[Peetwo]

AirAsiaX boss gives green light for ATSB/CASA to investigate -  

Yet another ATSB/CASA top-cover non-investigation -  

Here we go again with yet another AirAsia X occurrence...

Update to the AirAsia X incident & the indefatigable CASA...

Via the New Daily & the West Oz:

AirAsia in aviation crackdown after incidents



Related Coverage

Pilot error blamed for Sydney flight failure

[/url]
‘These airlines should be banned in Australia’

To yesterday's story via news.com.au:

[url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/airasia-x-facing-multiple-safety-investigations-in-australia/news-story/1ae907cc123b72d8d53e65d11a69e402]AirAsia X facing multiple safety investigations in Australia
October 14, 2016 3:48pm

Via Binger in the Oz today... :

AirAsia X has ‘nothing to hide’
9:15pmMITCHELL BINGEMANN
The boss of low-cost carrier AirAsia X has dismissed calls for the airline to be banned over safety fears.

The head of low-cost, long-haul carrier AirAsia X has dismissed calls for the airline to be banned from Australian skies because of safety fears, claiming that a string of incidents being investigated by the nation’s transport safety ­bureau were being misreported.

Four separate incidents involving the Malaysia-based carrier are under investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, prompting calls for the airline to be grounded.

The incidents include a loss of separation between an AirAsia X A330 and a Jetstar A320 over Gold Coast Airport, an engine shutdown on a flight to Kuala Lumpur and a near collision in Melbourne when an AirAsia X A330 began taxiing before a pushback tug had moved clear.

But AirAsia X group chief executive Datuk Kamarudin ­Meranun said the incidents were not as serious as had been reported and that the airline stood by its safety record.

“It is what it is. I know there is a lot of misreporting as well. If you look at cases, the negative reporting that came out, I don’t think it is fair,” Mr Kamarudin said.

“I don’t think the conclusions and assumptions that have been put out are correct. If you go to the ATSB website you can see lots of other airlines that are worse off. But that’s the price you pay when you are busy. We are paying the price for being very visible.

“As far as I’m concerned, we are very proud of our safety ­record.”

Mr Kamarudin pointed to the airline’s insurance premiums — which he said had not moved up since the investigations opened — as proof that AirAsia X was not a safety risk.

“We are equally proud to say our insurance coverage is one of the lowest. To me that is testament of the safety and security of the company because they are the paymaster,” he said.

“If the insurance investigator and insurance adjuster and ­insurance evaluator look at you and still offer you the kind of premium which is low enough compared to others, it gives you confidence and credibility because these are the people who ­actually look at the company and evaluate the risk of the company.

“So we are not concerned ­because we have nothing to hide.”

Mr Kamarudin’s defence of the airline’s safety record comes as it this week recruited Australian singer and X Factor judge Guy ­Sebastian as its ambassador.

“He has all the right fittings for us. He has the right profile. We are already getting traction in terms of response from Australians. Australia is a very important market for us,” Mr Kamarudin said.

The appointment of Sebastian comes in advance of AirAsia X’s plans to offer Australians a new way to fly to London from 2018 when the carrier takes delivery of its new Airbus A330neos.

Flights from KL to London will be a return to Britain for AirAsia X which axed the route in 2012 ­because of the high cost of filling up its fuel-guzzling A340s.

But with AirAsia X not taking delivery of any other aircraft until the A330neos are in action, ­capacity into Australia will remain flat until 2018 Mr Kamarudin said.

“But if the opportunity does arise and it’s one we can’t miss, then there are always lots of planes out there we can lease,” he said.

The airline recently added ­capacity to flights into Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast that will help lift revenue through the second half of this year after finalising a restructure and $100m capital raising last year to repair its balance sheet.

Those capacity upgrades have seen flights to the Gold Coast ­increase from seven to 11 services, and both Sydney and Melbourne to fly to Kuala Lumpur twice daily or 14 times a week each.

“Sales have been good and surprising. But I think we can do a little bit better on the fares,” Mr Kamarudin said

“Some are profitable but some are challenging but given time we will make it work. I think we can do a lot more. China and Australia are big markets for us.”

Mr Kamarudin also shrugged off competition from other low- cost carriers such as Jetstar, saying: “It is what it is.”

“It’s always been there. When we set up this business we said we had to be self-sustaining so we don’t look at other carriers as competitors,” he said.

“As long as you can manage your business well and you can sustain whatever shocks come across then you should be all right. Margins might be squeezed but you should be all right.

“We’ve been through hell in the past fifteen years. Financial crises, tsunamis, SARS, you name it, but we came back. So we have a model that remains the same from day one. “

No wonder old mate Kamarudin appears totally relaxed because a quick peruse of the ATSB & CASA websites would lead one to the conclusion that both agencies have gone MIA on this issue. The bureau site doesn't even register that they are aware of this latest AAX (8 Oct) indiscretion, let alone whether they are investigating or not - WTF??
http://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/safe...elect=true
MTF...P2