Some five weeks after an uncontained engine failure forced one of Qantas’s six Rolls-Royce Trent 900-powered A380s to make an emergency landing at Singapore’s Changi International Airport, the bills continue to mount for the airline and engine manufacturer alike. Estimates by some financial analysts now place Qantas’s monetary damages at more than $200 million, as four of the airline’s A380s remain grounded until further notice.
The Federal Court of Australia has granted Qantas an injunction meant to ensure the airline can pursue legal action against Rolls-Royce in Australia if the sides fail to reach a financial settlement. Although the return to service on November 27 of a pair of Qantas superjumbos marked the end of the airline’s 23-day suspension of A380 operations, the airline continues to exhibit an abundance of caution as it delays the deployment of its remaining double-decker transports, perhaps into the new year. In a statement issued December 3, Qantas said it would voluntarily apply “a range of conditions that include not operating the aircraft across the Pacific until further operational experience has been gathered.”
