QF Standards....

[DOME]

There have been a couple of articles over the last month in the Canberra Times, written by locals about recent international travel on QF. Unfortunately no longer on the CT web site.

did find one article:

Dowdy and poorly equipped, Qantas is still stuck in the '70s
By FRANK O'SHEA

What is happening to Qantas? Those who have to travel steerage on the Sydney-London round trip will not be surprised at the national airline's absence from the top 10 in the recent Skytrax Research results (CT, March 18). We hear that things are tight in the airline industry, but there is little evidence of that in the full Qantas planes that fly the kangaroo route every day.

Qantas is still stuck in the '70s. Their 747s are dowdy and poorly fitted out.

There has been a minor improvement to the headrests but, apart from that, nothing has changed in years. Films are still projected on a central screen long after other carriers have put individual monitors on the backs of seats. My most recent flight to London was on a plane which had been painted in the most hideous combination of red and black with what appear to be Aboriginal motifs. No doubt Qantas will claim that this promotes the kind of reconciliation which John Howard refuses to endorse and the kind of pride which most Australians refuse to be bullied into feeling.

Laudably, perhaps, the work was carried out by indigenous artists who needed the work, but for those inside the cigar the money might have been better used to provide basic comfort. There was a time when passengers were given a menu on long-haul flights and offered a drink before dinner. The menu disappeared long ago and now they give you the pre-dinner drink and the wine and the coffee and the meal all in one big hit. Perhaps it saves the flight attendants having to do too much walking.

The meals themselves are terrible, and while that may be nothing new, dinner on the Sydney-Bangkok leg came without dessert.

Surely they could have afforded a few pieces of Aussie fruit to fight the aftertaste of what was supposed to be lamb but was actually a poor excuse for Irish stew.

I know Qantas would like us all to travel business class, but as it is they must be making a fortune on London flights which are always full and which most Australians choose as a matter of patriotic choice and impeccable safety record. Here's a suggestion, Qantas. Why not add $30 or $50 to the price of a Sydney-London return and use the extra revenue to do something about your grotty planes other than a token nod to Aboriginal culture.

The Qantas Club too is a disgrace. People pay $250 a year for the kind of facilities that would barely pass muster in a staff canteen. The club at Sydney international terminal is tired and cheap. The food is little better; it has not changed in the six years since I joined. And they provide plastic knives and forks. Come on, Qantas. You can do better. Here's another suggestion. Add a few bucks to the membership fee and provide the kind of knives and forks that you can get at the Y or the Matt Talbot.

Is it possible that these long-haul flights, sardine-filled with holiday-makers and young people, are subsidising the price war at home to the benefit of business people, politicians and public servants?

Is it any wonder that Qantas do not appear in the list of the world's best airlines. To add insult to the whole thing, the top airlines are able to offer fares to London which are cheaper than those sold by Qantas.

One final point. Am I being paranoid or have I noticed in the past few years a tendency for big overseas airports to put Qantas planes in the furthest and most inaccessible bays.

It seems to me too that Qantas gets the short straw behind the glamour airlines in terms of takeoff and landing queues. Perhaps Heathrow and Bangkok and Singapore and their like realise that Qantas is a rundown airline without much respect for itself or its passengers.

So why should they respect it?