Fellas - it has to be said. When you see things like:
(a) committees sitting around, deciding on the new, "customer friendly" PA's to be made by crew, including such gems as saying "hello" instead of "good morning", saying "airport" instead of "terminal" and "leave" instead of "disembark" ;
(b) security/OH&S personnel policing crossings, threatening to fine staff for not using them/jay-walking, or OH&S committees deciding that people must walk up and down stairs holding onto the bannister ;
(c) OH&S committees/personnel deciding that MINTIES are not to be permitted in meetings as staff might BREAK A TOOTH
(d) heavens-knows how many man-hours expended on decorating the joint in gaudy yellow and orange to signify "Safety Week" - whilst basically SFA crew got anything out of aforesaid week (apart from some getting a squishy stress-plane or something, which was subsequently deemed unsafe to be left around small children???!!!)
(e) don't even get me started on the security people touring the globe checking that staff aren't nicking chocolate bars or grog off the jets ;
(e) etc etc etc. You get my drift.
then you KNOW there are still too many staff in the big Q. All the above man-hours just add to the cost base. Yep - staff costs in total at Q are high.
We need to cut the crap: engage the staff and focus on the IMPORTANT things like fixing planes, selling seats, flying the planes efficiently and providing an exceptional service in the cabin. Sadly I just can't see that happening anymore on GD's watch.