The problems for Qantas will only get worse because the people who got you into this situation cannot, by definition, get you out of it.
They are focussed on cost instead of the value proposition for the customer.
They have the strategic focus of a gnat - witness how China was supposed to save the company and the time and effort spent on that hall of mirrors.
They have no understanding of outsourcing - in particular that the charge rate and total cost of outsourcing will only increase, it looks cheap at the outset, but once you are committed and have abandoned the idea of doing work yourself (by destroying your in house engineering capability) you will be royally screwed.
To put that another way, all the cost benefits of getting down the learning curve on a new aircraft type will go to the contractor, not Qantas.
They have the HR resource capability of Attila the Hun. Airlines are very popular places for would be managers because of the international travel perks. Qantas has failed to guard against the hiring of narcissists in management and the result is always the same: Too many levels of management and a poisonous set of relationships between employees and management.
As Gough Whitlam allegedly said: "Being made a Director of Qantas is the Australian equivalent of becoming a member of the House of Lords". The strategic capability of the Board - picking the A380, not picking the B777 and of course the APA bid demonstrate a less than stellar understanding of the role their lordships were required to fill.
All problems stem from these simple issues.
Last edited by Sunfish; 28th Aug 2012 at 22:41.