When Management comes through in a tough test

Product holds and product recalls are some of the most challenging decisions for a marketing manager. In the communication business it was always difficult to decide if a product should be placed on hold or grounded because of reports of a serious problem. The ethics of a manager are seriously tested in these circumstances.

Recently Qantas suffered a serious problem when one of the engines on the A-380 suffered a "hard" failure. Management decided to ground all A-380s. After about three weeks and after extensive checks, Qantas decided to return one of the A-380s back to service, the CEO was on the flight to assure passengers that he was comfortable with the safety checks and he felt that the plane was air-worthy. These acts are examples of responsible management.

Qantas A380 returns to air after engine blowout - Yahoo! Finance: "A Qantas A380 carrying more than 450 passengers, including the airline's chief executive, took to the skies Saturday in the first flight by one of its superjumbos since a midair engine explosion three weeks ago triggered a global safety review.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said he was flying the first leg of the Sydney-Singapore-London flight as a sign of the airline's conviction that it had completed all modifications and other checks on the Rolls-Royce engines, and the planes were safe to fly."

"Investigators say leaking oil caught fire in the engine and heated metal parts, causing them to disintegrate. Experts say chunks of flying metal cut hydraulics and an engine-control line in the wing of the A380, causing the loss of control of a second engine and loss of some braking power, fuel leaks and more than 50 on-board warnings.

It was the most serious safety incident for the world's largest and newest jetliners. Other airlines using the Trent 900 engine on A380s -- Singapore Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa -- also briefly grounded some planes while safety checks were conducted.

Qantas' checks have been more exhaustive than those of the other airlines. It has replaced 16 of the Trent 900 engines -- each A380 has four of the bus-sized engines.

Qantas is putting just two of its A380s back into service while modifications are made on engines on the other aircraft in its fleet. The plane that suffered in the midair blowout is still in Singapore, where investigations are continuing.

Qantas says it will eventually pursue compensation from Rolls-Royce for the failure and losses from grounding its fleet, but that it is confident the problem has been fixed.

The airline is due to take delivery of two more A380s with Trent 900 engines in coming weeks, and Joyce says they will be put directly into service.

But Qantas has suspended A380s from its longest-haul flights -- from Australia direct to Los Angeles -- while it tests whether extra thrust for takeoff on these routes creates too much stress on the engines.

The Australia-U.S. flights are among the longest nonstop commercial flights in the world, and the A380s must load up on more fuel than on other flights to make them. That means the planes are heavier at takeoff and need more thrust.

The thrust Qantas uses is within the certified specifications of the Trent 900, and the manufacturers and the European regulator that ensures safety standards consider it safe to fly those routes. Qantas says the suspension is precautionary because it wants to conduct its own tests.

Saturday's flight used a reduced thrust setting.

"We are reducing the thrust as a precaution, and that's all it is," said Capt. David Evens who was piloting Saturday's flight. "We are 100 percent confident -- otherwise I wouldn't be here today," he told a news conference with Joyce shortly before the flight...."