Situation summed up superbly, as ever, by Ben Sandilands this morning........
Qantas goes to war with its pilots on social media and shoots down John Travolta
August 3, 2011 – 8:20 am, by Ben Sandilands
John Travolta is the early casualty in the social media dogfight that has broken out between Qantas management and its pilots.
The faded movie star’s main gig, the cabin safety video shown on Qantas flights, is no more. Travolta had been used as an ‘ambassador’ for Qantas for many years as a celebrity figure who also happens to own and pilot a vintage Qantas liveried Boeing 707-138B.
In the safety video Travolta says “There’s no-one I’d rather have at the controls than a Qantas pilot”.
Uh oh. That’s precisely the point being made by Qantas pilots in the statement they make from the cockpit on Qantas services in support of their industrial dispute with management. So, Good-night John!
Simultaneously Qantas management has taken to social media in its dogfight with the pilots, launching qantasanswers.com.au in response to qantaspilots.com.au.
Qantas is announcing wide spread restructuring of its operations on August 24 and its refusal to negotiate job security clauses for long haul pilots who are trained by Qantas and based in Australia under Australian terms and conditions is at the heart of the dispute.
The Australian and International Pilots Association said this morning that it would link its site to the Qantas management site on the various points of difference that have flared concerning the future of the airline, and their jobs, with a view to improving the public debate.