QF Rumour Mill

[surfside6]

Rumours gaining momentum at QANTAS
1.Pulling out of Frankfurt in June
2.AO to fly to Honolulu
3.Customer Service Supervisor Position to be removed and
those in the category to be red circled.
4.Perth Base to close.
Times to be determined....The denigration continues

[argusmoon]

Another rumor doing the rounds is VR in March

[Ultralights]

already facing staff shortages from the previous VR cull (of which i was a part) and now they want to get rid of more??? WTF??


oh wait, there are plenty of indians waiting to take your places!

[Keg]

lol. Loads to Frankfurt remain high with good yield. Unless they can make some serious dough with the a/c elsewhere, I'd be suprised.

2. AO to HNL is hardly a 'new' one. It's been in existence since before AO started operations. I remember discussing with Quinny the prospect of CNS-HNL and we even touched on SYD-HNL.

3. Haven't heard that one before. Can't see them flying an A380 without CSSs. The alternative is two CSMs but that'd cost more, not less. Perhaps on the 767 and A330. Who knows though. I've normally got a very good ear for rumours and I do mostly internatinal flying so despite these rumours 'gaining momentum', I'm not sure why this is the first time I've heard this one.

4. The rumour about the Perth base is about 18 months old now. That one may be gaining momentum and may make sense when you look at the flying (I haven't so I don't know if it does or not) but at the end of the day, we have PER-HKG, PER-NRT and PER-SIN. It seems strange to close the base and end up over nighting cabin crew in some manner or form.

Still, maybe you're right! :E

[one ball]

oh wait, there are plenty of indians waiting to take your places! Over a billion. 1,045,845,226 (July 2002 est.) to be precise...

[mach2male]

Keg
Perhaps the aircraft will be taken off Frankfurt and sent to SFO to shore up dominance across the Pacific against SQ?Speculation I know but i have heard it around half a dozen times in the last month

[Icarus2001]

Yes but not quite that many employable grumpy ones.

[Going Boeing]

Recently returned from Frankfurt - very heavy loads (unable to carry staff). Can't see them cancelling when the operation has good loads throughout the year.

Have heard from reliable source that the Long Haul FA base in Perth will close as they are training up the Short Haul FA's to operate all the PER-HKG & PER-SIN services.

Same source said that the 6 B743's will be transferred to AO as QF wants all Mainline Long Haul aircraft to be fitted with Sleeper Business class seats - the classics have been fitted with ex B744 Dreamtime business seats. Not to mention the savings by crewing these aircraft with the lower paid AO cabin crew. Destinations will be low yeild holiday ports including Honolulu, Bali etc plus Mumbai. I believe this is why AO is trying to remove the 4 hour time zone limit for AO cabin crew.

[jetjockey7]

By sending AO to Fra with reconfigged A/C and cheaper crew wouldn`t this increase yield/profit?The name of the game is...increase profit thru` better use of resources

[schnauzer]

JJ, yes but they still want to keep the QF brand. AO can't just come in and take over everything.

Keg, our FCO flights were getting good loads too, but they still shut those down to "code share" with CX. Apparently "loads" are not a good indication of what those madmen in QF management are likely to do.

[argusmoon]

Sure they want to keep the QF brand.....as a website.
Loads do not equate to yield and cargo also needs to be factored in not to mention pax transitting to another destination.FCO missed out on all 3.
Rumour:the FA removed from all aircraft is soon to be replaced?

[Buckshot]

Hmm, first FCO then CDG now FRA on the chopping block too.
How does Qantas seriously expect to be able to compete against the likes of EK & SQ in Europe with one - yes ONE - destination? Believe it or not, Geoff, not everyone wants to go to London.
Last time I checked I think EK had someting like 20+ European destiations, all one stop from Australia.

[Keg]

Both the FCO and CDG decisions were as much about getting a good return on the investment (the aircraft) as anything else. QF would make better money in the short to medium term by deploying the aircraft to LAX and LHR and could return to either or both of the other points at some stage in the future when we have the capacity.

Remember that there are also strong rumours of an announcement of aircraft orders in or about May. If that is for 777s or A340s or even more A330s then we may well see a return to some of the destinations that we have left as well as expansion into new horizons beyond that. SFO may well be one.

I admit to some of the decisions by QF regarding destinations being a tad mystifying to us at the coalo face. I remain hopeful that there is a method to the madness. I'm aware that this hope may be poorly placed. :(

[longreach]

Could very well be decisions on 346/773ER and 350/7E7 by May this year.
I'd be tempted to hedge the Boeing option but I could see it going either way.

[Australia2]

G'Day All,

Judging by Anderson on the 7:30 report, when the SQ 380's start on the Pacific QF will have plenty of spare -400's for Europe. I dont think a shortage of aircraft will be the problem.

Interesting times,

Oz2

[GalleyHag]

The Perth long haul base could very well be closing, there is something like 90 MAM casual Flight Attendants being converted to permanent in early Feb and interviews are being conducted at present and all Sydney based causals that have been interviewed have been told the positions are based in Perth. We at Sydney short haul were wondering why so many positions would be going to Perth, now its all starting to make sense.

Biscuit Chucker

We have also heard on the grape vine that either MAM or Qantas will shortly be conducting a major recruitment drive for language speakers only for the short haul division.