CASA is well aware of the duty hour limitations of the AKL and BKK based crew. The Fact that Qantas spends millions of dollars annually on lobbying the government and regulatory authorities and the david hawes and geoff dixon practically live in Canberra is a testimony to their success.
The FAAA does not have any where near the resources i would imagine to compete in that area. We flight attendants constantly work on the assumption that the regulatory authorities live in complete ignorance of what Qantas does...i think that is extremely naive.
The fact that the majority of the Kiwi based crew are not members of FARSA doesnt help their cause. The fact that the most recent recruits in NZ were those who trained as strike breakers a year of so ago doesnt make me want to help them too much either.
The real issue is for the NZ government to protect their citizens from being exploited by an australian company and i dont hear much from Helen Clarke on this issue???
The fact that they queue up for the low pay and conditions is a testimony to Qantas' sucessful offshoring of Aussie jobs....And the new legislations is about to make that 500% easier for Qantas!!
Short Haul actually have worse international flying conditions that lOng Haul too. In fact they dont get anywhere near the standown that LH crew do.
AKL, LHR, BKK, Short Haul and AO as well as Jetstar are all lower cost more efficient operations that Long HAul....the best thing that we can do is have a better standard of service than they do and do a better job and i think that what we currently do..
On our best day there is not another flight attendant in the Qantas Group that can compete with the experience and professionalism of the Long Haul Crew. I just wish qantas would recognise it and perhaps we would feel a little more like demonstrating it on a daily basis.