QFcabin:
'No one I know will willingly fly Qantas'
Pretty big statement Sunfish..where are the hundreds of thousands of QF pax coming from. Maybe you just don't have too many friends.
I have no objection to rational anti QF comments..everyone is entitled.....but nonsense remarks..No!
...And there is the problem QFcabin, you just don''t get it.
Let me tell you from whence that comment comes....
It comes from the members of a city club...or Two.
It also comes from a sporting club lunch table I frequent at least twice a week, being a retired old fart. The other old farts include Six Directors, or former Directors, of rather notable businesses that are/were sufficiently large to allow said lunch partners to buy their choice of yachts and spend their Victorian winters in Europe, or on long cruises, or touring in America each year.
Then there are Three or Four or Two old blokes who don't even travel by commercial airlines at all - the Gulfstream crowd. I dislike pissing competitions so I won't continue except to ask that who do you think invited their friends to watch Black Caviare run at Ascot?.
Sufficient to say, old mate, that it is very unwise to ignore or discount criticism. We spend a considerable part of our time determining our next international recreation destination. We can afford to go anywhere and everywhere any time we want to, and if Qantas doesn't want our business, as seems to be the case, then so be it. More importantly, we still have influence in business and elsewhere and our views are occasionally asked for.
To put it another way, if you are basing your business model on anxious mothers and their reward cards and frequent flyer points, or bogans flying Jetstar, and other price sensitive categories, or corporate drones with expense accounts, then good luck to you. Call us the carriage trade if you like.
My own practice as a CEO was to offer my staff International business travel on business class with a strict time horizon, or to offer them economy and have a free week of holidays at their destination. You would be surprised how popular option Two was - and Qantas with all their frequent flyer points was never part of the equation - they are valueless to a business traveller.
As I said: nobody I know will willingly fly Qantas. We don't trust you any more. Your staff don't trust you either. We will not let our families or those nearest and dearest to fly with you. We don't believe you are any different in the safety stakes from any other airline any more. That leaves the decision up to a question of price and convenience - and you lose.
To put it another way Qantas: you presume far too much. This is not a good idea.