COVID-19 updates comments and concerns

[griffin]

With international travel unlikely to return to pre-virus levels for at least 2-4 years AFTER a vaccine is distributed across the globe (which itself would take a couple of years to produce and administer), a number of international airlines who had those giant double-decker A-380 planes, are retiring them, after little more than a decade of operation.
QANTAS got their first one in September 2008, and I believe they were one of the first airlines to get them, and not many airlines ended up buying them due to the GFC that hit at that time, so I imagine a lot of the US and European airlines had to cancel their orders at the time, which is why we didn't see as many of them as was expected, as they were said to be the replacement for the 747. I remember many airports having to upgrade to cater to the larger A380, as their runways or gates/skybridges weren't able to accommodate them.

With the virus preventing almost all international travel, and with smaller fuel-efficient aircraft now available from Boeing and Airbus, I would imagine that the A380 is unlikely to be seen in the skies again, because by the time there are passenger numbers to fill them, airlines would have replaced their older planes with the more economical planes that can fly further.

I don't think I would have ever been able to afford (or want to) pay for a first class flight across to the other side of the world, but I'd always dreamed about one day being able to fly in the top level of an A380 or 747.
As someone who has done a fair bit of international travel thanks to botcon, I'm a bit nostalgic about the big iconic aircraft that I've been on over the last few years... but I guess they'll just be something that lives in our memories and images, like the concord. I doubt there would be too many aircraft museums around the world wanting to waste a lot of space for one of these, just for a few people a year to look at in person.



That was the one Demonac and I took from Melbourne to LA in 2009, for BotCon. I was just so amazed at how massive it was, and it's engines, from being up so close to it. You're sitting in it as it runs down the runway, wondering how is this massive beast able to get off the ground... and yet it does.

[Ralph Wiggum]

The A380 was already on the decline before Covid-19, no doubt this is the final nail in the coffin. As you?ve stated, Airbus underestimated the impact of more fuel efficient planes like the Dreamliner.

I?ve flown in the A380 a few times, in economy. I will miss the mini bar in the middle where you could help yourself to a drink/snacks. As an aside, I?ve flown in the top section of the 747 on one occasion in business class. You gotta try business at least once

[kovert]

That was the one Demonac and I took from Melbourne to LA in 2009, for BotCon. I was just so amazed at how massive it was, and it's engines, from being up so close to it. You're sitting in it as it runs down the runway, wondering how is this massive beast able to get off the ground... and yet it does.

The aircraft in the photo looks like VH-OQA ('Nancy-Bird Walton'). The aircraft is notable as a result of an uncontained engine failure over Indonesia in November 2010 during a London to Sydney flight ('QF-32').

[griffin]

The aircraft in the photo looks like VH-OQA ('Nancy-Bird Walton'). The aircraft is notable as a result of an uncontained engine failure over Indonesia in November 2010 during a London to Sydney flight ('QF-32').

Wow... I did not know that.
Fortunately we were on it 18 months earlier, so it was flying around a lot after we were on it... but it makes you think, what if.

Looking up this article online, that particular A380 was the first one QANTAS received from Airbus, which made it the symbolic flagship of their fleet.

SEPT 2008 - first A380 plane arrives in Australia (which is this one).
May 25th 2009 - we are on the plane to America.
NOV 4th 2010 - engine explodes from Singapore to Sydney.
APR 24th 2012 - plane finally arrives in Sydney after repairs in Singapore.

Looks like QANTAS only ended up with 12 A380s, which makes sense, as it was only being used for their flights to New York and London, which would mean 3 or 4 flying each way at any one time.

[kovert]

Interesting article, Griffin. The ATSB investigation concluded that an improperly manufactured stub pipe (which had developed 'fatigue cracking') within the engine caused the failure. This means it could have happened at any time.

[DELTAprime]

Yeah, Qantas used Rolls Royce engines in its A380s. The stub pipe was poorly designed by Rolls because of how incredibly thin the pipe walls were. Could have happened on any A380 at any time using Rolls Royce engines.

[griffin]

That's why I was so amazed when I found out, that it was a ticking timebomb, and really could have happened at any time. It was just so lucky that the incident occurred so close to Singapore... if it had happened over the pacific ocean on the way to America, the outcome would have been a lot different.


Speaking of America... since I have a vested interest in their response to the virus as I want to return there at some point soon if they start up conventions again next year... the country will officially pass 100,000 deaths in the next few days, and the rate isn't really slowing down. With most states now a week or two being re-opened, several of them have seen an increase in cases in the last few days.
The problem is that a lot of people are back out in public, in crowds, and refusing to wear a mask, which is proven to be the best preventative measure (I don't know why we didn't have it introduced here as a compulsory measure).

How do you expect the general population to adhere to safety measures if their head of state doesn't set a good example for them to follow... refusing to wear a mask in public, shaking hands with others, claiming that the virus is a hoax or overblown, being in close proximity to others without a mask, relying on a drug that isn't proven to prevent catching the virus, and out playing golf this weekend while thousands of doctors and nurses are getting sick and dying while trying to save lives that didn't need to be at risk in the first place.

Even though I've stopped pointing out all of the bad things their president does, due to people reminding me that this site should be avoiding political discussion... it is just impossible to not comment on the ongoing train-wreck that is the USA at the moment, and seeing how different it would have been if someone else was in charge that cared more about their citizens than their fortune. These are people, human beings that are dying, or knows someone who has died, and politicians on both sides are too busy fighting among themselves... or golfing. (just like our prime minister choosing to stay in hawaii during the bush fires)

America has the world's largest economy and the largest military (spending), so they had the resources to contain this virus to levels better than us here in Australia... they just didn't have a united, bi-partisan leadership to develop a strategy and support each other to stick to it. So not only did they re-open before most of their states were seeing a drop in cases, but the message from the president is that if case numbers do go back up, there will be no second lockdown. I think they are "all in" on the belief that there will be a vaccine before the end of the year.... and if that doesn't happen in the next 4-6 months, the only future the USA has with this virus, is to create a herd immunity (like Sweden), and expect a lot more people to die (mostly the elderly, the poor and the non-white).

A vaccine is pretty much the only way any of us will get to attend a future BotCon or convention in general in America.

[Tha_Phantom]

From Sydney Morning Herald. I would have linked an article but it's part of a longer news thread on there.

Human trials have begun for a COVID-19 vaccine at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, it has been announced this morning.

The trials, the first in the southern hemisphere, will test a vaccine developed by US biotech company Novovax.

“Administering our vaccine in the first participants of this clinical trial is a significant achievement, bringing us one step closer toward addressing the fundamental need for a vaccine in the fight against the global Covid?19 pandemic,” Stanley C. Erck, Novovax CEO and president said in a statement to Forbes.

Roughly 131 people aged 18 to 59 will take part in the trial.

Results are expected in July 2020.

The vaccine is one of over 100 vaccines currently being developed across the world.

I'm surprised we can get results as soon as July, although not really sure what that means exactly.

[griffin]

With international travel unlikely to return to pre-virus levels for at least 2-4 years AFTER a vaccine is distributed across the globe (which itself would take a couple of years to produce and administer), a number of international airlines who had those giant double-decker A-380 planes, are retiring them, after little more than a decade of operation.
QANTAS got their first one in September 2008, and I believe they were one of the first airlines to get them, and not many airlines ended up buying them due to the GFC that hit at that time, so I imagine a lot of the US and European airlines had to cancel their orders at the time, which is why we didn't see as many of them as was expected, as they were said to be the replacement for the 747. I remember many airports having to upgrade to cater to the larger A380, as their runways or gates/skybridges weren't able to accommodate them.

With the virus preventing almost all international travel, and with smaller fuel-efficient aircraft now available from Boeing and Airbus, I would imagine that the A380 is unlikely to be seen in the skies again, because by the time there are passenger numbers to fill them, airlines would have replaced their older planes with the more economical planes that can fly further.

I don't think I would have ever been able to afford (or want to) pay for a first class flight across to the other side of the world, but I'd always dreamed about one day being able to fly in the top level of an A380 or 747.
As someone who has done a fair bit of international travel thanks to botcon, I'm a bit nostalgic about the big iconic aircraft that I've been on over the last few years... but I guess they'll just be something that lives in our memories and images, like the concord. I doubt there would be too many aircraft museums around the world wanting to waste a lot of space for one of these, just for a few people a year to look at in person.

Today, after about 50 years of QANTAS using Boeing 747 planes, they were officially retired from service, with a special commemorative flight around the skies of Sydney.

Nothing lasts for ever, but to me it was the type of plane I would fly to America for most of my 17 trips over there (at least 30 flights in total), and I just can't imagine seeing any other red-tailed QANTAS plane flying me there. The 747 was the iconic long-haul workhorse of QANTAS that most foreigners would recognise as a QANTAS plane, because it was the type of plane that would be seen with the red kangaroo tail in most countries outside of the nearby Asian region.
I'm sad that I'll never fly one again, as they have a completely different feel to them to other planes, because they had a wider body, so it felt less cramped or claustrophobic. It's overall size and the central galley blocks and toilet blocks, meant that it had the look of compartments, to break up the large economy cabin, compared to a more narrower body that has you looking over the entire Economy section, to remind you that you are stuck in an enclosed space with hundreds of people.
I also love the feeling you get of the bigger, heavier aircraft when it takes off and lands... it just feels so powerful and massive, which I don't feel in their other aircraft.

[griffin]

21 cases now found from a location in the south of Sydney, and it was a very public place from 9 days ago... which means it will be spreading faster than it can be tracked.
It is suspected to be from someone in Victoria, due to it being in a transit corridor... so the original infected person could have been travelling anywhere.

I guess it looks like NSW will be locking down again soon, and the QLD premier will no doubt want to close our border again, as she was pretty strict on the closure last time (which only opened 3 days ago). If the NSW infections came from interstate travellers from Victoria, other states will be wanting to prevent that happening to them... and even a partially open border is risky, as there were already about a hundred people trying to sneak into QLD from Victoria, by claiming that they weren't from Victoria. That sort of blind selfish stupidity is probably how it spread to NSW.
It only took two weeks for Victoria to go back into lockdown after the virus spike started, so those people wanting a rushed return to open borders and businesses, are just making sure everything closes back down a few weeks later.


My furniture warehouse workplace ended up offloading half of its staff, up from about 20% that I was first being told. Two months ago they were looking at the option of having the place closed one day a week, and the staff would end up with a 20% pay-cut from that missing day each week... so I don't know why they didn't use that option first, because they would be cutting costs and keep all of the jobkeeper money from the government. This option of cutting half of the staff may have saved them a fair bit of money, but now they have lost tens of thousands of dollars of "revenue" each week that they are no longer getting from the government, from all of those people they let go that the government is no longer paying the company to keep.
I must be missing something there. Surely cost cutting that ends up cutting their operating revenue significantly when they already have sluggish sales, would be a more dangerous thing to do for the business. Because if their cash-flow takes a big hit all of sudden like this, it will make their budgets outlays look really red all of a sudden, and areas of the business, or creditors, that require regular payments could then suffer.