Air NZ also has the rights to fly from Aus to the US but stopped a year or two back.
From my understanding, Singair as a 1st preference would like to do this flying in their own right ie Sin-Syd-LA etc.
As an aside, why is everyone so keen to get Singapore on this route? They already have a competitive advantage with the way things work in their own country, so why let them take the icing off the cake for our carriers?
The more competition there is on the route, the less attractive it becomes for someone else, say Virgin, to enter the market to the states. For young people starting out in GA nowadays, they really only aspire to Qantas, Virgin or Jetstar. How many actually get a gig with Singapore Airlines on conditions that match those in Australia. Why do we want to create employment opportunities for foreigners that takes away opportunities from our own?
How will young FA's advance when Singapore flies this route with their own for which their labour laws allow them to employ on a somewhat discriminatory basis compared to our labour laws? Do they pay their FA's, maintenance people and others in Singapore who will be doing the majority of the work compared to here in Aus? It is not just pilots who will get shorted with this deal, but Flight Attendants, engineers and many others who would be employed on a much greater scale if the airline was to be based in Australia, not just fly through here enroute to the states.
As for Singapore Airlines, they get preferential treatment out of Singapore it would appear. How many other carriers get stuck at lower levels, get held short of the main taxyway for several minutes until the Singair starts and gets number 1 position at the holding point. Their system, along with those of many other countries looks after their own national carrier first, others second, while here in Australia (and NZ) we take a much fairer approach. What has Singapore got to offer the rest of Australia's carriers if this deal goes ahead? What do we get out of it?
All up, it won't just be Qantas people who lose out if this deal goes through, but the Australian working public as a whole.
Last edited by Crusty Demon; 11th Jan 2005 at 22:08.