Excellent post TWE, I think you have about nailed it.
Yep on the money..
I pretty much agree with all of it, and suspect that your observations and speculations may well be valid.
Olive, I too can see where you are coming from in your earlier posts... although it appears that you have made your mind up to not return to Qantas, which is a shame... I wish I knew how to change your mind.. but I respect your previous stated reasons why....
Having said that, the current management running the show seem to have no plan at all, always lurching from one crisis to the next.. as I said before confusing both models they manage (Premium & LCC...) As time went by, both business models seemed to have fused themselves together causing bewilderment with the front line staff and the customers as there were so many mixed messages floating around the public arena.... the product perceptions tarnished.
Frankly, I doubt this current management would know what
Helen Clinards ‘conscious competence’ was.. wouldn't surprise me if they thought it was a cathedral in London or Paris..
Trust you can now begin see what the front line staff have had to put up with over the past few years...
"uncertainty" is the first word that always comes to mind...
Airlines are a people business, inspire its people and good things begin to happen again... it is really that simple... and has been done before..
Continental Airlines
When Bethune took over in 1994 as
COO and President of
Continental Airlines the troubled airline had twice faced
bankruptcy and was again headed that direction. A search firm hired by Continental's board of directors suggested Bethune, who had recently completed an Advanced Management Course at the
Harvard Business School, to salvage the company.
Bethune quickly made his mark on the carrier recognizing that a good airline was defined by customer satisfaction, not just cost per available seat mile. Bethune ascended to the role of CEO and was elected chairman of the board of directors in 1996.
Continental went from being ranked last in every measurable performance category to winning more
J.D. Power and Associates awards for Customer Satisfaction than any other airline in the world.
BusinessWeek magazine named Bethune one of the top 25 Global Managers in 1996 and 1997. Under his leadership Continental's stock price rose from $2 to over $50 per share.
Gordon Bethune - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia