MELBOURNE'S NEW DAM
MELBOURNE'S NEW DAM
OK. THAT’S IT. I've had enough looking at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s weather radar and seeing the rainwater miss our coastline.
Melbourne's new dam MUST be situated in Bass Strait, between Cape Otway and King Island.
Fresh water floats, so it's not as silly as it sounds.
IS THE DREAMLINER JUST A DREAM?
WILL THE DREAMLINER EVER FLY?
The Boeing 787 is delayed again. Some people are predicting it’ll fly on the 22nd December.
But which year?
It’s my opinion that they have chosen the wrong strategy, believing in “more flights, more often” ... where passengers travel point-to-point.
It is, after all, only a plastic 767 with sexy wing tips.
But in a world where oil is never going to below $80 a barrel, ( that’s what the Saudis need it to be), and indeed where supplies are running out; I believe that point to point can’t work. The public won’t stand for it.
I think Airbus’ model, where bigger planes fly to hubs, will win out in the end.
Take Air Malta. They have two slots a day into London Heathrow. They are never going to get more slots. There aren’t enough hours in the day.
They started with BAE 146s, then 737s, then A320s as their passenger numbers increased.
One day they’ll need A380s to meet passenger requirements ... and they’ll fit them all into the two slots a day.
I haven’t even addressed the problems Boeing are having with suppliers from all over the world ... but they are enormous. The ex 787 Project Manager said that Boeing will never ever build an airline like this again.
And if you think I’m being overly pessimistic, just cast your mind back to the biggest billboard in Australia at Sydney Airport.
It used to have a picture of Boeing’s Super Sonic Transport ... Sydney to LA in a flash.
Can you tell me where to get a ticket on that Dreamliner? Oh, that’s right, you can’t. It was never built.
What they need is to forget the 747-800 and go for a full upper deck stretch. Call it the 747-999 and get on with it.
WHAT AIRBUS AND EADS MUST DO
AIRBUS MUST DO THIS
Airbus sells ‘planes in USD then makes them in Euros ... some bits are even made in British Pounds.
This is a guaranteed way to go broke.
For the new A350 they should build them in Jebel Ali, next to the new Al Maktoum Airport.
Qatar have about 99 on order, and Emirates about 129.
Building them in the region where they’ll be sold, effectively in US Dollars, is the only option.
RUPERT MURDOCH NEED NOT WORRY
RUPERT MURDOCH NEED NOT WORRY
He is worried about the demise of newspapers and the proliferation of free online content.
But he need not worry.
Just change people’s perceptions and market the product differently.
I have never been able to get the daily newspaper delivered. As a single pilot living month to month with flight rosters for over twenty years, I could never guarantee to be home to extract that daily paper out of the letterbox.
And why would you anyway?
The move to cheaper paper which curls after one reader has had a go and rolled-up glad wrap covered editions being the order of the day for home deliveries ... the daily paper IS no longer palatable.
So how is that I spend more on newspapers than ever before?
I use www.newsstand.com to have my daily copy of The Australian delivered directly to my computer. It’s the exact same copy that you buy at the shop, but much better.
With a large HP swivel screen in portrait mode, which is as large as a page of The Oz, I can zoom in on any ad or article and have a great newspaper experience.
Plus I can do a keyword search of all my past editions.
My www.pressdisplay.com subscription is extra. Similar to newsstand, it has just about every newspaper in the world, delivered in the same way.
I read more newspapers than ever before, and spend more money on my subscriptions than the families who only get one paper a day.
So there it is, Mr.Murdoch, tell the world about these two products, charge your normal fees, and save the planet at the same time by reducing newsprint usage.