Guardian1 - I agree with alot of what you have stated. Though calling the Australian crew who went to London " Imbeciles" is not a very fair thing to do. They all went for their own reasons. They don't care what others think - if their preference, for whatever reason, was to go to London - then that was their decision, it is their life, just like ours is ours. Most decided not to take the London basing - the minority that did, obviously thought long and hard about it and it suited them ..... suited THEM.... they did not need to consider anyone else. Consequences or not - I understand that most crew up there knew that Qantas , before they even left OZ, could not be trusted - and when the time comes to return there was the possibility of Qantas trying something or other to " get rid " of them. I don't think it will come as a surprise to them if it does, though there is of course the huge possibility that nothing will happen and they will return without any problems. Let's just let the London crew alone - they are doing a good job - and customer complements for them is 40 times that of any other base with Qantas ( information provided to crew recently apparently) and way above Qantas' expectations, they do a good job- and let's face it, it is not a difficult job at all - we should be happy they are at least helping us keep our customers flying with us and keeping us in employment - regardless of all the changes and mess we are going through. Let's try not to get personal - so let's use words in their correct context.
im·be·cile ( P ) Pronunciation Key (mb-sl, -sl)
n.
A stupid or silly person; a dolt.
A person whose mental acumen is well below par.
A person of moderate to severe mental retardation having a mental age of from three to seven years and generally being capable of some degree of communication and performance of simple tasks under supervision. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
If the London crew are " Imbeciles" and are doing the same job as we are, then what does that say about us? THE LONDON CREW do not fit the above description, in fact, none of us do - so let's not use it again.