they started peddling fear and untruths about the recent Qantas A 330 incident over Indonesia says Qantas.


Desperate to push their case the Union claimed that engineers were set to be stood down because of the incident which saw the entire fleet of Qantas flights grounded after an engine exploded.Qantas claims this is blatent lies  and that ALAEA federal secretary Steven Purvinas is taking advantantage of a situation to “peddle lies”

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement that Mr Purvinas was wrong to say Qantas engineers has been stood down because of the incident on QF32, which was forced to turn back to Singapore following the explosion.

He said the cause of the engine failure was still being investigated, but it appeared likely to be a design problem.

Joyce, said Mr Purvinas was wrong, and that he and the Union had demonstrated yet again that he was prepared to go to any lengths to further his industrial agenda.
“It is clearly too soon to speculate on the cause of yesterday’s engine failure,” Mr Joyce said.

“Regardless, Steve Purvinas continues to peddle prejudices and generalisations about aircraft maintenance and safety in the knowledge that his claims will more than likely go unchallenged. “The engineers he has referred to in a number of media interviews today are employed by QantasLink in Brisbane and are involved in ongoing enterprise agreement negotiations. Six employees were directed not to attend work last week, on full pay, while a disciplinary matter is appropriately investigated. This has nothing to do with our A380 fleet.”

“Mr Purvinas also continues to raise overseas aircraft maintenance as though this was something only Qantas was not allowed to pursue. The overwhelming majority of our aircraft maintenance is undertaken in Australia, and he knows this.

“We operate an international airline and aircraft that are manufactured overseas so it is inevitable some need to be serviced overseas and that has always been the case.
“The A380 involved in the Singapore incident recently underwent its first heavy maintenance check by Lufthansa Technik in Germany. Lufthansa is a leading international airline, a top tier engineering and maintenance provider and an operator of the A380 itself. Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines are overhauled at
Rolls-Royce facilities.

“To suggest that Lufthansa and Rolls-Royce do not have the expertise and experience to undertake the highest quality aircraft and checks is ludicrous.
“All Mr Purvinas is interested in grabbing is a headline, regardless to the damage to the reputation of Qantas and its employees including members of his own union”
Mr Joyce also confirmed that Qantas met all the requirements of two Airworthiness Directives (ADs) applying to the Trent 900 engine.

“We take compliance with any Airworthiness Directives extremely seriously,” he said. “Two ADs applied to the Trent 900 engines we use on our A380s. One is no longer relevant to Qantas following an engine modification, and we are fully compliant with the other. Any claim otherwise would be wrong.

A short while ago Qantas said that the Qantas B747-400 dispatched as a relief flight last night to Singapore to bring passengers affected by yesterday’s QF32 engine failure was scheduled to depart Singapore at 10.30am local time. QF8032 is expected to arrive in Sydney at 8.45pm tonight.

Qantas continues to provide assistance to customers affected by the temporary suspension of A380 operations, including hotel accommodation, where needed, and meals, as arrangements are made to get people on flights as soon as possible. All available Qantas aircraft capacity is being used and the airline is also in discussions with other carriers regarding aircraft charter options in addition to the QF10 charter listed below.

Qantas continues to work with Rolls-Royce and Airbus to fully understand the circumstances surrounding the engine failure ahead of taking the first steps toward to resuming operations. It is still too soon to be able to provide an indication of when this might be.