N_BW.
THere have been periods at Qantas where there have been no promotions for over 6 years. The lack of promotional opportunities at the moment are as a result of the planned 1000 crew recruitment for 2008-9 being canned as a result of the worlds worst financial crisis since the great depression.
Over the last year there have been in fact operational surpluses of nearly 300 crew that in other times would have resulted in mass redundancies. In 1991 over 650 crew were made redundant and some was compulsorily.
The Thai flight attendants who earned 12k per annum and who never had any chance of promotion and many who had given 10 years total commitment were terminated by the company to save the jobs of the QCCA crew in Australia.
Under the EBA the obligation of the COmpany would have been to maintain a 75/25 ratio of redundancy with the overseas crew meaning that about 100 QCCA would have been made redundant.
Whilst i completely understand the dissappointment at the lack of promotional opportunities it has to be seen within the above context. Over 3000 Qantas employees have been made redundant, SH crew have had massive cuts to their incomes as a result of changes to flying, MAM crew have had incredible changes to their fortunes and many Long Haul Crew have had 20% pay cuts by forced leave over the last 2 years.
Even if promotions were available at the moment A380 crew would be competing with mainline for them and existing CSM and CSS could still apply for the positions on merit against crew seeking promotion. Given that there are on 6 CSM and 6 CSS positions it would be extremely competitive to start with and no guarantee that any more than a handful would be successful in any case until more aircraft arise. I would hope that the majority would understand the situation and hold out for better times ahead
Everyone has suffered to some extent and i am sorry that you have had to leave Qantas in order to pursue career advancement. I hope wherever you have gone is in better shape than the airline industry at the moment. Qantas is still purchasing over 20 more A380 aircraft and over 160 new aircraft in total over the next 7 years or so. With that growth come massive recruitment again and promotions will flow.
Even so, there will be many crew who will not be successful in attaining promotion and that in itself will lead to bitter disappointment for some. You only need to see what the AIRC has handed down at the AWARD for flight attendants in this country to see what they think we are worth. The challenge moving forward will be no different to the challenges of the past
* doing everything possible to create employment security in Australia
* creating an environment and conditions conducive to recruitment on shore as opposed to off shore
* improving conditions for some and maintaining what's possible for others
Breaking news from the UK
British Airways to cut 1,700 jobs
British Airways has recently introduced charges for pre-booking seats
British Airways has announced that is to cut 1,700 jobs and introduce a two-year pay freeze for cabin crew as it looks to cut costs during the downturn.
It also announced that it would press ahead with plans to recruit new staff on different terms and conditions to current employees.
The airline is losing money and expects to make a big loss for the second consecutive year.
Global airlines are struggling with a fall in passenger numbers.
"Revenues are down, so we must reduce costs and restore profitability," BA said.
"Thousands of staff across the airline have already made contributions to the cost reduction programme."
The airline has been in negotiations with unions about the best way to cut staff costs.
This summer, it asked employees to volunteer to work for free for one month, to take unpaid leave or to work part-time.
It has also scrapped sandwiches on short-haul flights and is introducing charges on pre-booked seats.
In the year to the of March, BA made a loss of £401m - its biggest loss since the company was privatised in 1987.
Last edited by Pegasus747; 6th Oct 2009 at 16:20.