Captain QANTAS

[Swingwing]

Attention Dixon fans:

As most of you lot probably don't read the Financial Review, I thought I should draw your attention to today's feature in the AFR Magazine.

Subtitled "Captain QANTAS" it reveals key details of "aviation's hard man, a knockabout guy with loads of larrikin charm...."
Nearly 10 pages of glossy hagiography!

Something there for all Dixon lovers.

Unfortunately not available online, but at only $2.70 a copy it is the best antidote known to medicine for those pilots suffering from low blood pressure!!:D

Read it and enjoy.
Swingwing out.

[Capt Kremin]

Since its the AFR I guess its not a fluff piece for the masses. I hope it highlights that by the time Dixon is finished with APA, he will be enriched to the tune of over 100 million dollars extra for doing no more than he is doing now..... screwing the Qantas brand.

[stubby jumbo]

I have just trawled my way thru todays AFR BOSS article.

Can't help but to cynically think that timing of all this is just a bit too cute!!!


APA bid on the brink of collapse.
Dixon, Jackson et al ---necks are on the block if this deal goes down.mmmmmmmmmmmm:rolleyes:

The photo's, script look like they have brought in one of Singo's top PR spin-team, as it reads like an election article.

The bit I loved was the bit about Toomey being jacked off about the size of his Hotel room in LHR.
If this is what people at this level "fight" about , then I for one reckon the sooner they punt this " team"....the better.

Who knows , this article may turn out to be an epitath???:hmm:

For WHO ??????

Time will tell over the next few weeks.

[Dropt McGutz]

Fair go. You have to remember Toomey is a big bloke.

[DickyPearse]

Since its the AFR I guess its not a fluff piece for the masses

It's in the glossy magazine not the AFR proper, so it is certainly a fluff piece.

[Buster Hyman]

You have to remember Toomey is a big bloke
Absolutely!

[Howard Hughes]

Absolutely! (http://www.chaser.com.au/national/ansett-8216-absolutely-8217-adverts-working-flights-filled-with-freeloading-celebr.html?Itemid=96);)

[capt.cynical]

Where is the big b#%&!*&d now ??

[blow.n.gasket]

Who F'ing cares!

[Ron & Edna Johns]

Stubby Jumbo, Absolutely correct! This is nothing but well-timed spin to try saving Dixon's a#$e as the deal goes over the cliff. He's staring at going from $60M to being sacked, hence a warm fluffy piece to try preventing the latter.

Read this: http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/tripping-the-light-qantastic-to-just-tripping/2007/03/30/1174761748942.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Very enlightening. Much nearer to the truth. Conflicts of interest, Dixon's doom saying, flogging off QF aircraft options to other airlines - it's all there.

Put the AFR glossy mag article in context with all this and you realize what a carefully timed PR spin job it is...... :ugh:

[DEFCON4]

Thanks Ron and Edna.
The SMH piece is absolutely on the money.
I could never understand why Dixon continually talked QF down.
Why wasnt he taken to task over that?
The treatment of employees in general has been appalling.
This treatment is about ot belt him over the head.
In particular the pilot shortage for future growth.
Try negotiating with the pilots now....(Dixon)you prigg.

[captainrats]

This QF buyout falls over
Dixon and Whacko Jacko are ousted(together with a few others)
Rudd gets elected.
What a wonderful world it would be.....Ohhhhh Yeahhhh!

[wrongwayaround]

"I think this whole thing has been very badly handled," UNSW School of Banking and Finance professor John Evans, also a private equity expert, says.

"One of the issues is conflicts. Implicitly they are saying we can do better [under private equity ownership], they should have been doing better already."

How true is that.

How much is that Dicko looking after his own pocket?

[ScottyDoo]

What a wonderful world it would be.....Ohhhhh Yeahhhh!Apart from Rudd.

[Ron & Edna Johns]

I loved the bit in the AFR article about how Dixon told his kids he was giving his "vast fortune" (the $60M) away to a charitable trust:
"I said to Jessica and Ben, 'I'm going to do this' and they said, 'Go for it, Dad' and there was not a discussion about it. It's a huge amount of money and it would have been theirs. It's one thing I feel very proud about."

Hmmm. No discussion at all about how if they give that money away it becomes a $60M TAX DEDUCTION and that the Dixon family trusts will probably never pay tax again? Riiiiiiight. Just makes you feel so warm and fuzzy about the bloke, doesn't it? Makes you even believe he's just a poor, misunderstood, knockabout guy.

And I'm really Julia Gillard. :hmm:

[stubby jumbo]

Agree with the above comments.

The SMH article today is a real ball-tearer!!!

( No wonder the Dame only speaks to the Fin and the Australian)

My only concern is that if this bid does sink, then there will be reprisals and beatings as retribution for the loss of ..."kick backs":eek:

Dixon and his mates will be using their favourite saying again:

DON'T GET MAD .....GET EVEN.

[lowerlobe]

I would like to see this takeover bid fall on it's backside if only to see Darth squirm in the ineviteable post take over interviews.

The BS from Darth,Princess Leia and other associated fiends would be priceless.

The spin doctors have obviously tried to portray Darth a warm wonderful charitable guy.The journo doing the interview must have had to overdose on stemitil.

[excellr8]

The smh article is truly refreshing to read. Finally some acknowledgement and questioning about the total lack of transperancy in the senior Qantas ranks. All the holes are ligning up and if the Reason Model is correct, an 'event' is about to occur. Don't you just love our Australian culture, sometimes tall poppy syndrome actually does some good.

[Datum]

The remarkable differences in tone and content between the recent AFR and SMH articles is stunning!... I guess it clearly illustrates those factions aligned with Senior QF management and those that are not... Great to read the SMH article - which concentrates on the facts. Well done to the the SMH journalists...

The sly hidden agendas and poor ethical practices are too many to count...

[Buster Hyman]

It only goes to prove how easily led some sections of the media are. Don't believe what you read or see from them, if you're interested in a topic, find out for yourself!

[Le 3rd Homme]

That Dixon has a short fuse and a mouth like a sewer.
That when he couldnt get a P/C seat on QF from SIN to SYD he spent 7 large on a Sing Air seat.
That he has 3 children not 2
That he has plenty of enemies..36000 of them
That he abused LHR ground staff when he nad Mrs.D couldnt sit together due to commercial requirements.
That Dixon's self characterization as a hard man is actually code for I am a little ****e .
That rather than spend time with a computer onboard, he drinks a bottle and a half of red and then passes out.
That he is where he is because of the magic circle club.
That he doesnt give a rats rissole about employee morale.
That my parrot loves Dixons photo...it cured him of constipation. Not Dixon...the parrot.
That there is a Q to supply the sword upon which Dixon can commit sepuku.

[GUARD]

Can you imagine the dinner party scene when this deal was put together a couple of years back......

Dixon at the head of the table " okay James ( Packer ), we'll get you on the board first and make sure you speak to Costello and get him on side. Marg, you use your influence to get the FIRB on side. I'll continue to talk the company down at every opportunity so that these idiot shareholders start to believe the take-over deal is the best they'll ever see. Peter you just echo everything I say because as Chief Financial Officer it will be more convincing coming from you......WE'LL BE RICH I TELL YOU, RICH!!! More money than you can imagine, then we'll just walk away and who gives a sh#t"

Well the wheel has turned you despicable bunch of industrial rapists!

GUARD

[stubby jumbo]

Le 3rd Homme.......I nearly fell off my jumpseat laughing at your post....spot on:D

Darth, Brown , Il Duce,the Dame and the rest of the Teletubbies are in for some serious STRESS over the coming weeks.

We should not be overly surprised at the tactical disaster this bid has turned out to be. The above team have mismanaged a litany of other "cock ups" over the last few years.Eg: Jetstar Asia, poor fleet selection ( read: passing on 777-er and retaining 743)Closing Heavy Maint at SYD, Outsoucing IT to India.........on and on it goes, not to mention MORALE :*

I reckon there should be a full blown Public Enquiry into this bid with an Independent Financial scrutiny.

As has been stated before, we are not stupid, we have all seen through this game of "noughts & crosses".

The gig is up you Clowns.

The stench of the rotting carcass is all a bit much for me:ooh:

[B A Lert]

The AFR articles was written in anticipation of a successful bid as it mentioned several times of the soon-to-be-director. What a bloody joke? One would have thought that the editorial staff of the Fin would have been able to correct these inaccuracies.

A couple of other points

- Dixon was never on the diplomatic staff of the Australian Govt. He was a hack in what was known as the News and Information Service. To the best of my knowledge, these lower down spin doctors were never on the diplomatic list the same way as Consular staff do not make the diplomatic list.

- Dixon has never worked in most of the areas mentioned such as cabin crew and network development. He's always been a marketing man with some responsibility for these areas but he's never worked in them as stated.

All in all, a pretty ordinary piece of fluff that gives journalism a bad name.:E

[speedbirdhouse]

Rumour has it that a certain regulatory body is taking a good hard look at the actions of a certain company's board members with regard to shenanigans relating to a proposed take over..........

BRING IT ON!!!!!!!

[lowerlobe]

If Darth wants to be known as captain Qantas then uniforms section should get him a red jump suit like some 'B" grade movie with a big 'Q" on the front and his underpants on the outside.

He would be sure to impress his secretarial staff in that outfit and he could do his interviews in it.:E

[Capt Kremin]

GD was never Captain Qantas. He has been, for the last four years at least, Captain Jetstar. or Captain Greed.

Whilst some of the emotions here are understandable, maybe we should wait until the Rotund Chick has sung......

[radiation junkie]

Yes, we are all waiting and rotund chick is about to sing her final Aria. Let's hope there are no shouts of "encore"!

[YesTAM]

Serious students of corporate strategy call business magazines "business pornography" and treat them accordingly. Adulatory articles such as the one on Mr. Dixon are not unknown.

I bet I could find a few ones on Adler, Bond, Richardson, Kennedy, Rich and suchlike, lauding their talents, connections, brilliant business strategies and scintillating commercial insights and of course the companies they built....like HIH, FAI, OneTel, Alpine printing and...Jetstar Asia.

[Ron & Edna Johns]

"Business pornography" ??!!??

Now I know why could only find 6 glossy pages in my copy of the Dixon article unlike Swingwings' 10 pages........... :E :cool:

[stubby jumbo]

Over the last 3 years the LEGACY AIRLINE mantra/spin has been thrown around us all like some subliminal message reminicent of a scene out of A Clockwork Orange!

Darth/Brown et al would bang on about it at every Staff Forum, every media event, with: "blah, blah , oh and this is the reason for your wage freeze ....and don't forget we are a Legacy Airline".

YEAH RIGHT ( and we're not allowed to ask about your 60 big ones??)

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Now, if Marg, Darth and the Teletubbies are punted if/when the Bid goes down , then I reckon we'll have a right to call this collective "gaggle".

...OUR LEGACY.


Then, maybe......we'll be able to move on as an airline and this period in our history will best be remembered as just "Wind Shear" ( aka : our Legacy)

Lest we Forget.

[Spaghetti Monster]

Interesting that the article describes Geoffrey as a 'Labor man' - as evidenced by his humble approach to executive remuneration, his keen desire to work constructively with unions, and of course his passionate opposition to Workchoices.

[busdriver007]

Love to look over his shoulder this election.:)

[stubby jumbo]

New tack expected in $11bn bid for Qantas

By Geoff Easdown
April 06, 2007 12:00am
Article from: http://www.news.com.au/images/sources/h14_heraldsun.gif</IMG> (http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/?from=ni_story)


THE $11.1 billion Qantas bid will go unconditional within weeks under a new deal Airline Partners Australia is negotiating with its bankers.
BusinessDaily believes the plan involves a second extension of the $5.45-a-share offer beyond the present cut-off date of April 20.
The partners are also expected to flag a plan next week under which the buyout will become unconditional once the syndicate acquires 70 per cent of Qantas shares.
At present, the Australian-North American buyout group has to win acceptances from 90 per cent of shareholders to draw on the $10.1 billion "covenant-lite" debt facility negotiated with its lending syndicate.
During the past week a Macquarie Bank-led bid team has been on the phones seeking to restructure the offer.
Yesterday, a senior Qantas source told BusinessDaily to be prepared for the bid to hot up next week.
A clear indication a new deal looms emerged on Tuesday when Deutsche Bank, one of the foreign banks funding the buyout, advised the stock exchange it was building a stake in Qantas. Between Friday of last week and last Tuesday, Deutsche lifted its holding from 5.4 per cent to 10.86 per cent.
Shaw Stockbroking's senior analyst Brent Mitchell said yesterday that APA and Qantas board and management had too much to lose to let the deal collapse.
"They have invested too much in this and there is their credibility going forward," said Mr Mitchell.
The new strategy is aimed at sidestepping a deal-blocking manoeuvre by two institutional shareholders that want more for their shares. UBS Nominees and Balanced Equity Management, which hold 14 per cent of the airline, have gathered sufficient shares to block the bid as it stands.
According to sources, the buyout group, comprising Allco Finance, Macquarie Bank and North American interests TPG and Onex Corp, has told Qantas management to expect a major announcement after the Easter break.
APA is believed to have adopted the view that a 70 per cent acceptance level will snare about 40 per cent of Qantas stocks now held by hedge funds.
By obtaining the hedge fund holdings, APA would lift its present stake from 30.6 per cent to more than 70 per cent.
Once the deal goes unconditional APA is bound to pay sellers within a month, giving security to the hedge funds which risk huge losses if the bid collapses and the price of Qantas shares plunges.
The buyout partners believe that by getting the hedge fund holdings they will trigger further sales by various managed funds who have held Qantas as a top 500 stock.
Managed funds invest in index stocks and under the plan, once APA gets to 70 per cent the liquidity of the carrier's stocks will fall, causing them to drop out of the index. As a result the index funds would be forced to sell.
Shaw's Brent Mitchell said: "Obviously if they declare the bid unconditional and let it complete they (APA) will end up with a certain percentage of Qantas stock.
"They would then be able to come back later with a higher bid to clean up the rest, " Mr Mitchell said.
Mr Mitchell said he would not be surprised to see a revised offer emerge after Easter which would give the hedge funds "a reasonable short term gain".
"They would stand to pick up the difference between $5.15 a share which they have been buying at and APA's formal $5.45 bid," he said.
Mr Mitchell said the deal may now have to be made in two stages.

Looks like the MacBunny will be coming after all to deliver those eggs laden with $$$$ for Darth & his Teletubbies.:{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What I want to know now is:
1.How did the Govt award the ( 4 year ) $900m Defence contract to a Company with no transparent Tender process, particularly at a time when this APA deal is been negotiated ??

2. The Army( mmm...."Defence" word again) Captain (???) who has been caught alledgedly knocking off ROCKET LAUNCHERS.
HOW THE HELL DOES THIS HAPPEN???
This had the potential for a disaster far greater than 9/11. For some lunatic to sit on top of a building as a 744 departs heavy from SYD is too frightening to contemplate??

Again, lets see a full and open enquiry in to both of the above.

Chance of it happening.????

I believe in the Easter Bunny.:hmm:

[mrpaxing]

the amount of money spend so far on the bid is in the tens of millions, not only by the syndicate but also by QF (Wyhlie &Co).They may well succeed as they continue to get lots of support from within QF/ government. downwside is the lowering/change the bid/structure will cost APA many more millions (estimates run around 200 million). another reason Darth:ugh: is going to say we have to increase cost savings.:ugh: and as mentioned in the newspaper, directors of Qf/APA (dame already looks like a goose)have too much to loose to let the bid fail.:{ :ugh:

[lowerlobe]

Quote “Shaw Stockbroking's senior analyst Brent Mitchell said yesterday that APA and Qantas board and management had too much to lose to let the deal collapse”

Never has a quote been more accurate…….

I have a much better title for Darth and that is Captain Enema.

As far as the Defence contract is concerned ,is there anyone on the Qantas board who knows anyone in the Department of Defence?

[Zeus Ex Machina]

Cosgrove....that name says it all