Qantas:Apology Airlines

[DEFCON4]

According to an article in today`s (12/12/04)Australian Financial Review senior QF management were unaware that staff characterize the airline as Apology Airlines.Seems that they also feel that QF service is exceptional.How far removed from reality are these "Managerial Visitors"?

[Keg]

Two lines of thought here. Ask the right questions and you'll get the feedback you want. There IS substantial evidence from a lot of frequent flyers that they feel that our Business and first class services are well up on what they used to be. Are they in the same realm as SQ? I dunno. Are they better than what they used to be? I reckon they are just from the infrequent paxing that I do!

The follow on from that though is that if you have all this evidence telling you how good you are (evidence such as winning the occasional award) then you're probably more likely to disregard the internal whinge as just that. You're more likely to put down the external whinge as the person having a 'bad day' or 'bad flight'. Thus, you don't accept any responsibility for it. I'm not advocating it, just reflecting on something I read in one of my uni texts- and people say uni courses aren't worth anything! :E

Of course, the application of organisational CRM concepts will ensure that those opinions that disagree with the 'group' thoughts or feelings is examined for accuracy. Perhaps this is what is lacking in certain areas?!?! (I wouldn't know, I'm just a peon). Perhaps they are so used to rationalising out the adverse comment that they no longer see it for what it was. I know of a few crew members over the years who have been disenfranchised to the extent of not bothering to provide the feedback anymore. No adverse feedback? Can't be anything wrong!!

I wonder how QF did in their recent staff survey though! I bet the results of that are VERY interesting! :E

[pullock]

Once upon a time I was telling a rather up there Qantas head about the disaster that was their cardboard box/Neil Perry catering policy. He replied that the customers were very happy with the cardboard boxes - Qantas having the best catering in the business, and that he knew this because that was what Qantas' market research department was telling them, and that the market research people were one of the biggest market research departments in the country and they must be right..............

What I am trying to say is that QF managers believe the QF machines own b ull s hit blindly without actually getting out there on the coal face and seeing what realy goes on. When they do hear things that they don't want to hear then they brand the person who managed to get the truth some attention as a unionist reactionary winger - that's easier than addressing the issues.

I think Qantas would like to have a great service product, and there are many people who work for them every day who put in a massive effort for the customers, but the machine that is Qantas just misses the mark so often that it is getting a well deserved name for its self. I bet the QF management aren't aware of many of the other 'isms that refer to their airline, and perhaps they should be.

I remember Ansett's service and it was by far the best till they stuffed it up just before the end. How much better was the gold wing club than the QF lounges, and how good was AN business and catering? Remember when full fare economy pax could get an upgrade if it was available just by asking??????????

[spinout]

Qantas is top heavy with managers who are busy trying to screw everyone beneath them to improve their bonus, when genuine requests are made that will result in improved passenger comfort, safety etc the question asked is “will we get a 20% return on our investment?”
I remember working for a company a long time ago when the policy was ‘the company is only as good as the people that work for it’ Qantas seems to regard employees especially those in the regionals as an expense…. There is a huge inequality in pay and conditions right across the Qantas group.
:cool:

[Ron & Edna Johns]

Keg, mate, I normally agree with your thoughts and ideas but on this, I don't. Business class product well up on what it used to be?? Internationally - yes, arguably holding its own against the opposition. But only on certain routes where there is significant J Class product competition. Try the QF J Class on routes such as CGK, MNL and it is certainly not improved and has arguably deteriorated over the years. And mate, there is no way domestic business class is better than before.... on the contrary. It has definitely deteriorated since the demise of J class opposition. And the latest: the cardboard box has graduated to J Class!! Yes, non-meal services they hand you a "cheese-board" which is a cardboard box containing cheese and biccies. What ever happened to a sandwich or a muffin? Even just a bit of fruit if you don't want to overdose on fat? If you don't want cheese you get nothing. Yes, J Class.

I thought it quite ironic that the 11 Dec AFR article had the following headline on the page opposite: "Packing it... in Big Cardboard Boxes". A completely different story and company, but I'd thought it was the QF article until I realised that one was about Amcor, and the QF article was on the LH page!!!

[DEFCON4]

I doubt the staff survey will ever see the light of day.Apparently only 20% of staff responded with the rest being too disillusioned to participate.
The customer is being screwed to make the shareholder happy.When the Virgin network is fully developed and the international and domestic are fully integrated you will see fares fall and the QF "managerial visitors "depart ,pockets jingling all the way.

[Keg]

G'day R and E, fair points all. All of the 767 J class IFE and seats are starting to look tired. Not just on CGK and MNL either but also on MEL-NRT and ADL-DRW-SIN and still the occasional PER-SIN. The actual service by the cabin crew though is the same as other J class with the new seat and as you say, internationally isn't too shabby. Occasionally it can be personality driven by the crew on duty which is a shame.

As to the cheese box, I've seen it but that's about it- I'm not allowed to eat cheese anymore! :{ I've done a bit of paxing domestically recently and have always thought the service not bad- that may be due to the fact that I didn't actually buy the ticket though.

Still, I'm not trying to be an apologist for QF. (Is that called irony? Apologising for 'apology airlines'? :} ). I acknowledge that the airline has its faults, the shame is that the message often doesn't get through. A large part of that is because a lot of the workers have a bloodied and battered head from beating against the brick wall. That they don't get the message through is due to those that put the brick wall up- and THAT is squarely a management issue.

[VC9]

Doesn't help when you find that the remaining overhead locker space is taken up with cabin crew bags (J class cabin).

Pilfering (stealing) from the J-class bar.

That's too nice for the passengers, I should have that.

Yes it does happen.

[DEFCON4]

Are you referring to Longhaul or Shorthaul crew?It has been years since I have seen pilfering of anything in Longhaul.It is also a CASA and company requirement to have certain manuals accompany crew on trips,hence the requirement for in cabin bags.On 767 and other smaller aircraft there is no room for crew to stow these bags except in over head lockers.
This is of course not the topic of this particular forum.

[str]

Its unfortunate we have managment who couldn't care less about staff or customers. Yes there are some bad crew out there who also don't care about customers but they are in a minority. Most of us want to offer the best service possible but have very little in terms of product to offer.

The economy service is embarrising, hot meals are tiny and for long flights the tray looks empy. Of course we always run out of meal choices. I find it hard to believe that Qantas insist on undercatering on nearly all flights now days. Do other airlines do this? All to save a few dollars to go in the pockets of the greedy management.

Of course these people have no idea whats going on in economy, they always sit up in first class where the product and service are excellent.

They keep refering to Qantas as a premium airline but have no intention of injecting the money to allow us to be that.

[Roger Standby]

The meal options are a laugh... my sister is a trolly dolly and passed on this one...

On a a domestic flight a customer was asked if he would like a meal. He asked " What are my choices?". The response, "yes or no!!!"

[Capt Claret]

Roger Standby

Was "the customer" towards the rear of the cabin? Since the recent return to hot meals, I've always had a choice in ECY. I could well imagine that towards the end of the meal service one of the choices gets over subscribed.

[Wirraway]

Managed to find the AFR article:

PLANE ANGRY (PT 1)
Narelle Hooper
Australian Financial Review - 11DEC04

Qantas management says there's not a problem and shareholders can point to high stock prices, but costs are being cut and trouble is fermenting among the increasingly disgruntled passengers.

'Daa da-da-da-da-da . . . No matter how far, Or how wide I roam, I still call Australia . . ."

At this point, buckled securely into your Qantas seat, returning from a long trip, any self-respecting Aussie comes over just a bit misty and a lump rises in the throat.

That song, those beautiful kids, have lodged Qantas in our psyche. Increasingly though, when it comes to Australia's national flag carrier, something else is starting to stick in customers' throats and it's not pleasant. And for Qantas that spells trouble.

Qantas shareholders are flying high right now. Qantas chief Geoff Dixon has run Australia's national airline hard, delivering record profits through one of the most turbulent periods in aviation history. It's an amazing performance given that airlines are going bankrupt all around and the price of jet fuel has soared.

The question, though, is how long it will take for customers to get sick of Qantas delivering the extra shareholder value, at least partly by squeezing their customers too hard.

Cabin staff say they're already sick of it.

"This has gone past a joke," one long-serving senior crew member tells the Weekend AFR. "We're the ones who continually have to apologise: 'I'm sorry your meal's not ordered, sorry your seat won't recline, I'm sorry the audio system's not working.'

"The crew are sick of apologising for all of this. We call ourselves Apology Airlines. "

The accusation that Qantas is whittling away its service comes on top of a range of other complaints. Which national flag carrier has introduced the most savage cutback of frequent flyer benefits ever? Which one has rail-roaded passengers in northern Tasmania and at Queensland holiday hot spots off full-service Qantas flights into potluck seats on no-frills subsidiary Jetstar? And who was it who slapped on three fuel surcharges in six months?

The Weekend AFR's sounding of customers, the industry and the online frequent-flyer forums uncovers a list of mounting grievances. Is that an extra row of seats squished in the back? Great, they've finally replaced those disastrous cardboard-box ration packs with hot meals but are my eyes failing or do they seem much smaller portions? How dare they keep pushing those frequent-flyer reward trips out of reach?

Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg and Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti defend the airline's record.

"We've haven't done everything perfectly," says Gregg. "It's important to recognise there are some traditional Qantas customers who are unhappy. We're continuing to look at that and to refine things. We don't intend to sit on our hands and say we're right and they're wrong."

But both insist the problems are at the margins. Borghetti points to independent customer and brand surveys: best airline in Australasia, fourth best in the world according to offshore online group Skytrac.

So, while business-class cabin crew describe having to huddle in the galley divvying up meals so customers can get their food preferences, making up for the fact that not enough meals have been loaded, Qantas remains one of the best-managed airlines in the world. In the year to June it delivered a $648 million profit on marginally lower revenues of $11.4 billion. It has carried more passengers than ever 30 million safely and efficiently. It is more profitable than most of its peer flag-carrier airlines with the exception of Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific.

At least one senior pilot has become annoyed enough to get a friend to write letters to the newspapers because pilots can't violate company confidentiality.

The long-time senior cabin attendant has tolerated management's cost dilemma but is saddened by the decline.

"Standards are really dropping but they don't seem to care," this attendant says. "We can't keep promoting ourselves as this five-star airline when we're operating like a budget airline.

"They hadn't loaded the dry ginger ale a while back. We had this guy in business class. His audio didn't work. They didn't load his choice of meal. He said, 'Forget it, just get me a bourbon and dry'. I combed the whole plane then had to come back to this frequent flyer and say: 'I'm sorry, we can't give you your bourbon and dry.'

"Take away the passengers, our concern now is safety. And we're presented by the company as these whingers who won't give up their conditions. "

Apology Airlines is a phrase neither Gregg nor Borghetti claim to have heard before. (Qantas chief Geoff Dixon is at a conference in Europe and can't comment.)

Putting the complaints down to a minority of older disgruntled staff, they absolutely deny any corners are being cut or safety issues affected. Borghetti says Qantas benchmarking has seen its customer service levels the highest in many years. He won't disclose those figures but says the airline has more than recovered ground lost after the collapse of Ansett.

One issue which will be a slow but hot burner is the most recent winding back of the Qantas frequent-flyer scheme, the third in just a few years. The frequentflyer.com.au website has been full of angry chatter about the impact of the changes to the once-generous scheme.

Cliff Reichlin, director of the website, says the changes are a mix of "the good, the bad and the ugly". Short-distance domestic flights, such as Melbourne-Sydney, Brisbane-Sydney and Melbourne-Adelaide, will require fewer award points. Members will be able to buy top-up points and transfer points between family members.

The bad is that frequent flyers will have to clock up more kilometres in the air to pick up their reward points between all other cities and internationally. By Reichlin's calculation, when it comes into force in May 2005, in some cases frequent flyers will find their points devalued by about 40 per cent. The ugly, he says, is that customers will no longer be able to confirm international upgrades until check-in and no longer be able to upgrade from any ticket.

From the website, the comment that just about sums it all up is this: "As a frequent flyer, I'm very disappointed but as a Qantas shareholder, I'm very happy."

The introduction of Jetstar on domestic routes to arrest the inroads of Virgin Blue into Qantas yields has also pleased many travellers. They're happy to travel cheaply, provided they have the time and the patience to put up with the restrictions on check-in times, weight limits and absence of seat allocation. (The airline has a tiered boarding-pass system gold frequent flyers and families first, then everyone else.)

First it was the northern Tasmanians unhappy that they lost their access to full-service Qantas and were being crammed into Jetstar's narrow seats. Then it was residents on the Gold Coast and more recently Hamilton Island. Last month, the well-heeled members of the Queensland holiday resort Hamilton Island told The Australian Financial Review how they hated being jammed onto Jetstar flights and that the airline was offloading a stream of budget travellers with little money and somewhat less class.

A war of words ensued. Dixon wrote to the AFR about the secluded elite having to watch ordinary holidaymakers enjoying themselves. He went on to suggest the millionaires start their own airline so they could be "spared the indignity of quality cutprice travel and so that Jetstar's many happy customers can be spared the indignity of their company. Everybody will then be happy, including Qantas."

It's some irony that Geoff Dixon, who clocked up a $6 million salary package this year, won the support of the tabloids. His comments, though, really put noses out of joint with some of Qantas's highest net worth customers (and shareholders).

Here's a sample of the letters: "We will not return to the island until they reintroduce proper flights. We will not travel Junkstar." "We are not wealthy but we have no intention of putting up with the offerings of this Mickey Mouse airline."

One gold frequent flyer tells the Weekend AFR she had booked a holiday to Noosa in May. By June they were informed their tickets would be transferred to Jetstar. No discount. No alternative. The frequent flyer said that wasn't good enough. Ultimately Qantas offered a $20 rebate on the tickets. It took three months to come through. She was told the airline was only responding if people made complaints.

Even as Dixon was exchanging words in the media, Qantas was on the phone to soothe those pesky elites. Borghetti spoke to Hamilton Island owner Bob Oatley and general manager Wayne Kirkpatrick. About a week ago, there was a discreet meeting between Dixon and Jetstar chief Alan Joyce with Oatley and other Hamilton Island residents.

AFR (PT 2)

The official line from Qantas now is that the airline is "reviewing" Jetstar processes as it had always intended. Did Geoff Dixon go too far this time?

"He\'s a boss. I\'m not going to criticise him," says Gregg. "We\'ve all had bad flights or bad train trips and car trips. We carry 30 million passengers a year. You can have good experiences and bad experiences. We\'re sorry that happens."

The simple fact remains that its cost base is too high to compete sustainably with the successful budget airlines, the so-called value-based carriers such as Virgin Blue in Australia. Ryanair and JetBlue are increasingly successful offshore examples. Qantas stepped up its Sustainable Future campaign to chop out $500 million a year in costs ($1.5 billion over three years).

"That\'s coming from a multitude of areas. We\'re not reducing our product," Gregg says.

In spite of this Qantas is still not making its targeted return above its cost of capital (thought to be between 12 and 14 per cent). That\'s a hurdle it says it only met once, when Australia was crawling with visitors for the 2000 Olympic Games.

In defending the investment in customer service, Gregg points to the $385 million spent on fitting out sleeper beds and on-demand entertainment systems, the plans for $18 billion to be spent on new aircraft and $50 million on better in-flight lounges for passengers.

As for the other issue upsetting customers, the fuel surcharges since May are meant to combat rising oil prices. Qantas is not alone. Even with oil prices heading down, Gregg says the airline is spending between $150 million and $160 million more than last year on fuel, despite the benefits of the stronger Australian dollar.

Caught in a relentless squeeze generated by the increasingly competitive international airline environment, on the one hand, and its inability to come to grips with its high labour costs and highly unionised workforce on the other, Qantas is in a no-man\'s-land between the traditional full-service airlines and the increasing number of low-cost carriers. Qantas\'s share price, while up nearly 9 per cent this year, is still well below its peak of 2002 before Virgin Blue entered the domestic market.

By responding with its own budget carrier, Qantas has eaten away at its own yields locally. It will also start up Jetstar Asia out of Singapore next year to service the booming China markets. It stoops to cloak-and-dagger contract training of potential strike-breakers. It has become one of the biggest supporters of industrial relations reforms.

The end result is that Qantas, the brand we all love to love, is becoming a shrinking icon. Brand consultancy Brand Finance puts an approximate brand valuation on Qantas of $900 million. The consultancy\'s managing director, Tim Heberden, says cost cuts that reduce customer service, combined with splitting the airline into full service and budget carriers, can hurt from a branding perspective.

"Careful management is required in terms of the link between the two, otherwise it will rub off onto the parent brand," Heberden says.

Sam Osborn, chief executive of Interbrand Australia, disagrees, saying that Qantas is right to pitch different services to different types of customers. "A multi-brand (brand portfolio) strategy is good for consumers, not bad," he says, adding that it\'s too early to tell in Qantas\'s case. "You really need to understand the different customer segments before you can make that claim and then ask, who is actually going to vote with their feet?"

Beyond the ever-present imperative for profits, it\'s a question Qantas, Virgin Blue and, no doubt, ultimately the shareholders would love to have answered sooner rather than later.

FRIGHT STIMULATOR

Jetstar

The complaint:

Millionaires on Hamilton Island claim they¿re being treated like cattle class since Qantas imposed Jetstar on them.

The defence:

\'It must be dreadful for the secluded elite of Hamilton Island (including, apparently, its management and owners) to observe ordinary holidaymakers enjoying themselves and boosting the local economy. I can only suggest that the millionaires of Hamilton Island start their own airline so they can be spared the indignity of quality cut-price travel.\'

- Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon

\'We are not wealthy - we have no intention of putting up with the offerings of this Mickey Mouse airline.\'

- Jetstar customer, South Australia.

Fuel levy

The complaint:

Qantas applies three surcharges to $12 a sector for domestic passengers and $US29 a sector overseas as oil prices rises from $US44 to $US56 in six months but is under pressure to remove them just as quickly.

The defence:

\'To take the surcharges off altogether, it would have to fall to $US32 a barrel. \'

- Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg

Frequent flyers scheme

The complaint:

From May 2005, it will be easier to earn reward points on short routes but harder for most flights. Upgrades will no longer be available on discount fares and will not be able to be confirmed in advance on international flights.

The defence:

\'There were some incredible deals around, almost to a ridiculous point. In a lot of cases it didn\'t bear any resemblance to reality. No one likes prices going up - but we had to correct it. \'

- Qantas head of marketing Mark McKinnon

Food and service

The complaint:

Consumer reports have suggested Qantas is seen as a \'second-tier\' airline, like Lufthansa and Air France, but below Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.

\'There are so many corners being cut it is not funny. We call ourselves Apology Airlines. We can\'t keep promoting ourselves as a five-star airline when we are operating like a budget airline.\'

- Long-time Qantas worker

The defence:

\'All our research indicates that we\'re not people who put our heads in the sand and we\'re doing terrifically on service.

- Geoff Dixon

============================================

[Kaptin M]

After paying full-fare prices for my family and me to fly (internationally) over five sectors in October and November with QANTAS, I`ll be voting with my feet (and wallet) next time (early in the new year) and choosing another airline.

We were stuffed around at 3 of the 4 check-ins (in BNE, for over 1 HOUR by a b1tch who had the temperament of a frenzied Doberman - hi Pauline!:mad: ), due to QF`s errors in the ticket issue!

On 3 of the 5 legs, 3 out of the 4 inflight shopping items I ordered were just not available - I had encountered the same problem 4 months previously.
The child`s meal that was ordered at the time of booking made it 3 out of 4 times.

Except for the Doberman in BNE, I felt sorry for the QF staff who were p-ut in a position of not being ABLE to supply the service they had hoped to.
But there are only so many times pax will tolerate this cr@ppy service, and there are 4 of us who have had it....right up past our eyebrows.

The abbreviation QF might now be starting to be interpreted as "QANTAS Farked"!!

[Frank Burden]

Pullock said:

I remember Ansett's service and it was by far the best till they stuffed it up just before the end. How much better was the gold wing club than the QF lounges, and how good was AN business and catering? Remember when full fare economy pax could get an upgrade if it was available just by asking??????????

Pullock, you boring old f@rt. I can see you sitting in your wheel chair at the old folks home now and telling all the other oldies 'I rrrrrrrre.......member!!!! Ansett was soooooo g.....oood!!' Good onya mate, a student of ancient history gets on well in that type of company. But gives us a break in the meantime.

[str]

Kaptain M,

Put it in writing:

[email protected]

or

[email protected]

[TIMMEEEE]

Great that this message has gotten through to management at QF.
Even GD will have to sit up and take notice!!!

Its good that staff that love their jobs have spoken up out of concern.

Equally sad that staff had to resort to this in order to get the message through.

[Flight Detent]

I agree, with FB, that AN service was much better than QF on domestic services.

I used to avoid QF when I paxed BNE SYD and back, when I worked out of Sydney.

PS:I had to be real careful though to avoid the airbus 320s as well, but I managed most of the time, those 320s make me to nervous. (no one in actual control of the airplane!)

Cheers

[pullock]

Frank Burden,

So somehow you equate someone who remembers quality service with age. Doesn't that say it all??

Chances are if you are an aviator as well that you are a lot older than I am my friend.

I have seen a lot of changes in aviation and big business in general with reference to the product that they provide, and I am still looking for a good one. If you think that we are in a better position now either as airline staff or paying pax since the demise of Ansett, then perhaps you are well suited to work for a low cost carrier.

[Frank Burden]

You are most probably right. But how do we gauge the current level of service with another airline from a past era working in a different social environment?

I remember my first flight as a child on ANA. Now there was an airline and the girls were so much prettier then?

[sport]

It is not uncommon to here a flight attendant when coming on board and hearing that the flight is only half full, to exclaim her joy that she won't have to work so hard for the next sector.

I have also heard other staff complain about the extra work when we take on a new customer airline to handle. Or other staff complain when extra flights are added during a peak period.

What has come of us, that we no longer share the experience of flight with the first time traveller, or the excitment of a passenger going to visit a relalative that they haven't seen for many years, or a family travelling to a holiday destination that they have saved all year to achieve. We have become very blasé to what the customer feels.

It is just a job for many of us and it pays the bills, its no longer a carreer that we dreamt about as a child and one that we are proud to tell our friends about, it has become a chore and we look forward to clocking off and going home. How many of you still love your chosen carreer and if offered more money to go somewhere else would stay put because you can't buy a job you love to do.

Do you get any satisfaction out of getting the aircraft out on time? When a flight is cancelled due to mechanical / weather are you disappointed that now you have to find accommodation for 300 pax, or are you disappointed for the passenger being inconvenienced .

The retail trade use "Mystery Shoppers" to gauge the sales staff committment to the job and level of training. How would we fare if the company chose to test us on our committment?

Who cares how full the flight is or whether we handle 7 aicraft a day instead of 4, the same money will be waiting for us at the end of the week.

But then it's all about money isn't it, and that's the way we are being trained. Look at the examples being set by our managers, even our CEO doesn't care about the public anymore because he has to keep the shareholders happy. Bring back the Golden Years of Aviation and make the next flight an experience that you will remember forever, and the passenger will remember you.

[MoFo]

Ron & Edna.

You must accept that Keg's views will appear through rose coloured glasses.

Everyone in Qantas, including flight ops management know who he is, and he knows it. Don't expect anything too controversial from the lad. He has a career ahead of him.

Your comments are spot on.

[Keg]

Fair go MoFo! Did you read my following comments about 'management' and brick walls? The powes that be may know who I am (G'day Chris ;) )but that doesn't stop me from calling it how I see it. I've just learnt these days to use language that is somewhat less emotive than the language I've used in the past and to provide that feedback via more acceptable means than PPRUNE.

Part of that is because I've learnt that if the tone isn't right or the comments aren't directed in precisely the right manner or medium then the messenger gets shot and the comments are ignored. Is that a management issue as well? It certainly can be at times!

[Chimbu chuckles]

Keg...isn't it amazing how management never think that you, as a pilot, have as much invested in the companies success as them...probably more...as pilots tend to spend entire careers with QF as opposed to senior management who might spend 10 years at the most...usually moving on before their less enlightened ideas come home to roost.

The other thing that always strikes me about management is the conviction that they have all the answers...usually from some management buzzword study...and those answers are so often at odds with the coalface experience of the employees.

You could be forgiven for believing that management these days care a lot less about the little things that make an organisation great...instead all their efforts going to shareholder blowjobs that aid their own bottom line in the short term and who cares about 10 years down the track....they won't be around to.

You're lucky you work in an organisation where you can voice an opinion without it costing you your job...I'd still change my id if I were you however;)

Chuck.

[Kaptin M]

Kaptain M,
Put it in writing:

[email protected]

or

[email protected] I don't really see myself wasting my time doing that, str.
I (and my family) were QF customers, who stuck with the Ozzie home-grown product to support Australians.
Somehow, I don't believe GOD has the same committment to anyone else (except his hip pocket).

Under the current management, QF is NOT delivering to those who make the payments of profits and bonuses possible.

QANTAS is rapidly becoming "just another airline", trying to employ the Asian principle of cheep-cheep, but obviously not employing similar armies of staff that Asian companies do.

[Beer Can Dreaming]

Kaptin M, I hear what you are saying.

Lets face it, if everyone sat back and did nothing (some will not even vote with their feet) then those running the show continue to pat themselves on the back and reward themselves with overated bonuses for no apparent reason apart from making a profit.

Its great that people say enouh is enough and go to the lengths of writing articles outlining exactly what are the problems.

Look at people power in the Ukraine - that worked a treat much to the distaste of the current government.

[spinout]

QANTAS is rapidly becoming "just another airline", trying to employ the Asian principle of cheep-cheep, but obviously not employing similar armies of staff that Asian companies do.

I am sure if GOD had his way he would employ armies of Asian Staff.....

[DEFCON4]

There is NO(U) YOU IN QANTAS....Staff or Passenger!!!