Australian Aviation Podcast Network

This week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison finally revealed that Australia's last international borders restrictions would be eased, allowing double-jabbed tourists and other visa holders back into the country. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, hosts Adam Thorn and Hannah Dowling excitedly discuss the move, and what this means for travellers and airlines alike. Plus, the crew talks about the latest blow-up between Qantas boss Alan Joyce and WA Premier Mark McGowan, over the western state's indefinite hard border. Finally, the team reveals Google Wing's latest development, dropping KFC directly to front doors via drone.

This week, the Prime Minister hinted that tourism is soon to be back on the cards for Australia, while Qantas faced the Fair Work Commission again over its ongoing pay dispute with its international cabin crew. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, hosts Adam Thorn and Hannah Dowling discuss the Prime Minister's announcement, and what this could mean for local and foreign airlines. Plus, the crew debate Qantas' desire to lock in the return of Perth-London flights, or risk losing their direct London route altogether. Finally, the team reveals the details of a robbery gone wrong at Mackay Airport, after a man abandoned his plans to steal a helicopter, for a high-speed getaway on a tractor.

This week, the Western Australia government backflipped on its promise to reopen its borders on 5 February, while Queensland opened its international border for the first time since March 2020. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, hosts Adam Thorn and Hannah Dowling discuss the current border situation, as well as changing entry requirements for international travellers coming to Australia. Plus, the team reveals the details of an ongoing feud between Qantas and its international cabin crew over post-pandemic pay and working conditions. Finally, the crew talks about the historic Victors Vimy making its way to its new home inside Adelaide Airport.

This week, Qantas swiftly followed in Virgin Australia's footsteps to announce it has been forced to slash capacity by up to 30 per cent from January through to March due to the current COVID outbreak. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Adam Thorn and reporter Hannah Dowling discuss the decision and the struggle for airlines in navigating the current operating environment. Plus, the crew reveals the latest updates in Australia's journey towards electric air taxi travel, with new and exciting deals taking place across the country, as well as Queensland's dwindling vaccination rollout and Western Australia's plans to reopen. Finally, the crew reveals the details of a new Australian start-up hoping to change up the LEO satellite game with their supersonic space plane.

After a brief period of open borders, this week, airlines have again been forced to cancel hundreds of flights and slash their flight schedules as the Omicron surge continues to send staff into isolation. In this episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Adam Thorn and reporter Hannah Dowling discuss Virgin's proactive decision to announce dramatic flight schedule changes amid ongoing staff shortages, that are sure to be similarly impacting the other airlines. Plus, the team talks about Qantas' major decision to pivot away from previously preferred planemaker Boeing, and head towards a nearly all-Airbus fleet over the next two decades. Finally, Adam eagerly raises the topic of Labour's new plan to make the lucrative Golden Triangle redundant, by means of high-speed rail.

As the news cycle begins to slowly but surely pivot away from constant COVID-19 reporting, the ideas of sustainability, electric aircraft and urban air mobility solutions have once again emerged as key themes in 2021. In this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Hannah Dowling sits down with David Rottblatt, the vice-president of business development at Eve Urban Air Mobility – an Embraer subsidiary focused on bringing electric air taxis to the mainstream. David and Hannah discuss the current state of play in the global air taxi market, how far we are from seeing eVTOL taxis flying overhead, where we can expect the rollout of such technologies to be focused on and the opportunities of flying taxi technologies in growing cities. The two also discuss Eve's major focus on the Australian market, its growing myriad of partnerships with local Aussie SMEs – more of which have been announced since this episode was recorded – and what this means for the future of eVTOLs in Australia.

What's it like to be a senior executive in a major international airline when a once-in-a-century pandemic grounds the industry In this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, Singapore's regional manager for public affairs, Karl Schubert, talks host Adam Thorn through the dramatic moments the team made the crunch decisions. He reveals why the airline kept flying despite low demand and stringent arrival caps, whether COVID was worse than they thought and whether he thinks the industry will bounce back to 2019 levels. Finally, the pair discuss the future of the A380. Can it really survive in a world of smaller long-haul aircraft?

In this special episode of the Australian Aviation Podcast, host Adam Thorn talks to Bell Flight's Terry Miyauchi, who previously headed up Arizona Police's Aviation Unit. The former pilot discusses how law enforcement agencies use helicopters in 2021 and how the technology onboard has evolved over the years. Plus, he explains why both emergency services and defence still favour the Bell 429, which first flew more than a decade ago. Finally, with drone uptake increasing and electric aircraft on the horizon, what is the future of parapublic aviation?