Australian Aviation

Adam and Jake look back at a wild week in the skies and discuss some of the safety concerns that have been brought to the forefront.

The 22-week project, announced last July, saw 4,870 engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) blocks installed at Queenstown, increasing its effective runway end safety area from 90 to 240 metres.

The company has announced the milestone as it employs around 250 staff in Sydney, including 200 engineers.

Roosevelt “Ted” Mercer Jr heads the Virginia Spaceport Authority, which operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The facility regularly hosts blast-offs from Rocket Lab and Northrop Grumman and is on the same site as NASA’s legendary Wallops Flight Facility.

The proposed charter, which was introduced in December, had been flagged as part of the Aviation White Paper released in August. While Choice said it is a “welcome next step”, the organisation criticised it for being too vague and said it is not strong enough for its intended purpose.

Jones, previously Virgin’s chief customer and digital officer, was last month ruled out of the running to replace outgoing chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka after facing controversy over his role in the illegal outsourcing of Qantas ground workers during the pandemic.