Why are there no journalists who questions assertions such as:
"Last year (Qantas) lost $218 million" and "the airline's international division would lose $450 million this year"?
QF management have form when it comes to deceptive announcements. Dixon routinely talked up the doom & gloom only to report another record profit. That sort of behaviour:
a. cemented employee cynicism about the true state of affairs,
b. displayed the 'short-termism' of the era rather than long term strategies necessary to give QF a future, and
c. demonstrated that management was incapable of
honest disclosure in communicating their case and gaining support from employees for QF's strategic direction.
Under Joyce the pattern has
not changed!
I believe QF employees do care, can be pragmatic and flexible, but need to be able to believe that they're not being lied to at every step. Simple and understandable questions employees have asked of the 'leaders' (and I use the term advisedly) are not answered and yet, if there were truth, surely the myths could be dispelled. Cost allocation within the group is the elephant in the room; Joyce saying something does
not make it true!
In the pilot context 'facts' proffered by QF in comparisons with other airlines have often contained glaring omissions (accommodation/schooling/health for competitor airlines) and ignore the inherent inefficiencies of 'thin' schedules, old types, diverse fleet, network shrinkage causing surpluses, short-notice commercial decisions adversely impacting FltOps planning etc. The pilots have identified many possible efficiencies, but it should also be remembered that everything in the QF pilot contract was agreed over many years by QF too; this cannot be made an overnight issue for only the pilots to solve! In stating that domestic is
so profitable QF conveniently fails to explain the absolute
fact that about half the flying is done by international pilots flying wide-bodied aircraft; how could that be?
But in this industrial climate a corollary of employees being asked to give management 'their soul' in return for
no guidance or surety of tenure is a perception that acquiescence will serve no purpose other than to lower employees' redundancy payouts. Management's credibility and communication has been nothing short of appalling; who is responsible for that?
No one, and I mean NO one, is arguing that change is not needed. But I know that
all trust is gone and it it
not employees setting the tone on that issue.
