just received this from the union
5th March 2009
Attention all Long Haul Flight Attendants
MAJOR INDUSTRIAL UPDATE
Airline Industry Update
Last week I attended a briefing with the CEO Alan Joyce regarding the general position of Qantas in terms of the Aviation Industry. The Good news is that Qantas is one of only a handful of airlines that remain profitable in the current environment.
The decisions taken around business segmentation over the last few years have placed Qantas in a stronger position to withstand the global financial maelstrom than most of our competitors.
Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific are likely to post up to 2 billion dollar losses and British Airways have indicated losses of nearly 270 million pounds in the last quarter. These figures are in many ways incomprehensible. Yet Qantas remains competitive on the Domestic Market and the decisions made around the Long Haul Cabin Crew EBA 8 continue to position us well compared to other Cabin Crew groups.
Nonetheless we are in a constant discussion with Management to work through the challenges of softening demand for premium travel in particular, that is affecting all airlines worldwide.
In the last few days I have written a few newsletters with some levity but with underlying messages of how serious the situation is for all of us in terms of our desire to maintain job security.
747 Four Class Configured Aircraft
In the last 24 hours, system wide figures for advance bookings have been analysed and the decisions have been made to implement changes that will take cost out of the operation.
We have been in very detailed discussions with management over the last 24 hours and a decision was made by management to reduce the crew complement on the 4 class 747 by one.
Your OH&S representatives and FAAA procedures representatives have been working with the Service Development team to produce revised procedures and contingency briefings for crew and Onboard Managers.
The Service Development team following our discussions are also looking at initiatives around flexibilities in the service offering and potential changes that whilst still retaining the flavour of a premium airline, recognise the challenges of reduced crew.
There would be nobody including Cabin Crew Management more disappointed than myself about the need for this. But desperate times require appropriate measures and the overriding concern of the FAAA is the job security of our members.
Whilst this will be implemented from the beginning of the next roster, we are hopeful that when times improve we will be in a position to look a replacing the crewmember.
We do not expect this to be something achieved for quite some time, as I do not believe that we have yet seen the worst of the economic crisis.
Roster Publication Delay
As a result of an increasing surplus of crew, planned recruitment in London, Auckland and QCCA for June, has been put on hold indefinitely. Further some 50 crew, will have had LSL placed on their Lines after bids had closed. The Impact on rosters would have been devastating for those crew.
Following discussion with the FAAA arrangements have been put in place for these crew to bid around the assignment, and also re-enter their specific bids.
We thank the Company for doing this as it is a decent decision given it only affecting a small number of crew. As a result all rosters will not be published until mid next week.
Like everyone else, I like to get my roster as soon as possible, however by putting yourself in the position of the unfortunate 50 crew that have been subjected to a last minute leave burn, I hope that you will forgive us for delaying the roster build to allow them to have some roster control.
We are exploring a range of other options with the Company to increase flexibility, and build in further job security for our members. I ask for your patience and understanding as we explore and implement this and other necessary changes.
Crew can be totally reassured that your job security is our paramount concern and we are well placed given the flexibilities of the last EBA and our continuing meaningful dialogue with the Company to maintain it, as we move through very challenging times.
Written and authorised by Steven Reed – President International Division