# Huge airliners stored in Mojave Desert in the USA



## Guest (Jun 27, 2020)

Qantas, our national Australian carrier, has just announced that some of its A380 fleet will lie in limbo in the Mojave Desert until 2023. This news is absolutely devastating and beyond alarming. Billions and billions of other peoples' dollars lying around idle is going to have huge worldwide consequences. Even the usually upbeat Managing Director of Qantas was deeply disturbed at a press conference this week. He'd finally turned our flagship carrier into a profit-making business within the last 2 years, and now this!! I'm heartsick about all of it. (The only silver lining is that we won't have to hear about equity, diversity and inclusion again for a very long time.)

https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...t/news-story/cb9daedb9eea2aca106266eb956c66e8


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Christabel said:


> Qantas, our national Australian carrier, has just announced that some of its A380 fleet will lie in limbo in the Mojave Desert until 2023. This news is absolutely devastating and beyond alarming. Billions and billions of other peoples' dollars lying around idle is going to have huge worldwide consequences. Even the usually upbeat Managing Director of Qantas was deeply disturbed at a press conference this week. He'd finally turned our flagship carrier into a profit-making business within the last 2 years, and now this!! I'm heartsick about all of it. (The only silver lining is that we won't have to hear about equity, diversity and inclusion again for a very long time.)
> 
> https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...t/news-story/cb9daedb9eea2aca106266eb956c66e8


I inherited a car from my late brother, a nice mid-price-range luxury car, one of his very few indulgences, as he died broke and destitute.

The car had spent the winter outside in northern California, until my sister rescued it and brought it to reside in her backyard for the summer in Las Vegas.

The elements certainly took a toll on it.

But that's just an automobile.

I can't imagine flying in a plane after it's spent a summer exposed to extreme dry heat.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

There is another huge area for aircraft storage in the Arizona desert:










Coming back to the Mojave desert, you can also find 300,000 Volkswagen diesel cars, bought back from owners, neatly parked near Victorville:


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

In reading the article I came across this paragraph.



> The dry environment of the desert is a favourite climate for storing aircraft and means they can stay in good condition and relatively quickly be brought back into service. Singapore Airlines has stored a clutch of its A380s in Alice Springs.


It must be maddening for Australians to have Quantas view their deserts as somehow second class. I mean, think of the cost of sending those jets to the Mojave when there is a perfectly good wasteland in your back yard. "I've been everywhere, except Alice Springs."


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2020)

pianozach said:


> I inherited a car from my late brother, a nice mid-price-range luxury car, one of his very few indulgences, as he died broke and destitute.
> 
> The car had spent the winter outside in northern California, until my sister rescued it and brought it to reside in her backyard for the summer in Las Vegas.
> 
> ...


My sentiments EXACTLY. I don't imagine any airline could afford maintenance going forward from economic wipe-out. This will unfold in all its horror in time.

I've very sorry to learn about your brother; it must be very painful for you to contemplate that what is left of his legacy is 4 wheels and some painted steel/aluminium in not very good condition. Life is often harsh and cruel - just like the desert climate hosting arguably our greatest single invention apart from the computer.


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2020)

Room2201974 said:


> In reading the article I came across this paragraph.
> 
> It must be maddening for Australians to have Quantas view their deserts as somehow second class. I mean, think of the cost of sending those jets to the Mojave when there is a perfectly good wasteland in your back yard. "I've been everywhere, except Alice Springs."


Alice Springs is a *tiny* airport. "I've been everywhere"; yes, not a bad old song from back in the day. I'm glad I sold my Qantas shares years ago.






I note that the A380 has very little useful life left in it because of smaller, more fuel-efficient aircraft. Emirates still uses them (am I the last person left who uses verbs for collective nouns?) - but for how much longer I don't know. I've flown on them twice to Dubai (en route Europe) in Business Class and once in Economy. Their Business class section (Emirates) is stunning and a wonderful experience. (Business Class lounges also first rate - and super clean.) The Economy section (downstairs, front of plane) was surprisingly roomy and we could get up to do exercises against the rear bulkhead with great ease. My experience was helped by the fact that nobody was sitting next to me, there and back. What was unpleasant was Economy in a Boeing 777 from Dubai to Hamburg. Death by a thousand cuts.

I'll personally be very upset, even if the industry survives intact, to see these marvellous birds of the sky retired out of service. You're sitting about 3 storeys up in Business Class on the Emirates A380 and to think those things actually lift off the ground; it never ceases to amaze me. Never.

Here's the song, "I've been Everywhere" - which is a satire on Australian place names:


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

A-380 production is ceasing, and final deliveries will be next year. A beautiful plane but a meager market for it. When the announcement was made, the economics people pointed out that sales would be far below the break-even point, and that the owners would experience a huge financial reverse.


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## Guest (Jun 28, 2020)

KenOC said:


> A-380 production is ceasing, and final deliveries will be next year. A beautiful plane but a meager market for it. When the announcement was made, the economics people pointed out that sales would be far below the break-even point, and that the owners would experience a huge financial reverse.


*Emirates have the business model for it*: long-haul flights to a hub (Dubai) and then a change/feed to other countries, often in the Boeing 777 or similar. Dubai airport is absolutely huge (which I don't like) and all the planes on those tarmacs have "Emirates" written on their livery. They do still convey passengers to London, Paris, Oslo, Munich with A380s. I've never been on an empty A380. Indeed in our two trips to Europe in Business class those planes had 500 people on board!! I think Etihad and (the other name I've forgotten) do have some A380s out of Australia but Emirates is by far the biggest.

Boeing has been very badly affected, as we now know. It has a HUGE workforce in Seattle. My son was due to go there in 2018 with his boss (the then Treasurer, now PM, of Australia). Unfortunately my son ended up with food poisoning and couldn't accompany the boss on the tour of the plant. A big disappointment, apart from the horrible sickness.

It strikes me as more than passing strange that we are talking about the cessation of production for the A380 when the 40 something year old 747 is still in service!!!


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Christabel said:


> My sentiments EXACTLY. I don't imagine any airline could afford maintenance going forward from economic wipe-out. This will unfold in all its horror in time.
> 
> I've very sorry to learn about your brother; it must be very painful for you to contemplate that what is left of his legacy is 4 wheels and some painted steel/aluminium in not very good condition. Life is often harsh and cruel - just like the desert climate hosting arguably our greatest single invention apart from the computer.


Thanks.

My brother and I rarely talked. We had nothing in common. He was my hero until I was about 18, and then it dawned on me that he wasn't the type of person with which I wanted to spend any time.

I appreciate that he opened my ears to additional types of music I wouldn't have normally have listened to, but that was so very long ago.

Even after his death, there was a box of CDs in the trunk, some of which I had burned for him. Lots of garage band rock, and reggae.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

pianozach said:


> Thanks.
> 
> My brother and I rarely talked. We had nothing in common. He was my hero until I was about 18, and then it dawned on me that he wasn't the type of person with which I wanted to spend any time.
> 
> ...


I assume from what you say that he wasn't young when he died. At least that's something. How sad that people from the same family turn out so differently that they have nothing in common; we have that same situation with our own children, one of whom has recently suffered a mental breakdown (lost his business, thanks to Covid-19) and will not seek urgent help. It's an unfolding horror.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Christabel said:


> ...It strikes me as more than passing strange that we are talking about the cessation of production for the A380 when the 40 something year old 747 is still in service!!!


It looks like the 747 is wrapping up as well, with only a few orders oustanding and those scheduled for delivery ending in 2022. But it was a good run, for sure!

Boeing is famous for saying that each time they come out with a new airliner, they're betting the company. The 737 Max may prove that wrong, since it's evidently close to solving its problems and getting re-certified. As a previous denizen of Seattle, I hope they get their act together and learn to avoid the evident hubris that led to their recent problems and the resulting loss of aircraft and the deaths of passengers.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

Great comments, Ken. I concur. The 737 Max is being trumped (cough) by the newer Airbus A320: they've already sold a lot. I'm told the 787 "_Dreamliner_" is causing problems too for Boeing. Something to do with computers and/or circuitry? A fellow who worked for Boeing was interviewed a few months ago and said there were multiple such problems waiting for a disaster with Boeing!! We were worried.

We flew to Auckland, NZ, in 2018 on a "Dreamliner" in Business Class. There was room enough for a small group of people from our row to the one in front and the plane was *SUPER* quiet - at the pointy end anyway. The cabin crew told us the plane was going in for re-configuration of its Business class - similar to the pod system on Emirates et. al. Obviously it was going to be able to fit more people into Business. This must be an extremely costly re-fit but, as Business effectively pays the airline's way, this is understandable. The airline was Latam from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland - superb Chilean cabin crew (and so handsome!).

Planes are an interest of mine and the spouse. We are such tragic that when we stay overnight at the airport hotel in Sydney we ask for the top floor so we can watch air traffic!!! On the last trip (to NZ) a bad storm came up and the airport lights all went out; nothing but pitch black for about 20 minutes!! What if there was a plane waiting to land and with little fuel??


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

KenOC said:


> It looks like the 747 is wrapping up as well, with only a few orders oustanding and those scheduled for delivery ending in 2022. But it was a good run, for sure!
> 
> Boeing is famous for saying that each time they come out with a new airliner, they're betting the company. The 737 Max may prove that wrong, since it's evidently close to solving its problems and getting re-certified. As a previous denizen of Seattle, I hope they get their act together and learn to avoid the evident hubris that led to their recent problems and the resulting loss of aircraft and the deaths of passengers.


They didn't "come out with a new airliner!" They went cheap because they were afraid or unwilling to bet on a new airliner. Instead they tried to solve the mismatch of the new engines and their necessary placement with the air frame of the 737 by compensating with software. They knew they should have redesigned the plane from scratch. Instead of spending capital on this, they used it for stock buy backs.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

EdwardBast said:


> They didn't "come out with a new airliner!" They went cheap because they were afraid to bet on a new airliner. Instead they tried to solve the mismatch of the new engines and their necessary placement with the air frame of the 737 by compensating with software. They knew they should have redesigned the plane from scratch. Instead of spending capital on this, they used it for stock buy backs.


That is correct. I read an article written by a pilot/journalist which described how this was not at its heart a problem with software, but a problem that came about because the Boeing 737 Max is the first airliner which is not aerodynamically stable, and which _requires_ software for stable flight. One stability criteria that has been traditionally applied to passenger jets is they are neutral with respect to thrust; when you increase thrust the attitude of the airframe tends to stay the same. The geometry required to fit the new bigger engine on the old airframe results in an aircraft that goes nose up when thrust is increased, requiring software compensation in the 737 max which is not needed on the 737.

As far as I am concerned, the statement that the problem is fixed is bad news. The 737 max should be scrapped.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Baron Scarpia said:


> As far as I am concerned, the statement that the problem is fixed is bad news. The 737 max should be scrapped.


Yep. All well and good to say it's fixed. (It certainly sounds better than "the ever-present danger of its catastrophic design flaw has been successfully mitigated - we hope.") But are people going to want to fly on it? Are airlines going to want to buy it? Boeing's ongoing self-destruction is symptomatic of the short term thinking of U.S. corporations. They chose pumping up their share prices over the company's fundamental mission of building sound aircraft. Pumping the stock and dumping hundreds of passengers into the ocean is not an economically viable plan. I'm sure we'll all be bailing them out soon.

On the plus side, I'm sure rows of 737-Max planes in the desert will make a stunning art installation.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

EdwardBast said:


> Yep. All well and good to say it's fixed. (It certainly sounds better than "the ever-present danger of its catastrophic design flaw has been successfully mitigated - we hope.") But are people going to want to fly on it? Are airlines going to want to buy it? Boeing's ongoing self-destruction is symptomatic of the short term thinking of U.S. corporations. They chose pumping up their share prices over the company's fundamental mission of building sound aircraft. Pumping the stock and dumping hundreds of passengers into the ocean is not an economically viable plan. I'm sure we'll all be bailing them out soon.
> 
> On the plus side, I'm sure rows of 737-Max planes in the desert will make a stunning art installation.


Have to say that I wouldn't be overjoyed at buying a plane ticket and finding out the plane will be a 737-Max. I think what I'll do in future will be to choose airlines that only have Airbus fleets.


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

EdwardBast said:


> On the plus side, I'm sure rows of 737-Max planes in the desert will make a stunning art installation.


But too late to be wrapped up by "land artist" *Christo*! 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christo_and_Jeanne-Claude


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

I remember Bill Gates saying off the cuff in an interview that Win98(?) was more complex and complicated than the circuitry in a 747. And that's why they were having so any 'issues' with their offerings..

added :
oops! My memory is not dependable. Here's the reference to it;


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

Luchesi said:


> I remember Bill Gates saying off the cuff in an interview that Win98(?) was more complex and complicated than the circuitry in a 747. And that's why they were having so any 'issues' with their offerings..
> 
> added :
> oops! My memory is not dependable. Here's the reference to it;
> ...


All to reproduce the functionality that Unix had 20 years before. 

I'm only half kidding. Bragging about how complicated your product is is not a great strategy. I remember an ad by Canon in the 1970's bragging that their latest camera had 5 times as many parts as a Nikon F. All the more reason to buy a Nikon F!


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## Guest (Jun 29, 2020)

EdwardBast said:


> They didn't "come out with a new airliner!" They went cheap because they were afraid or unwilling to bet on a new airliner. Instead they tried to solve the mismatch of the new engines and their necessary placement with the air frame of the 737 by compensating with software. They knew they should have redesigned the plane from scratch. Instead of spending capital on this, they used it for stock buy backs.


This is probably pretty accurate. The problems are continuing and horrendous and I wonder if the company will survive, to be honest.

And the 'insider' who was interviewed on TV over the problems with Boeing claimed recently that spare parts were being routinely used which didn't necessarily match individual aircraft. He said the wiring configuration on the 737 "Max" and the 787 "Dreamliner" would cause trouble. I haven't had a reason to fly outside Australia since December, 2018, but I won't be travelling other than domestic again anyway (mostly Airbus). My passport has expired anyway and I'm not renewing it.

I can't laugh about the 'art installation' when so many thousands of Australians are unemployed because of grounded airlines and unlikely to return to work (if at all, for many of them) until 2023. Not to mention the billions and billions of dollars of "OPM" (other people's money) being trashed. No economic progressive can tolerate this. Very very disturbing.


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2020)

*Qantas brings forward last Boeing 747 flight*
First designed in the 1960s, the Boeing 747 is coming to the end of its service life for many airlines.

Qantas is set to bestow the sort of farewell normally afforded to retiring rock stars on its own Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747-400.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, plans to retire the iconic double-decker jets have been brought forward six months, with the last of the airline's 747s heading off to California's Mojave Desert on July 22.

With four engines and seating for 364 passengers, the 747s have become too big and too inefficient for the much leaner post-COVID airline industry, and Qantas can't see a use for them in the second half of the year.

But they will not go quietly, with Qantas scheduling a series of farewell "joy flights" in Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane in response to overwhelming demand.

Travellers will be able to pay for a seat on the flights, joining Qantas employees, with details of bookings to be made public next week.

Although the airline intended the fares would be enough to cover costs, it's understood any profits made from the flights will be donated to charity.

The farewell flights will signal the end of an era for Qantas which placed its first order for the Boeing 747 in 1967 and began operating the aircraft in 1971.

In the years that followed, Qantas flew almost every variant of the 747, including the 747-300, which introduced the extended upper deck, the 747-400 and 747-400ER (extended range). There was even a period when Qantas operated an all-747 fleet, from 1978 until 1985 when the first 767s came into service.

Overall, Qantas has operated 65 747s in the past 49 years, and used the aircraft on its recent "rescue" flights including two services from Wuhan in China.

There is also speculation the Airbus A380 could be soon to follow the 747s, with Qantas putting its fleet of 12 superjumbos into storage in the Mojave Desert for at least three years.

(The Australian)

I remember flying with Pan American to Los Angeles in the early 70s on a 747 on one of their earlier flights on the Pacific route. What a thrill it all was and we stopped at Nadi and then Honolulu - presumably for re-fuelling. After a stay in LA we flew across the USA to London - stopping in JFK - on a BOAC VC-10. Who can remember them? It was nicknamed "Hushpower" because the engines were at the rear on the tail but I renamed them "Crushpower" because of limited cabin space. This film is from the 1970s; I had forgotten about the navy and white BOAC livery:






I returned from Europe some months later on a Qantas 707 and we stopped in Rome, Frankfurt, Bahrain, Singapore, Perth and set down in Sydney. There might have also been a stop in India somewhere but my memory is rather hazy about those days. The 707 broke down in Bahrain and we spent hours in a tin shed, in searing heat, eating sandwiches wrapped up in cellophane.

Here's the Vickers VC-10 again. What a beautiful bird!!






My spouse is an airplane tragic; his first airshow was in 1957 at Farnborough!! He has flown on the Lockheed Super Constellation from Fiji to Australia in the mid-late 1950s:


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

from wiki

 Qantas is the third oldest airline in the world, after KLM and Avianca, having been founded in November 1920;[SUP][11][/SUP][SUP][12][/SUP] it began international passenger flights in May 1935. The Qantas name comes from "_QANTAS", an acronym for its original name, "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services", and it is nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo". Qantas is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance.[SUP][13][/SUP]_


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## Guest (Jul 4, 2020)

I’m not a huge traveler, flew a lot of 737’s, airbus A320’s, even a few MD11’s. Biggest one I was on was a. 757, I think. Never been on a 747. 

I bet the airlines regret having bought those behemoths more than having to scrap them.


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## Guest (Jul 4, 2020)

Baron Scarpia said:


> I'm not a huge traveler, flew a lot of 737's, airbus A320's, even a few MD11's. Biggest one I was on was a. 757, I think. Never been on a 747.
> 
> I bet the airlines regret having bought those behemoths more than having to scrap them.


Actually they provided very cheap international travel for about 2 generations so, no, I don't think they regret the 747. It also has a cargo version still in use. When I say "cheap" it was *eventually cheap* but when I travelled to Europe in the early 70s I paid $2,600 return and I was earning then $60 per week!!!

The A380 also provided cheaper, comfortable travel; you could fly to the UK return for as little as $1300 (even less if they have specials - and they do regularly if my emails from them are indicative). In Australia we call economy "cattle class" but it's tolerable on the A380 but certainly not on other aircraft like the Boeing 777 or similar. And Emirates and Etihad use them on long haul flights to service their hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi where people then disperse to other destinations. Dubai Airport is a nightmare; bigger isn't necessarily better.

Many of you will have flown on the A380 and learned that even down the front in Economy class it is just amazingly quiet. When we boarded in Sydney for Dubai I don't remember having to encounter steps getting up to Business Class (inside the aircraft they have stairs and a lift). In Dubai you had to go to the floor above via lift to get into Business. We nearly missed our flight because we presented at the Economy check-in area and had to run like mad not only to find the lift (a big issue) but to get one that had room for us to get up to Business check-in. It turns out we needn't have worried; no airliner will leave its destination with the baggage of a passenger on board and not the passenger!!

I don't think they use A380s for domestic travel in the USA.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Here's an interesting video on the commercial plane business, focusing on the chess game among the 747-8, the 787, and the A380. All is not always as it seems.


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## Guest (Jul 5, 2020)

That's quite interesting; thanks. The 787 "Dreamliner" has problems as, of course, has the 787 "Max". Big problems. There were only a few teething problems with the A380, from memory, and one of these was the Rolls Royce Trent engines. Qantas nearly crashed an A380 between Asia and Perth when engines blew up. Luckily for clever and well-trained staff catastrophe was averted.

Pushing the envelope in the competitive aviation market is a double-edged sword. Mistake occur when economies of scale as sought and now, of course, vast fleets are grounded. It's all up in the air - if you'll pardon the pun.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Not _totally_ off-topic:

"June 15, 2020: Today G-VLIP, VIrgin Atlantic's Star Wars-themed Boeing 747-443, leaves Manchester Airport for the very last time. She is now at Ciudad Real in Spain where she will either get broken up or sold onto another airline.

"G-VLIP entered Service in April 2001 and went directly to Virgin Atlantic. In her 19 years of service she has visited many locations across the world, seen plenty of attention, and most importantly, flew passengers in her cosy cabin. Today however marks the end of the road for her, and her send off was very emotional for everyone who was there to witness it."


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2020)

This is sad. It never ceases to amaze me how those giants actually get off the ground, especially the A380 with 510 on board and huge amounts of cargo. In about 1974 I flew on a Qantas 747 from Sydney to Avalon airfield (in Victoria) with an ABC film crew; the 747 was empty as it was a pilot training flight. So bizarre being on one of those machines when they're completely empty. There were about 8 of us on it. One of my friend's father was a Qantas 747 pilot and he said they were the best plane to pilot. One pilot I knew when I worked in television described this as "99% boredom and 1% sheer terror"!!!

This departure of the 747 from Manchester reminds me of the retirement of Concorde and the huge losses incurred by the companies that bought this aircraft and, of course, built it: Aerospatiale and BAC.


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2020)

*Coronavirus causes 150 million job losses, largest greenhouse gas emissions drop in history
*
*The grounding of the majority of the world's aircraft has helped bring about a huge drop in emissions.*

LACHLAN MOFFET GRAY
JOURNALIST

The COVID-19 pandemic has put more than 4 per cent of the global workforce out of a job while contributing to the largest-ever drop in global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report led by the University of Sydney.

The study, from the Australian Industrial Ecology lab at the University of Sydney found the pandemic caused global consumption losses of more than $US3.8 trillion - roughly the size of the German economy - while triggering the full-time equivalent job losses of 147 million people, or 4.2 per cent of the global workforce.

Additionally, total global income from wages and salaries declined by 6 per cent, or US$2.1 trillion.

The economic losses have been mainly concentrated in the regional economies of the US, Europe and Asia, but have been multiplied throughout the world due to the ensuing disruption of global trade flaws.

Study researcher and University of Queensland Business School senior tourism lecturer Dr Ya-Yen Sun said the bulk of the economic losses occurred within the tourism and air travel industries.

"Among the total economic losses, 22 per cent of consumption reduction and 24 per cent of employment losses occurred in air transport and tourism," she said.

That same downturn in tourism and air travel contributed to the largest ever decline in global greenhouse gas emissions, which decreased by 4.6 per cent, or 2.5 giga tonnes - which is the largest ever drop in human history, far surpassing the decline of 0.46 giga tonnes that occurred in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

"Air transport and tourism, alone, contributes 35 per cent (to global greenhouse gas emissions)," Dr Sun said.

The pandemic also caused other atmospheric emissions to decline, with PM 2.5 particles - the same super fine particulate matter that blanketed the east of Australia during the summer bushfires - falling by 3.8 per cent and sulfur dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels falling by 2.9 per cent.

Dr Sun said there exists an opportunity for governments to lock in the global decline in greenhouse gas emissions before the global economy begins to open back up.

"Governments currently invest a substantial bailout program on the aviation sector," she said.

"A mandatory requirement for the aviation sector to improve their energy performance - like the replacement of old aircraft and the use of biofuels - is needed in exchange for the stimulus package.

"This will ensure the aviation sector moves towards a low-carbon pathway."

(Lachlan Moffet Gray is a cadet journalist at *The Australian*. He is studying law and communications at UTS and has previously worked in radio and the advisory industry.)


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Here's an interesting video on what putting an A380 into storage entails. Not a simple matter, nor an inexpensive one!


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Some few people have benefited from this pandemic. I'm imagining an airline executive (or any executive) who's about to be fired because he can't get enough profit out of the planes or the like. And then this big thing hits and it's very different. They had blamed him for his marketing policies and they were about to let him go. But now that would be counterproductive, because he's already in there and managing.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2020)

KenOC said:


> Here's an interesting video on what putting an A380 into storage entails. Not a simple matter, nor an inexpensive one!


Excellent, thank you!! I've just shown it to spouse on my iPad as he's an aircraft nut. I notice Qantas has retired its last 747; the flight left Sydney on Wednesday for permanent housing in the Mojave desert. The aircraft is now 50 years in service with Qantas and all the various models in the series have served the company well. My sister worked for Qantas for quite a long while and left there about 15 years ago to work as a university lecturer. Her last job at Qantas was "Load Control" - she was responsible for the weight of aircraft being compliant when they left the ground. Some of her friends still work for Qantas and, of course, are now out of work. I was getting sms during Wednesday as the last 747 was flying over Sydney and the state of NSW - forming a kangaroo with its flight path, apparent on Flight Tracker software. Former cabin crew were lined up on the forecourt of Sydney Opera House dressed in livery which the company had used - and periodically changed - since the inception of the 747.

A completely accident-free 50 years of distinguished service for Qantas of the Boeing 747.


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