Aussie Flyer

October 29, 2011 is going down in history in Australia as the day Qantas ceased flying, due to industrial action. I am still in a state of shock but for all who don't know Qantas mainline services worldwide are now grounded due to ongoing industrial disputes with 3 unions. The announcement was made by the CEO at 5pm eastern daylight savings time. For those flying QantasLink and Jetstar, your flights are not affected. It is an awful day for everyone involved and I hope it will be resolved as soon as possible. My thoughts go out to the employees and their families who will be affected, along with the passengers who are being disrupted.

I have reviewed UA840 a couple of years back, but with my Star Gold status renewal running a little short this year I directed a bit of business back in United's direction for a trans-pacific run. Here is a quick run down of the flight once more... pretty much the worst option for Trans Pacific flying, but also usually the cheapest!! N174UA parked in front of the new Cafe Vue at Melbourne International I was taking this trip in the Economy Plus section of the Boeing 747-400, which features 34 inch pitch compared to the 31 inches offered in economy. The first leg of the flight is the short hop from Melbourne to Sydney, and today it was being operated by Boeing 747-400 N174UA. This bird first flew in early 1990, making her 21 years old. The now old United livery on the 747-400 I was at the airport about 90 minutes before departure and the check-in desks were already pretty empty. Looks like a light load for the first sector, which seems pretty common. After visiting th