Warning: Qantas Pilot Richard Woodward at Sydney International Airport. Picture: Anthony Reginato
Source: The Sunday Telegraph
A HERO pilot who has flown for Qantas for 14 years predicts the possible death of the airline if it moves its business to Asia.
Richard Woodward, an A380 captain, said pilots were devastated by the plans for a move and fears the brand is fast losing its sparkle.
The 56-year-old, who lives in Avoca on the central coast, said: "The road to Asia is paved with the tombstones of companies that have tried and failed and we don't want Qantas to be one of them.
"I see a situation where one of the most recognised brands in the world is shrinking and moving offshore and there is potential for it to become a shadow of its former self."
The pilot, who has been with Qantas since 1987, said of the airline: "It's the spirit of Australia. There is a real emotional attachment to the brand. That will be lost and everything Qantas stands for and what customers want and expect."
Qantas long-haul pilots voted 94 per cent in favour of taking industrial action against planned restructuring.
"That was a sign the pilots were very frustrated and wanted to do something about it," said Mr Woodward.
"They were looking at the prospect of their airline shrinking and their careers going down the gurgler."
Mr Woodward, who started his aviation career with a scholarship to train with the air force, won an air force cross for saving 47 people in one day from a flood. He now flies long-haul to London and LA.
"I have had a wonderful career in aviation in Australia. It's been very good to me. We are in a situation where maybe 180 200 of our pilots are going to be made redundant.
"I feel very strongly for those young pilots, I feel they should have the same opportunity that I had."
He said there was anger over the release of figures which said the airline had doubled its net profit to $250 million.
"The pilots were asking why we have to make people redundant when it is posting profits," he said.
When he first started with the Qantas in 1987 on the classic 747's, he flew all over the world, "We went to Honolulu, in Hawaii, Johannesburg in South Africa, Harare in Zimbabwe and all over Asia."
Woodward said the service and the fact the airline was such a strong symbol of Australia was what made people keep coming back to use it," he said.
When people get on the plane and they hear the Australian accent they say 'It's good to be home.' The crew say, "we've still got thousands of miles to go' and they reply 'it doesn't matter, we are on an Australian aeroplane, we are home.' It is so good to hear that."