Australian Aviation Podcast Network

Mar 04 2025 324 ep. 38 mins 425

Australian Aviation Podcast Network artwork

The official podcast network of Australian Aviation – where we unpack all the latest insights and developments plus the big issues impacting Australia’s aviation sector.

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Qantas threads the needle

Mar 04 2025 45 mins

Since the departure of Alan Joyce in late 2023, new Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has largely eschewed her predecessor’s bombastic camera-friendly style, instead keeping her head down and focused on rebuilding Australia’s trust in the Flying Kangaroo. Passenger experience has become the watchword, with the recent announcement of another solid half-yearly profit being accompanied by

Is it third time lucky for MH370 searchers?

Feb 26 2025 55 mins

More than 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 in the Indian Ocean, the plane has yet to be found despite two search efforts – and the families of those who lost their lives still have no answers. But a new search effort, led by Ocean Infinity, has once again raised hopes that the wreckage may yet be uncovered – this time, by examining fou

How GE Aerospace is innovating towards a sustainable future

Feb 23 2025 37 mins

In this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Adam Thorn speaks with Jeff Shaknaitis, the customer sustainability leader at GE Aerospace, about the industry's push toward net-zero emissions by 2050. Jeff shares his career journey and how his passion for sustainability led him to play a key role in GE’s efforts to help airlines decarbonise, including its groundb

Is Rex on the road to nationalisation?

Feb 18 2025 62 mins

As Rex has limped on in administration over the past half-year, with prospects for a sale dimming, the question has occasionally been asked: might the government step in more forcefully to keep its essential services in the air? Now we have our answer: if the administrators can’t find a buyer, the government is looking at the option to buy Rex itself, which would make the carrier

Who will win Virgin’s ‘game of planes’?

Feb 11 2025 31 mins

The news came like an assassin in the night: Paul Jones, the long-rumoured frontrunner to replace Jayne Hrdlicka as CEO of Virgin Australia, was out of contention following pushback by the powerful TWU. With no further word on who might be under consideration for the top job – and with Hrdlicka still saying she intends to leave the airline – when might we know who will sit in t

Is the wait almost over on Virgin’s Qatar deal?

Feb 04 2025 59 mins

It’s been a few months since the announcement of one of the biggest deals in recent Australian commercial aviation history: the purchase of 25 per cent of Virgin Australia by Qatar Airways, and with it, the return of Virgin international wide-body services through a wet-lease agreement for flights to Doha. Approval for those services currently rests with the International Air Ser

The Boomerang’s comeback

Jan 28 2025 22 mins

The Spitfire, the Hurricane, the Kittyhawk – when asked to name the fighter planes that won World War II, most people would place these legendary machines high on the list. Yet largely absent from these lofty histories is the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation’s CA-13 Boomerang – Australia’s home-grown fighter plane, adapted from a training aircraft design and deployed in th

Has Koala already fallen out of the tree?

Jan 21 2025 45 mins

In the wake of Bonza’s collapse and Rex’s administration last year, another prospective domestic carrier – Koala Airlines – was suddenly garnering media attention despite not yet having aircraft or a clear business plan. While its website, filled with glossy renders of 737 MAX 8s, promised to “carve out a unique niche” in Australia’s aviation sector, a winding-up appl

Are we ready for the next Black Summer?

Jan 14 2025 46 mins

As water bombers try to contain the dramatic wildfires besieging Los Angeles, there are fresh warnings that longer fire seasons overseas may prevent other countries from sending their firefighting aircraft to help Australia in future. Though the bushfire seasons since 2019–20’s Black Summer have been comparatively mild, it’s likely only a matter of time before the conditions

South Korea crash puts safety back in the spotlight

Jan 07 2025 41 mins

Last year ended in another aviation tragedy, with the horror crash of Jeju Air flight 7C2216 in Muan, South Korea, killing all but two people on board. As investigators sift through the plane’s wreckage and the black boxes to figure out what went wrong, light aircraft crashes closer to home are raising questions about whether our own transport safety watchdog, the ATSB, should e