We now see Qantas in all its glory, doing what it does best: licking the arse of whichever Government is in power to get what it wants and Borghetti of Virgin is calling them on it.
It's realy amazing: the absolutely stratospheric return on investment Qantas can achieve from chairmans lounge memberships.
Taking a leaf from the Qantas book, If Borghetti truly wants to compete, he needs to invest in say a "Presidents lounge" and take it further up market than the Qantas product.
To put that another way, it is disgusting that Qantas is getting sympathetic treatment from the Government while they are shafting every manufacturing business and every worker in Australia.
It is disgusting that Qantas plans to take all of its maintenance and overhaul offshore while still arguing it is an authentic Australian national carrier.
It is disgusting that with alll of its market power, it still wants even more.
It is disgusting how it beats its staff over the head telllng them that they need to be "internationally competitive" in terms of labour costs, while simaltaneaously acting like lickspittle cowards themselves when faced with real competition.
I guess we are about to be treated to a series of Qantas advertisements full of kangaroos, claiming how authentically Australian it is, while at the same time shafting its engineers and giving their work to a bunch of overseas coolies who couldnt care less about their work quality...as long as they don't get caught.
But I guess Qantas is just following American management strategy like Sol Trujillo at Testra did; if you can't make a quid, lobby Government to change the rules.
Qantas should change its name to "Koala" Airlines - another protected species.
Let Qantas shrivel and die, it has leached off the Australian public for decades. Enough is enough. Open the skies.
Virgin Australia Holdings chief executive John Borghetti has accused Qantas of trying to get a “free ride” on government aid to allow it to maintain its 65 per cent share of the domestic aviation market.
On Tuesday, The Australian Financial Review reported the federal government is likely to provide Qantas with a standby debt facility backed by a government guarantee in the short term and a push to repeal foreign ownership restrictions over the longer term.
Speaking to the ABC’s Radio National on Tuesday, Mr Borghetti said the true reason Qantas wanted aid was that it was finding it difficult to compete in a market where there was a strong competitor for the first time since the collapse of Ansett.
“This is all about Qantas trying to get a free ride, there is no doubt about that, in order to continue their 65 per cent line in the sand strategy which is determined to knock out the competition domestically in this country,” he said.
Mr Borghetti noted Qantas is three to four times as large as Virgin and has $3 billion of cash and available credit facilities, a higher credit rating than Virgin, and a dominant position in every sector of the domestic aviation market.
“It is hell-bent – and by their own words by the way – of adding two aircraft for every aircraft we add, irrespective of the financial outcome,” he said.
Virgin is 77 per cent owned by a group of four foreign shareholders including Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. In contrast, Qantas is limited to 49 per cent total foreign ownership including 25 per cent by a single airline and 35 per cent by a group of airlines under the Qantas Sale Act legislation.
Mr Branson, whose Virgin Group owns 10 per cent of Virgin Australia, took out newspaper advertisements on Sunday with similar arguments against aid to Qantas as those put forward by Mr Borghetti.
Treasurer Joe Hockey on Tuesday rejected the arguments.
“Richard Branson is motivated by his own interest, I’m motivated by the national interest,” he said.
Mr Borghetti said the foreign ownership restrictions on Qantas should be lifted to level the playing field but that the government should not take other action to prop up the national carrier.
“Quite frankly two wrongs don’t make a right,” he said. “What you have here is the Qantas Sale Act imposed on Qantas which is clearly wrong by the way and we agree with that. If the government provides a debt guarantee or any financial assistance of any description all we are doing is making two wrongs and that won’t make a right.”
Mr Borghetti said Virgin’s position was that the government should not be providing any form of assistance to Qantas, but if it did so, it should offer the same aid to Virgin and other Australian airlines, including Regional Express.
Read more:
Qantas chasing ?free ride? from government, says Virgin chief John Borghetti
Read more:
Qantas chasing ?free ride? from government, says Virgin chief John Borghetti