I'll bite:
The problems with QF Internaional go back over twenty years , it had sruggled for years , always requiring the goverment of the today to inject cash to prevent it going under .
Not sure about 'going under' but in 1993 QF received a A$1.35 billion capital injection from the Government
It was propped up by legislation that guaranteed QF 50% of the market into and out of Australia .
No different to many other airlines in the world with 1 international airline per country, can think of only the USA, Japan, China and England that have more than 1 ‘true’ international flag carrier ! so what’s the point?
When the Gov't took that prop away, market share statred to fall . In addition there waqs the disasterous reign of the CEO in the mid 80's who spent like a drunken sailor,
Umm, who was that? John Menadue (86 to 89) and in that period (1986-87) there was record profits made of AUD 63.4 million must have been before Menadue?
Actually looking at the early 80’s, Qantas suffered from large operating losses. After the election of the new Labor (ALP) government in 1983, one of its first actions was to increase Qantas's capital base from AUD 89.4 million to AUD 149.4 million. The airline had been denied adequate capital by the previous government and had been obliged to borrow heavily to maintain its aircraft fleet in a modern, efficient, and competitive form. The government hoped that the injection of new capital would assure the future of Qantas as a wholly owned government enterprise.
ordering A/C like no tomorrow
continued from above The new government approved Qantas's largest-ever aircraft order, an AUD 860 million fleet modernization program involving the purchase of three stretched upper-deck Boeing 747s and six of the Extended Range Boeing 767 twin-engine jets
not to mention holiday Islands
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now I get it, you are talking about the ‘other’ airline called TAA - TAA holiday resorts were Dunk, Bedarra, Brampton and Great Keppel. Qantas had, umm?
Qantas Holidays did actually make an investment in Captain Cook Cruises though
if it’s QANTAS you are talking about, are you talking about the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney? Gee, that has been around since the last 50’s
When the recession "we had to have "chimed in, along with the Piots dispute of 89
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How is your history? QANTAS was not on strike in 1989
QF International was a basket case . Gov't had to put its hand deep in the taxpayers pocket to bail it out . A/C parked up against the fence , Coopers& Lybrand brought in to "assist " management , thousands of redundancies the outcome .
this is confusing, that was 1990/1991 wasn’t it? In 1990 Qantas reported a loss as a result of its fleet expansion program. These losses increased during 1990 as a result of the Persian Gulf crisis, and by early 1991 the airline was facing its worst financial situation since its foundation. It was decided to lay off 5,000 employees, sell nine Boeing 747s earlier than planned, and cut flying hours by 14 percent in the year to June 30, 1991, i.e. there were issues and QANTAS worked on addressing them.
So , the Gov't decided QF International could not survive as it was ,it merged the two publicliy owned airlines and got rid of the merged entity as a drain on the public purse .
The present state of affairs has been a long time coming ,
But let’s move forward a few years after the Australian Airlines merger, By fiscal 1997, Qantas was solidly in the black, achieving net profits of AUD 252.7 million. So QANTAS turned things around, didn't they?
it would be very sad to see Charlie Q go under , given the level of bitterness allround it does not look good.
Those who look to the past with rose tinted glasses are fools
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those who distort history are also fools
Qantas International has always been a battleground for the Unions and management of the day . I could bore you with a litany of disputes right back to the last Pilots strike in 1966 , but whats the point! The die is being set , I only hope those who have good jobs with QF are not on here in the future wailing about the good job I HAD with QF
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