There has not much mention being made of the previous Qantas management under Geoff Dixon's stewardship that put in place this train of events. All these woes are as a result of decisions that were made in the previous 5 to 10 years.
If you outsource your maintenance, always take the lowest quote possible, let your money making machines leave Base & Heavy Maintenance with deferred items in the Tech Log, then this was always going to be the result.
Qantas management thought that the Engineers industrial action did major damage to the brand, well its about time that they shoulder the blame for this debacle. This is far worse in terms of damage to the airline. The root problem is not the A380, it is a culmination of top management decisions related to running the airline. Its everything from pilots, to cabin crew, to engineering,to ramp staff, to cleaners,to check in staff, etc. This list goes on. It is having managers in engineering who have no engineering background, but rather Bachelor of Arts majoring in Australian History. It is this sort of people we have running an airline. I am not saying that they don't try to do the right thing, but you have to question the reason for people with no technical knowledge in positions of managing a business that is highly reliant on knowing what the outcomes are for not managing your equipment properly. It is understandable that the CEO is not a pilot or engineer, but when your middle management don't have the right qualifications for the position, then it is only a matter of time. Alan Joyce and previously Geoff Dixon have gone on the record stating that these new aircraft require less maintenance. I don't know if they have noticed, but geez, all the engineers I know have never been so busy. If this is how they are brand new, God help us when they start to age and require Major Maintenance. I am sorry to say, but we as employees are in REAL trouble for the future.
Its always great to have the newest toy on the block, but when it doesn't perform as advertised and you don't seek proper recompense for what damage is being done to the brand, then you would expect staff and the public to lose faith in the managers making these critical decisions. Maybe its time to really listen to some of your staff on the floor, and not your Yes men/women, and stop paying lip service through Employee Engagement Surveys. It might also be a good idea to trot out some of your Senior pilots and engineers to explain what is really happening to your aircraft. Sorry Alan, but some of your explanations of Technical detail leave a lot to be desired. It might sound good to the media(who have no clue) but even Technical people can explain things in layman's terms. In my own opinion, Qantas would look far more professional if the explanations were from experts in their field, and not from people who have no technical knowledge.