A model of how to lose business
FOR over 30 years, as a regular passenger on Qantas domestic flights, I have seen its customer service nosedive. Although a member of Qantas's frequent flyer program and the Qantas Club, I take every opportunity to fly with any other airline.
Back when Qantas had genuine competition from Ansett, the attitude of frontline staff was merely insufferable arrogance: this is how we do things; if you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. They were unsackable, with salaries underwritten by the taxpayer - like public servants (but without the same accountability) or ABC journalists.
With Ansett grounded, any pretence of providing customer service disappeared. Qantas achieved a virtual monopoly with business travellers on major routes, and no amount of surly behaviour or rudeness could harm their profits. To attract new customers, it spent a fortune on some of the most expensive advertisements ever produced in this country. Yet staff did everything possible to drive away existing ones, certain in the knowledge they had no alternative but to keep coming back for more.
The final insult was abolishing check-in services altogether, forcing passengers to do it for themselves. One recalls, almost fondly, waiting an hour in a queue to be insulted and abused at the check-in. At least when Qantas lost your bags, they couldn't claim that you must have tagged your own bags incorrectly.
This deterioration is not imagined. That customer service has declined dramatically is demonstrated by the fact that one (and only one) branch of Qantas's operations has managed to maintain traditional standards. Not in ticket sales, nor at check-in, nor on the aircraft, nor even in the club lounge, where the new policy of "the customer is always wrong" now prevails. Traditional customer service has survived only at valet parking desks.
This isn't surprising. Valet parking is optional. You can take a taxi, park your own car, even catch public transport. Nobody is compelled to use valet parking. And most customers wouldn't, if treated with the contempt they receive elsewhere from Qantas.
This perfectly demonstrates that, absent monopolistic dominance, the availability of genuine alternatives conduces to higher standards of customer service. Other Qantas staff fully understand that the passenger has already bought and paid for a ticket, and won't change carriers at the last moment; that, with the largest number of seats across major inter-city routes, Qantas offers a flexibility which other airlines can't match. Exemplary customer service is not required to prevent passengers seeking alternatives, now or in the future. But, with valet parking, the level of customer service makes all the difference, which explains this unique exception to the new standard.
Qantas enjoys huge commercial advantages over competitors: its existing customer base, incomparable brand recognition, and an unmatched safety record; the xenophobic attraction of being the "national carrier"; and, despite Virgin Australia's best endeavours, the capacity to offer greater flexibility. So the fact Qantas is losing money, hand over fist, suggests nothing short of incompetence.
When one reads that 1000 or more Qantas staff are in peril of losing their jobs, one naturally feels for the individuals concerned. But, collectively, they have brought this upon themselves. If Alan Joyce wants to do something meaningful to save his ailing airline, he should appoint a few valet parking staff to retrain the rest of the company's frontline employees.
The worst possible response would be any form of government assistance, direct or indirect. That would simply guarantee Qantas can continue to provide a substandard service, without facing the inevitable financial consequences that all other businesses face when they neglect paying customers.
Anthony Morris QC is a Brisbane barrister.
Article from The Australian 9 December.