In this special edition of the podcast, Matt chats to John Bartels (a.k.a. jb747) about his flying career with Qantas, the A380, the QF30 incident, flight training, retirement, today’s aviation industry and more. John is a former Qantas Airbus A380 captain and remains an active contributor to AFF’s popular Ask The Pilot thread.

Episode contents:

• 1:00 – Fortnightly news round-up
• 7:20 – Interview with John Bartels – getting started in aviation
• 17:37 – Interview with John Bartels – discussion about QF30
• 27:18 – Interview with John Bartels – discussion about flying the Qantas A380
• 37:10 – Interview with John Bartels – discussion about retirement from commercial aviation
• 41:29 – Interview with John Bartels – advice for people interested in an aviation career

Links:

• AFF on Air Discussion thread – a dedicated AFF thread to discuss the podcast and ask questions
• AFF’s Ask The Pilot thread

Frequent Flyer Gazette articles referenced in the fortnightly news round-up:

• Qantas, American Airlines Joint Venture Approved
• Qantas Retires Oldest Boeing 747
• Catch Qantas 747s on Domestic Flights
• Hilton Gold Fast-Track for Visa Cardholders
• Amex Cuts Priority Pass Restaurant Credits for Australians
• New Machu Picchu Airport Under Construction

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.