More from the smiling assassin......
The Base Maintenance team have been busy this week supporting both their internal and external customers in AOG events. Externally I’d like to recognise their great work in helping out both AAE and Qantas Link with their AOG aircraft. From an internal perspective their efforts in completing the in service mods on VH-VZL earlier than planned, freed up the aircraft to then support our own AOG disruption. In addition to this they also completed the first A330 QStreaming fit out. The aircraft is now back in service and I’m sure it’s generating a good reaction from our customers.
As part of our ongoing effort to return and generate value for the airline, a project is underway to increase utilisation of the A380 from 13 hours to 14 hours per day. The project team involved in working through the transit requirement includes people from Melbourne, Sydney, Customer Experience, London and Los Angeles. They have started their analysis and will work together with Supply Chain to create a proactive parts supply that ensures OTP is maintained and workload is managed to achieve the transit times. Our work on improving utilisation as well as the other smart things we are doing to optimise our network has enabled us to offer more services at the times and places our customers want fly, and will support the launch of A380 services to Dallas six days a week from October. This new challenge will require MEL to turn the aircraft in 2 hours every time without room for delay and for ports like SYD, LAX and London to maintain the Fleet health during its natural ground time. Knowing the folks we have in these ports I am confident Engineering will not let our customer down!
One correction to last week’s update, I failed to acknowledge the key role the A380 S21 crew played in identifying the defect, staying over shift and providing a precise handover which minimised the delay. Thanks to them for the excellent customer service and dedication.
In terms of consultation this week, we met with both the ALAEA and the Alliance unions. Both meetings were used to provide an update on the EOI and mitigation progress, appeals and remaining job opportunities. Our next ALAEA meeting will be held on Friday 15 August.
A few weeks ago now I talked in detail about overtime and the fact that it will always be a feature of a healthy staffing model in a dynamic working environment. I know there are certain views on overtime and it’s perceived connection to the integrity of our workforce modelling. I just wanted to add some further thoughts to this. Lately we’ve used overtime to help get the operation back in balance as crews have been unevenly impacted by people leaving or transferring to other roles. But as you know overtime is also used to cover things that are unexpected and infrequent such as AOG aircraft, or excessive sick calls. More importantly we do try hard to allow folks to use their leave when all slots are taken and a family matter arises, like a child’s sporting events, weddings and funerals. At these times we try hard to balance our employees’ needs, operational requirements and cost by choosing to cover these events with OT. I want to thank those that have stepped up to cover for their fellow employees or to protect the operation. These actions show the pride and brand that Qantas Engineering has in our craft and the care we have for each other. We are all working hard to secure a future for Qantas and Engineering. Working together we can achieve any anything.
Finally, I want to recognise one of our long serving employees who leaves us this week to pursue an external opportunity. David Kelly started in Qantas 1984 as a Structures engineer and has since held a variety of roles in QE including Senior Technical rep in Seattle, General Manager Fleet Planning, Head of Aircraft Commercial Projects, Group General Manager Technical Services and Program Director for Marlin. Most recently David joined my leadership team managing the safety and risk function for QE. I would like to sincerely thank David for his professional and dedicated approach throughout his many years serving the airline. On behalf of everyone in QE, I wish David all the very best for the future.
Thanks for all you do.
Be Safe
Tony
Words fail me. Just pass a bucket please.
