Qantas International..is it finished??

[GENKI]

with the ever expanding Jetstar, an Australian government whether current or previous more interested in cheap fares than Australian Jobs and now jetstar starting US Flights by basing cabin and tech crew in New Zealand is this finally the endgame strategy.

Not one court action by flight attendants or pilots has been successful and stopping the constant outsourcing of Australian jobs, and now the cabin crew on the Qantas A380 is being reduced by a fight attendant in business class does this signal the end of the line is closer than we think?? Even the A380 is now unprofitable despite it being the most productive from a Cabin crew labour perspective. Rumours are that there is potential for A380 AC 13 and beyond to go to Jetstar! What hope do we have on 747 here in Melbourne?

Rumours abound of the closure of the Long Haul Melbourne and Brisbane bases for other than A380 crew with a smaller LH division all in Sydney

[PPRuNeUser0198]

Genki - you're so off the mark on so many fronts its not even funny...

JQ has not 'started' U.S. services and nor has it been announced that such markets have been confirmed.

NZ cabin and technical crew service NZ domestic and trans-Tasman operations. There is no 'heavy' operation active and the upcoming 330 operations are to Singapore, not mainland U.S.

The A380 is far from unprofitable and Qantas is seeing better numbers then predicted by Airbus. The aircraft is proving extremely popular with 90% + seat factors and quality premium yields.

There is certainly no plan for an A380 to go into the JQ operation - that is a just not true.

[standard unit]

If Qantas can't generate profitability on the A380 with the current cabin crew manning arrangements then the same aircraft, in Jetstar livery will have no hope because [Australian based] Jetstar CC earn a similar wage to the QCCA crew who now work exclusively on our, "flagship aircraft".

Not to mention the fact that price sensitive, Jetstar, "Bogans to Bali", business model generates none of the yield that our full service QF cabins do.

The de-crewing exercise on the A380 still leaves the aircraft with a better crew to passenger ratio than the 744 fleet. Far better.......

We have the self serving previous management parasites to thank for the position we find ourselves in. Hobbled without a fleet of 777s. :yuk:

As for whether we are "done" yet?

I think that the jury is out.

[GENKI]

Jetstar's expansion irks Qantas pilots
Steve Creedy From: The Australian June 11, 2010 12:00AM

QANTAS pilots are seeking legal advice about Jetstar's move to expand long-haul flying offshore, labelling it an attempt to avoid Australia's employment laws.

Jetstar is considering using New Zealand as a base to fly to the US and Japan after yesterday unveiling Singapore as its first long-haul destination from Auckland and detailing plans to fly a Singapore-based Airbus A330 to Melbourne.

The announcements are part of the airline group's pan-Asian network strategy.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the addition of long-haul services in New Zealand should strengthen Jetstar's brand.

The airline will start two-class daily A330-200 services between Singapore and Melbourne from December 17 and plans to begin flying from Auckland to the Southeast Asian hub next year.

The Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents pilots in both Qantas and Jetstar, is already taking legal action about Qantas moves to take jobs offshore and has reacted angrily to the latest moves.



"Understandably, we are very concerned that Qantas, through its offshoot Jetstar, is offshoring more Australian jobs," AIPA said.

"The association . . . was not consulted about this development," AIPA acting president David Backhouse said. "It is clearly unfair that Qantas and other employers avoid Australian rates of pay and conditions of employment by setting up operations offshore to fly into Australia."

Mr Backhouse said attempts to raise the concern with the Workplace Relations Minister, Julia Gillard, had been ignored.

"Yet again we call on the federal government to ensure that big business can no longer avoid Australia's employment laws," he said "Regardless, we are monitoring this situation closely, will seek clarification from Qantas and will take appropriate action."

[noip]

Nothing to see here, move along.

N

[VH-XXX]

If I was running the show I'd be thinking about going elsewhere with the ridiculous amounts that Sydney airport and others charge here. It's almost cheaper to keep flying around in a holdung pattern than wait on the ground in Sydney.

[troppo]

When all else fails you can always blame the kiwis for the next 20 years for the demise of another Australian icon

[Captain Dart]

If QF International Business Class is as bad as the product I recently experienced domestically, and in view of its competition, QF International is not finished...but it soon will be.

[wombat_keeper]

Troppo i personally think its out of line to blame kiwi's.
Where would we be without our thrifty baaa raising cousins ?
What this country needs is cheaper airfares and greater returns for QF share holders not ridiculously high wages for a select few glorified bussies.

As a regular on QF domestic business i feel embaressed that anyone would pay a retail fare to be there.