Australian Aviation

Bob Walker is the engineering director of Qantas. An aeronautical engineering graduate of the University of Sydney, he joined Qantas in 1949 as a performance and structures engineer. Since then he has held various senior positions within the airline’s engineering and maintenance division. He was the technical development manager during the Boeing 747 acquisition programme

In this exclusive premium podcast, Jake Nelson speaks to Raul Villaron, head of Asia-Pacific for Embraer, about how the planemaker is pushing harder into the Australian market – and what regional jets could do for our aviation sector.

The latest BITRE data – the first since Rex axed its domestic jet operations, which consistently posted high on-time performance, at the end of July – showed QantasLink as the most reliable individual airline in on-time departures and arrivals, though Virgin saw the lowest cancellations.

Babcock Australasia is dialing up its Helicopter Emergency Medical Services [HEMS] response, prioritising aircraft reliability and meaningful community connection.

Gap Drone’s four-metre-long Autonomous Transport Logistics Air System UAV is slated for commercial launch in 2026, with the start-up set to test its navigation and propulsion systems on a smaller-scale “Baby Atlas” demonstrator platform in coming weeks.

The successful test flight demonstrated the system’s ability to operate in the harsh environment over the Arctic Ocean, providing critical intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting capabilities in the “High North”.