It’s an auspicious episode given it’s aligned to the mighty Boeing Triple-7 aircraft (the originals, not the -X :) ) but the main news is that the boys are very happy to report that George Morgan, the surviving co-founder of GippsAero, has purchased the company back from Mahindra Aerospace. His plans are to re-activate refurbishments and rebuilds of the GA-8 Airvan fleet with a goal of reviving production. Great news indeed!
Sadly, it’s not so great news for Bonza’s passengers in Darwin who were expecting to fly to the Gold Coast, only to discover that their flight was cancelled at the last minute and, in fact, the commencement of the Darwin to Gold Coast route has been pushed back to January. Fuming passengers report less than stellar responses from Bonza’s only way of getting customer service: via the Bonza app. Is this an indication of general troubles ahead for Bonza? Are they repeating Tiger Airways Australia‘s mistakes of trying to grow too quickly? We sure hope not.
Meanwhile, Virgin Australia are increasing their 737 MAX-8 order up to 14 airframes. Announced on the day their third MAX-8 arrived, VA joins Bonza as the only two domestic operators of the MAX-8 in Australia, as Qantas is planning to replace their 737 fleet with A320s.
Staying with Virgin Australia, they’ve rekindled their relationship with Air New Zealand through a new codeshare agreement that will allow VA pax to cross the Tasman on AirNZ aircraft. This will bring more passengers to AirNZ and give VA frequent flyers the opportunity to earn those all important Status Credits as they cross the ditch. Grant just wants to know where the hell was this agreement five months ago when he was booking his flights to NZ for September and had to fly Qantas.
The boys wrap the episode with Steve possibly offending our Kiwi audience, much to Grant’s dismay. Remember, you can always use IamReallyOffended@Yahoo.com if you want to tell Steve how annoying and/or wrong he was…
Episode 743: Taking the MRH-90 for a drink
After a busy couple of weeks, the guys are back in the studio as Grant recovers from another weekend of air show commentary duties, this time at Benalla, 130 miles north of Melbourne. We discuss the role these regional air shows play in terms of promoting the importance and fun of aviation in the community.
Meanwhile, the Army’s fleet of MRH-90 Taipan helicopters has been temporarily grounded following an incident this week. The crew of a Taipan conducting a special forces training exercise off Jervis Bay, 200km south of Sydney, had to ditch their aircraft after it appeared to lose power. Only minor injuries were sustained by some on-board, and the aircraft was successfully recovered. An investigation is now underway,
Staying with military, Northrop Grumman Australia’s newly-modernised Brisbane Maintenance and Modification Centre (BMMC) has been officially re-opened; a major facility for the sustainment of the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) aviation capability. Northrop Grumman has invested $20 million in the BMMC project and the facility conducts continuous through life support to RAAF fleets including its six KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and 10 C-27J Spartan transport aircraft, and will provide jobs for around 100 people.
And across the Ditch in New Zealand, Bevan Dewes’ immaculately restored, former Royal New Zealand Air Force Harvard Mk.IIa (NZ1044) landed at its new home in Masterton, New Zealand on March 19th, 2023 following a three-year rebuild effort with Twenty24 Ltd, at Wanaka. Registered as ZK-OTU, the aircraft made its first post-restoration flight from Wanaka on March 10th.