B.S.! Maybe TAA and QF didn't make much but AN was laughing all the way to the bank! GD is just demonstrating his incompetence! What a stupid and pointless attempt to rewrite history!
Of course a lot of AN$ never saw the light of day as profit. I still remember Graeme McM smiling and saying "there is nothing in the world so profitable as a fully depreciated aircraft". I also remember a lot of money going out the back door through the sale of some "old" aircraft.
As for QF and TAA, is Dixon an expert in forensic accounting for Government instrumentalities????? Obviously not! For all I know TAA And QF might still have been grappling with accrual accounting!
As for staff wages and conditions????? Yes they were set, but SO WERE EVERYBODY ELSES in the entire country!
Pilots and cabin crew may have made a lot in comparison with ordinary staff, but compared internationally? I don't think so.
Furthermore, ground staff were stuck in absolute lock step with TAA and QF wages thanks to the arbitration commission, collaborating HR departments and complaisant unions. It was common knowledge that you could not leave AN and be hired by TAA and vice versa (dont know if this applied to flight crew). Ticket prices were set in Mac's.
My first job offer after completing an MBA was higher than a State Managers Salary. There were no company cars unless you were very very very high up. Sure you had staff travel, but with four weeks leave a year how often did it get used?
AN was a great place to work, but the pay was cr@p compared to what I found I could earn outside, and for that reason I left.
What is Dixon smoking?
Last edited by Sunfish; 16th Feb 2005 at 20:58.