From an AIPA press release:
Mismanagement at Qantas has seen the airline fall in the Skytrax World Airline Awards rankings for the third time since 2008, it was revealed today.
The flying kangaroo was rated as the third best airline in the world by the globally-respected list when Alan Joyce became CEO in 2008.
Yet under Mr Joyce’s stewardship the airline has tumbled five places to eighth. Airlines now rated as superior to Australia’s flagship carrier include Thai Airways, Air New Zealand and Etihad Airways.
AIPA President Barry Jackson said the rapid descent of Qantas’s reputation under Mr Joyce has been painful to watch because there have been so many clear opportunities to avoid it.
“The idea that Qantas, traditionally one of the strongest and most trusted brands in the world, could fall so rapidly from grace would have been unthinkable even a few years ago,” Captain Jackson said.
“It has taken a truly perfect storm of management blunders to get to this point. Yet there is one mistake that continues to rise above all others - a failure to understand the core strength of the Qantas brand: the internationally recognised quality of Australian pilots and crew.”
Captain Jackson warned that Mr Joyce’s upcoming announcement of a shift in Qantas International operations to Southeast Asia would exacerbate the situation rapidly.
“Aside from Mr Joyce, is there anyone in this country who seriously thinks that stripping Qantas down to minimum standards and basing it out of Southeast Asia will do anything to arrest its current slide?” Captain Jackson questioned.
“The only serious way to reverse the current trend is to start valuing the Qantas brand by building from its point of strength: quality Australian standards.
“This is not idealism. It is the most sensible business strategy. Yet instead we are scrapping Qantas’s only genuine point of brand differentiation.
“When a passenger purchases a Qantas ticket they want a Qantas pilot in the cockpit. It’s not a tough concept to understand, yet it still seems to elude our current CEO.
“Pilots, and the Australian travelling public, are desperate for Mr Joyce to see the light and start valuing and building on the once-proud Qantas brand, instead of talking it down publicly to justify a poorly-thought out move to Asia.”
“The Qantas board’s primary function is to enhance shareholder value. Mr Joyce’s current plan is simply not going to achieve this in the long term.”
Contact: Anil Lambert 0416 426 722
Published in AIPA Media Releases - 2011
Well said.