Latest news with #groundstaff
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Virgin Australia plane damaged in collision with tug vehicle at Melbourne Airport
A Virgin Australia plane has collided with a tug vehicle at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport. The aircraft disconnected and hit the tug from the side at about 8:40pm on Sunday while it was being towed to the hangar for scheduled maintenance. A Melbourne Airport spokesperson said no passengers were on board and no ground staff were injured. The plane impacted was a Boeing 737, typically used on Virgin's domestic routes. Footage showed the jet cracked along the front left side, with workers taping up the damage. Virgin Australia said it did not expect any disruptions to scheduled flights on Monday.
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
How Wimbledon Dictates Grass Court Speed
A member of the groundstaff mows the grass on a court on the first day of the 2025 Wimbledon ... More Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on June 30, 2025. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images) The 9,709 square feet of Wimbledon's Centre Court grass—not to mention the other 17 championship courts and 20 grass practice courts—take on a singular focus during the two-week The Championships, but it's a year-round effort to care for the world's most famous sward (a fancy term for an area of short grass). Every court gets a renovation in September—the All England Lawn Tennis Club uses over nine tons of grass seed annually—with a focus on creating durability during the two-week event. And while there's only so much that the group of 15 permanent ground staff at the club—an additional 13 temporary staff are added for the tournament—can do with the amount of use the ryegrass courts receive, the focus is all about durability and consistency. Determining the speed of the court, which gets tested daily, comes down more to the soil than the actual grass, which is cut to eight millimeters daily. The general compacting of the soil over time, as well as the weather leading into the tournament and each day, are the major factors in how the ball responds. Grass and roots are seen ahead of The Championships - Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and ... More Croquet Club in London, England. (Photo by) 'The amount a ball bounces is largely determined by the soil, not the grass,' Wimbledon reports. 'The soil must be hard and dry to allow 13 days of play without damage to the court sub-surface. To achieve the required surface of even consistency and hardness, the courts are rolled and covered to keep them dry and firm.' MORE: The Details And History Of Wimbledon's Strawberries And Cream All courts get re-lined with a mix of titanium dioxide via a transfer wheel marker, rolled and mowed daily during The Championships. While the September rebuild really starts the process for the next summer's The Championships, preparations begins with a skimming of the top roughly 12 millimeters. Think of this as a severe balding. 'This removes all weak and weed grasses from the sward, and it reestablishes the levels where play has worn the surface,' says Will Brierley, Wimbledon senior groundsman. Crews till a seedbed to lay new seed and fertilizer. It takes about one ton of seed each year. Covering the courts with a semi-permeable translucent growth cover for up to a week regulates heat and moisture. A program of mowing in the fall helps firm the surface and levels the grass before receiving a top-dressing of fine soil — about six tons total — and dragging to ensure the perfect leveling of the soil. In 2001, the All England Club switched from a mixture of 70 percent ryegrass and 30 percent red fescue to a 100 percent ryegrass for increased durability, as suggested by the Sports Turf Research Institute in Yorkshire, UK. The ryegrass contains up to three different cultivars to make for a dense sward with improved bounce. An aerial view of Wimbledon's Centre and Number one courts. The tournament has 18 championship ... More courts and 20 practice courts. (Photograph By) This famed ryegrass sits above a 'seedbed' of drainage pebbles, drainpipes, small stones and course soil. Prepping for The Championships, Wimbledon intensifies in spring. A post-winter roll removes frost, and a spraying program starts in April to help with plant growth, durability, color and root development. 'The date of this is worked back from the tournament start date to enable us to maximize the application,' Brierley says. MORE: On Site At Wimbledon 2025 Ahead Of Famed The Hill's Makeover Since March, the sward height drops about one millimeter every two weeks. Millimeter by millimeter, weather dependent, of course, the overall height of cut for The Championships slices from a hefty winter growth of 13 millimeters down to the playing elevation of eight millimeters, the height of the sward for play since 1995. At the playing height in time for Members' Day in May, the ryegrass can adjust to the stress of its height before the stress of trampling begins. The marking of the courts begins in early May and during the playing season the grass is cut every other day. In June, crews start to restrict the amount of water put on the courts to help the soil firm up, ensuring hard and dry soil for The Championships. During the two-week tournament, daily care of the courts includes measuring wear and hardness. The grounds crew tests soil moisture content, court hardness wear and plant chlorophyll levels to dictate evening watering amounts. A view of worn grass on Centre Court in 2023 two days before the conclusion of the tournament at All ... More England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, England. (Photo by) 'The tests will determine,' Brierley says, 'how much irrigation is needed at the end of play to keep the grass alive and keep the court firmness at a playable reading.' Early every morning, Wimbledon courts receive a mow from a Toro cylinder mower and marks from a wheeled machine that lays titanium dioxide 50 millimeters wide for the lines — 100 millimeters for the baseline. It takes 500 gallons each year to mark all the lines. And Rufus, a trained Harris Hawk, patrols the grounds to ensure pigeons stay off the lawns. MORE: What's With Wimbledon's White Rule, And How Do Brands Approach Designing For Tennis Players? The practice courts get their care in the evening, allowing players to get on the courts early each day. All championship and practice courts receive the same level of care to give equal playability 'as close to humanly possible' across the site. The only special need includes a machinery lift to get equipment onto No.2 Court. About a week in, the grounds crew uses a machine dubbed the Billy Goat to essentially vacuum and clear off any kicked up debris from a week of play. Unlike the clay courts at Roland-Garros, the Wimbledon courts don't receive any care during play, except to cover from rain as needed. Whether Centre Court or a practice court, the bounce of the ball at Wimbledon is a carefully crafted effort to manage a living plant. MORE: The Last 8 Club At Wimbledon Has History And Keeps Growing
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Photo showing yellow tube attached to a plane sparks concern but it has a vital use to keep passengers alive
An airline passenger was sitting on the tarmac awaiting his flight's departure, when he noticed something peculiar happening to the aircraft next to him. Reddit user AwkPotato, watched as a ground staffer pulled out a long, large yellow tube and attached it to the underbelly of a nearby JetBlue flight. As the employee turned it on, air began to flow directly into the bottom of the plane. The Reddit user took a photo and posted it to Reddit's 'What is this thing' thread asking what it was for and people were quick to reveal the answer. 'Dude connected this thing to the underside of the plane and then when it 'turned on' it seemed to fill air towards the plane,' AwkPotato wrote. Several people revealed that the long, yellow cylinder was cycling in air-conditioning for the passengers. One wrote: 'It's air conditioning,' a user wrote. 'Worked on ground staff for eight years.' Another agreed and said: 'PCA. Preconditioned Air. For cooling/preheating parked aircraft.' Users in the comments said that the tube acted as a fan for the aircraft as a whole. 'Probably air conditioning to keep the electronics cools while the engines are off or at idle. 'Used them when I was in the air force when running tests on the aircraft,' another poster wrote. 'It is designed to cool the entire aircraft so the aircraft doesn't have to burn fuel parked at the gate,' another said. And one Reddit poster broke down why it was so important that this tube be attached to the plane prior to take off, reflecting on the recent crash of Air India 171. 'People don't understand how heat can mess with important components. Looking at the Air India 171, they were on the tarmac for over 2 hours in 40c+ temps. 'One of the major theories on the crash is vapor lock in the fuel lines and failure of the hydraulic fuel pumps which can cause total engine failure. 'There is a video of people fanning themselves inside the passenger cabin. Something as simple as air-conditioning might have saved 270+ people.'
Bloomberg
24-06-2025
- Bloomberg
Stuck in Doha, Travelers Look for Escape After Airspace Closes
A few hours after an Iranian air strike on Qatar, authorities in Doha reopened the airspace over one of the busiest aviation hubs in the world. But getting passengers back on track again has proven to be more complicated. At Hamad International Airport, typically a model of calm, efficiency and quiet luxury, ground staff were overwhelmed by travelers looking for a way out after the escalating regional conflict crossed their flight plans. Hundreds of stranded customers stormed transfer desks or clogged up escalators and waiting lounges.
News.com.au
24-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Stronger than Sunrise': Qantas meeting comes under microscope
Australia's most iconic airline Qantas is set to pay millions in penalties after it unlawfully sacked more than 1800 ground staff. The airline was thrice found to have acted unlawfully when it fired 1820 staff in favour of outsourced contractors during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. While an earlier compensation hearing before Justice Michael Lee found Qantas should pay $120m to impacted workers, a further three-day hearing sought to decide the additional penalty Qantas must pay for the 2020 decision. The Federal Court earlier found that Qantas had acted against protections in the Fair Work Act in its outsourcing and was partly motivated by a desire to prevent industrial action. The airline appealed the decision to the full bench of the Federal Court and later the High Court, both of which were unsuccessful. After losing the appeal, the union and Qantas went to mediation to determine how much Qantas would have to pay the outsourced workers for economic losses linked to lost wages. The maximum penalty Qantas can be ordered to pay is $121m, on top of the compensation fund that is now in the process of being administered to workers. Day 1 – Qantas 'deeply sorry' On the first day of the hearing, Qantas people manager Catherine Walsh took the stand and issued an apology on the airline's behalf. 'I want to reinforce that we are deeply sorry, and we apologise for the impact on the workers, the TWU (Transport Workers Union), to the court for their time and to the family and friends that felt the impacts, we are deeply sorry,' she said. 'We hope we can get to the stage where there can be some finality for them in this.' Noel Hutley SC, for the union. said Ms Walsh joined the company in 2024 and was a 'central cog' in addressing issues with culture that brought about this 'catastrophe'. Yet, Mr Hutley put to Ms Walsh that she had not raised concerns with external advisers about since she joined the company. 'You never asked … why he behaved in an extraordinary fashion? It is extraordinary that nothing was said about a matter that was obviously an illicit reasoning for outsourcing,' Mr Hutley said. While Justice Lee said Ms Walsh was a 'candid' witness, he criticised the airline's decision to call a witness who was not employed by the company at the time of the breach of the Fair Work Act. 'One would have thought if you were truly contrite, you would put someone in the witness box who was there at the relevant time,' he said. 'Who could say I was part of the organisation when this decision was made, and I've changed my tune.' 'And I gave them every opportunity to call Ms Hudson (Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson) or somebody else in that situation and a deliberate forensic decision was made for her not to be called I would infer.' Mr Hutley said putting Ms Walsh on the stand had the look of choosing a person who 'could not be the subject of true investigation'. 'Ms Walsh had nothing to do with the events and … every time I cross-examined her about a particular event she said, 'well I wasn't there, I can't speak to that',' Mr Hutley said. Day 2 – 'A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' Mr Hutley called for Qantas to pay the maximum penalty given its decision was the 'largest ever instance of the contravention of the Fair Work Act'. He told the court that Qantas was faced with an 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' during the pandemic to save more than $100m per year. Mr Hutley said the airline had the 'temptation of the potential to produce a massive profit'. But Qantas barrister Justin Gleeson SC said any penalty close to the maximum would be 'manifestly unfair'. 'Qantas has accepted the seriousness of its conduct,' he said. 'The court can and should impose a significant deterrent penalty. However, it is in effect a first contravention (of the Fair Work Act).' Day 3 – 'Stronger than Sunrise' Meetings between Qantas senior managers, a group management committee (GMC) meeting and a board meeting came under the microscope in court on Wednesday. One of the meetings between Qantas executives and lawyers discussed the legality of outsourcing ground handlers, the court was told. It was said in the meeting that the proposal to outsource ground handlers was 'stronger than Sunrise' – a reference to the airline's ultra-long-haul Project Sunrise flights from Sydney to London and New York that are expected to begin in 2027. 'That appears to be some assessment as to whether the case for lawfulness is stronger than Project Sunrise,' Mr Gleeson said, referencing the meeting notes. The airline has since reached an agreement with its pilots and crew who will work the ultra-long-range flights of more than 20 hours. 'Appalling act' TWU secretary Michael Kaine said on Monday the airline's decision to get rid of a 'loyal workforce' was 'appalling' and the 'biggest case of illegal sackings in Australian corporate history'. 'The penalty to Qantas must reflect this and send a message to every other company in Australia that you cannot sack your workers to prevent them from using their industrial rights,' he said. Mr Kaine said ground handling work for Qantas was now being undertaken by companies such as Swissport, which he alleged had 'severe understaffing' and a 'revolving door of fed-up workers'. 'This cannot be a business case for outsourcing and Qantas should not only pay the maximum legal penalty for its actions but commit to funding fair standards throughout its supply chain,' he said. 'We need to see Qantas held accountable to the fullest extent here.' The hearing has now been adjourned, and Justice Lee has reserved his judgment. The penalty amount will be revealed at a later date. While Justice Lee is yet to decide exactly who will receive the money from the penalty imposed upon Qantas, there are three likely parties proposed. The TWU is seeking a large majority of the penalty and also argued affected workers should receive further compensation. Otherwise, the funds could go directly to the commonwealth.
