Well written Tailwheel. Excellent post.
And more recently and focused on QF, Limelight. Well said.
Having recently travelled Business on Qatar's B777 and been very impressed with the price and service I had a quick look at Limelights forthcoming trip to Greece.
Assuming one way travel in Business (restricted fare) on August 31 here's the comparison:
- Qatar: B777 to Dohar, then A321 to Athens. A$5295, total time 21 hrs, 05 minutes.
- Qantas, 1 stop to London on a B744 then transfer to BA A320 to Athens. A$8437 and 29 hrs 20 mins.
Yes, just an anecdote, but when I had to get to Rome recently and at short notice, in Business, that's the sort of quick 5 minutes at the keyboard result you get. It was my first time with Qatar and it was extremely pleasant. The Business Class terminal in Dohar was wonderful. Yes, had to bus it from the 777 to get there but they even had a business class luxury bus.
That's the situation out there and QF's long-haul EBA salaries have little to do with it. Yes, I think that highly paid S/Os are an obsolete concept, but it doesn't really matter when your competition has a better route structure by far and aircraft such as the B777-300ER and 200 LR that use 30% less fuel and maintenance as well as lower landing charges-and, a much more attractive in-flight product, including a decent size IFE screen and, miracle of miracles, a tray table that didn't tilt when I put my laptop on it!
Protection usually protects weak managers, not the consumer.
Just a thought,
Best wishes
Sherm