Well, since I posted a few days ago, it would appear that I am not the only person who thinks that the costs at Qantas are way too high.
With Captains earning more than $400K, First Officers earning almost $300K, Second Officers earning more than $200K, and Flight Attendants earning more than $100K its perhaps no wonder that AJ started setting up Airlines abroad. Maybe he realised that the costs of doing business were too high in Australia.
I am amused when guys here say "well Australia is a high cost country"......well I think you may just be pricing yourselves out of business. Salaries have to be higher in the sandpit as they need to attract crews to somewhere which in many peoples eyes can be a pretty dire place to live, and bring up a family.
....and as for those who opt to defer a window seat....it could be a very high risk gamble.
Qantas may be sitting on a cash pile, but it is dwindling, and when it gets to around the last 1 Billion or so, the refuel companies, caterers and credit card companies will want paying in cash, and then the cash burn will become much more rapid.
It is not just AJ that is ruining Qantas, it is employee/union greed as well.
Niki in oz, can't wait for your 5th post, what a gem that piece was. OW couldn't have written it better herself. This old chestnut about our salaries always seems to get dragged out when management are under pressure. Divide and conquer rings a bell.
As we all keep hearing being mentioned, It's all the pilots fault, plus the engineers and the cabin crews. Oh, Plus the ground staff, travel agencies, the Aussie dollar, the US dollar, the price of fuel, being an end of the line airline, the government, foreign airlines, domestic airlines, the weather, the volcanoes, Boeing, airbus, old technology, new technology, my mum, my dad, the little lady down the lane. Etc, etc.
But guess what, I'm sure it isn't the fault of the people put in charge to run the airline, namely the management, the board and Alan Joyce.
Here is a quick question. In a two year period do you think pilot salaries have come close to $260million dollars??????
Yet in two instances over the last two years our little Irish leader has squandered $200 mil shutting the airline down and another $60mill to a Jetstar offshore franchise which has not returned one operating dollar to the group. If our leaders have that sort of cash to throw around then i would suggest salaries might not be the crux of the problem.
I'm sure others smarter than me can also add other examples of millions squandered under this current management.
So lets all cut the crap about salaries, they are merely a side show to the mismanagement we have suffered over the past 5-8 years and its about time this lot go so Qantas and its loyal staff can move forward before there is nothing left.