Merged: Qantas Looks To Improve International Product

[MyerFlyer]

AdNews: Qantas to revamp international brand image (http://www.adnews.com.au/news/qantas-to-revamp-international-brand-image)

Wonder what improvements are on the way? Hopefully A380 style IFE and economy seats on all the international A330s?

Thanks

[1a sound asleep]

Improving image NOT the product, ie. marketing hype

"Qantas is to relaunch its international brand image, with the creation of a new team led by executive manager customer & marketing Lesley Grant"

[MyerFlyer]

Not true!

The article states that recent product enhancements rolled out domestically are being extended to the international product and services.

Thanks

[1a sound asleep]

Example???? You dont get the hype do you?

[Skystar320]

Qantas Looks To Improve International Product

Isn't this called Jetstar?

[skybed]

ONE international product like A380 skybeds, premium economy,panasonic IFE etc.on all international aircraft(Boeing & Airbuses). Its not rocket science but the geniuses at QF need a whole new senior project team to work it out.:yuk::ugh:

[Keg]

There was an interesting quote in an article on Monday's Australian:

The team, part of the Q Futures program, will investigate ways of improving the performance on the international business in areas such as lounges, menus and check ins.

See anything obvious missing from that list? :rolleyes: :ugh:

[watch your6]

The bloody hard product.....the aircraft!!!!

[capt.cynical]

CC compliment on the A/C :rolleyes::ugh:

[The Green Goblin]

All they need is half a dozen 777s and they will be set.

I think hell will freeze over first :{

[airtags]

1. The ability to discern a puff piece bit of pr hype...

2. The ability ask a few questions rather than just retype the media release.......

3. A readable relevant story


:E
AT

[7378FE]

All QF need is to double the 744 fleet and have an empty aircraft follow 30 minutes after the scheduled one to facilitate the swift onward passage of the punters when engines go pop. :}

[Cactusjack]

Easy upgrade of product - Use Singapore Airlines planes and cabin crew. Product fixed.

[mates rates]

There is no point in doing anything until they fix the staff morale problem!

[rodchucker]

Mates,
Well that is obviously going ahead in leaps and bounds isn't it and the rat is well placed for the competition that is fast circling.

I am sure they pay well for all their spin from what is left over after Exec bonuses.

Heaven forbid that anyone would think they need metal and not orders or any viable business plan beyond handing everything to the star.Maybe one day they will ask where the passengers are but i doubt it.
cheers

[bugsquash1]

Sack all older trolley dollies with attitude.:}

Upgrade anyone with a personality who realizes that the job mainly includes customer service, not only safety related things.

Hire dumb juniors who are happy to serve with a smile and don't care that this is as good as it gets.
:E:E:E

[whatever6719]

I hope that was tongue in cheek bug!
If you think that hiring dumb youngies as crew and getting rid of experienced staff that happen to take the job seriously is all that we need to fix things, then you really should get out more.

[Orangputi]

Whilst Bugsmash may have been a little undiplomatic in his comments. The service on Qantas compared to other carriers in Asia and the Middle East is discraceful. I would not only look at the food IFE etc but the people on board doing the service with attitude and the check in what a discrace. This is a product of understaffing and it shows. it must be hard for staff to engage people when they are always at the sharp end of cost cutting by morons who sit at a desk and have no idea about the realities of the front line and are only concerned about their executive bonuses come the financial year! i.e. pigs at the trough

I guess it is hard to hold that criminal Dixon responsible as he has taken his golden parachute, how the hell people let that imposter do what he did to a once great airline is beyound me!

[teresa green]

You don't have to board a QF aircraft, to have attitude problems, its all around you. Try shops, (serve yourself, nobody comes near you) banks (you have nothing better to do than wait) Doctors (he is not on time due to a emergency, which appear to be daily) and thereby lies the problem. Nobody gives a sh%t. I will take a older C/C everytime thanks, and remember the days when they actually cared. Asian aircrew have a different attitude, yes, but remember the female crew are put off as soon as they hit 35 due to "difficulties," that ok with you? Qantas is no different to any other service industry, and getting staff that are actually interested in working would be no mean feat. How bloody sad, it used to be a good life and a good job, now.................

[Worrals in the wilds]

Recently I have flown QF internationally as well as several Asian and European carriers, and in my experience the cabin crew were great, whatever their age and/or gender.

My biggest problem with QF international is their attitude ridden check in staff and their complete inability to provide a dietary meal, despite booking it initially, calling to confirm, asking staff at the airport a day before departure and calling again to confirm the morning before departure.

This has happened twice and I will not fly them again, because their two Asian and one European code share partners that I also flew with can organize a similar meal with 15 minutes notice, after QF failed to notify them of the requirement that was specified with the initial booking :ugh::ugh::ugh:.

QF cannot do this, even when the booking receipt is shown to them, even when it is pointed out to them that the Q Catering building is only a ten minute drive from the aircraft and they keep standby dietary meals available, even when it was confirmed in all the previous steps and one is checking in two hours prior to departure.

It means nothing to the CS bimbo filing her nails while begrudgingly checking you in (literally) that you are facing many hours without food you paid for. I have seen it twice, and they don't give a :mad:. In contrast, both SQ and CX can organize edible food with a minimum of fuss so that's who I now fly with.

I like Qantas and I would like to keep flying with them, but when I have to pay premium and still pack a picnic lunch (which the LAG screeners confiscate) there are better options available. IME it's not the fault of the cabin crew who went to all lengths to find edible food, but the alleged Customer Service staff on the ground that sell the airline short.

My requirements can be met by most decent cafes (we're not talking groundnut allergies). I can go to the Coffee Club and order a meal, I can go the local Italian joint and they'll tell me the gnocchi and scallopine is fine but don't eat anything else. At the other end of the spectrum (and Qantas has been wanking on about attracting premium customers:yuk:) I have eaten at Aria in Sydney and the staff took all care with my meal, even checking with the chef about sauces before accepting my order, but it's all too hard for Qantas, unlike CX, SQ and Swissair that could organize a meal with no fuss.

It pisses me off to no end that unlike their competitors, Qantas simply can't be bothered organizing a special meal with a months notice, because they don't :mad:ing care. Maybe they'd rather I threw my guts up all over their damn aircraft.

Rant over, from a lost loyal customer.

[teresa green]

Blimey, just as well you never had a crew meal!:uhoh:

[skybed]

I am sad to see you go but understand your frustrations. There are a number of crew who have put forward options to deal with these issues but unfortunatly QF bonus driven managers:yuk: don't get it. It's easy to fix but the lack of "care" by the chosen ones is mind blowing.:ugh:
Enjoy your travels with whoever you choose.:ok:

[Worrals in the wilds]

Thanks Skybed. I know it's not the CC's fault and on all occasions they went out of their way to find food like nuts, cheese etc which was very welcome. They were really excellent and very apologetic, and I imagine you all bear the brunt of pax anger when it's not your fault, but that of the people on the ground.

On the final trip there was an orthodox Jewish family behind me and the same thing happened with their meal requests (and I heard the guy saying he'd rung to confirm). It's no way to run a business.

[stubby jumbo]

This Special Meal debacle has been going on for 20 years !!!

How hard is it ....in this age of technology to link the booking to a catering prompt etc etc.??:ugh:

The excuse we keep getting is that it costs 8x more to deliver a special meal blah blah blah. The issue is when the punters meal fails to be delivered then the "torrent of fury" is unleashed onto us. Most times we can throw together a bubble and squeak from P/C and J/C meals BUT invariably they walk off mumbling "never flying Qantas again" (another one :{)

Agree with TG on the issue of attitude as well. When the Bonus driven "Executives"(aka chumps) made the decision to introduce a B-scale crew (QCCA, QCCD, etc) it was ALL about quantity not quality.

You cannot train attitude.
You MUST recruit for this nugget in the behavioural profile .

Don't get me wrong though....there are some gems in these groups. But ,when the chips are down and you encounter a diversion or an extended rolling delay .......thats when the strength of having a positive attitude shines through.

Its not just Qantas though......I flew with EK (commercial) to DXB last year and the service going up was abysmal ! But superb on the return.

So when it comes to Service- it basically it comes down to 3 things:
1. How Management recruit.
2. You get what you pay for.
3 How you Manage performance

[DEFCON4]

For years management have been carping on about being the worlds best airline.If anyhthing that goal is more distant than it has ever been
Latest figures indicate Qantas share of Australian international traffic has declined to 19.5%
This mantra is more like lip service than real service.Crew levels continue to be reduced as are staff on the ground at check in.
To be the best you need to spend money not cut costs to the point where it compromises product quality.
But hey bonuses are predicated on cost savings.
Still stockholders haven't had a dividend for the past 3 years.
Nobody is happy with/at Qantas except the trough feeding management

[Worrals in the wilds]

The excuse we keep getting is that it costs 8x more to deliver a special meal blah blah blah.
Thanks for the info, stubby jumbo, it confirms rumours I heard from Q Catering friends. Why do Qantas offer the service at all then? I guess because it would be really bad PR to say 'we don't do special meals' and might open themselves up to discrimination claims. Is the attitude; 'let's just 'lose' the requests and have it both ways?' How awful. Even Virgin offer one option on their buy as you go menu, which is all anyone asks for.

Cathay has a great concept. They do a generic, all purpose special meal. It's gluten, wheat, yeast, dairy and egg free, low fat, low salt and also very tasty. Basically it's boiled chicken with rice and green vegies. This means they don't need to carry a huge range of different meals (unlike Q Catering who carried about twelve different sorts of meal last time I looked) so if you order a special meal of any sort, that's what you get. Easy, efficient and keeps the punters happy. :)

Possibly it's also Halal and kosher too, which would make things even simpler again.

Instead, by the sounds of it Qantas maintain this farce of catering to all punters with no intention of actually doing so (and there are quite a few people around with food restrictions, whether for health or religious reasons) and leave their hardworking frontline staff to bear the brunt of the resulting anger. What a toxic approach.

[LondonSloop]

EasyJet warns of deepening first half loss; stocks tumble 16%, worst since 2004.Let's hope it's a sign of the times and indicative of waning Investor interest in ‘less is better’ airlines.

Tis time for QF to sell down its Jetstar holdings and take seriously BA's proposal of marriage.

[skybed]

Londonsloop?
BA has pension liabilities of some $ 5 billion+, anyone going near that mob would be mad. i can't see the QF board consider anything in the current circumstances. ;)

[Ka.Boom]

Low-cost carriers are eating Qantas’s lunch, taking 19.5% of the international traffic into and out of Australia and—for the first time—equaling the national airline’s market share.

The figures released by the Australian government and published in The Australian show that while Jetstar, a QF subsidiary, accounted for 8.1% it failed to stop the group’s overall market share from slipping from 28% to 27.7%.
According to The Australian, QF itself lost 5% of the market share over the past two years as it battles not only LCCs but airlines from the Middle East.
To address the threat from full-service carriers such as Emirates, a special team headed by QF Group Executive-Customer and Marketing Lesley Grant will investigate ways of improving the performance of the international business in areas such as lounges, menus and check-ins.
In Australia, QF has drawn criticism for a number of years for lagging in cabin innovations such as IFE and a premium economy product.
However, QF’s plans for rejuvenating its offering, upgrading the fleet and opening new point-to-point routes have been dealt severe blows by delivery delays of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787. If the 787 had been on time, the Qantas Group would be taking delivery of its 29th this month. If its first 787 is delivered in late 2012, it comes when QF expected to be taking its 50th Dreamliner.

[1a sound asleep]

There's a huge list of things QF can do. Here's a start to my list.

1. Stop being so LHR focused. Pax will not fly 2/3 stops to XX when EK operate with one stop.
2. Get the tourism authority in Drawin to back a Darwn hub and operate flights to European cities from Darwin nonstop.
3. Achieve a max 10 year average life on International Fleet. Get back to the 80's and turn a/c over whilst they have resale value. Over $1billion was spent in fuel on the 744 versus a 777 fleet (which they never had)
4. Offer flexible route/stopover ticketing. Many Asian/Middle eastern airlines will allow pax to stopover on route at no charge, NOT QF.
5. Sharpen up the trolly dollies. PAX are customers not an interuption to their friigin' on board social life
6. Revisit luggage limits. Many pax are taking EK for a 30kg luggage limit.
7. More special liveries to make QF less dull and boring
8. Start being more aware of every competitor and why pax are not flying QF instead of sticking the head in the feeding trough
9. Far more creative code sharing/joint ventures. QF on its own is a pathetic excuse. Travel agents are selling other airlines because QF doesn't offer through fares code share to many destinations
10. Pay me $500k a year and I will sort the rest out

[clear to land]

You have to love the latest management 'innovation'. Charge for 'checked in' luggage at 23 kg when nearly a year ago EK raised the Y class limit to 30kg. Very competetive :ugh:

[ferris]

They do seem hell-bent on doing anything except competing with the ME carriers- then wonder where their market share went! (forming ' management working groups' FFS :rolleyes: )

ps. QF might do a lot better if it employed a few people off this site- certainly more original thinking here.

[skybed]

JB would have taken the ME carrieir's head on by purchasing and using 777's on direct LHR-PER-LHR services.:bored:

[jj232]

Having not flown Qantas Int for 20 years I recently used Qantas return to Johanessburg. To be honest I am surprised anyone travels with them internationally when there is other airlines like Singapore or Emirates on the same route. The reason I say this is they are normally the most expensive option but more importantly they really do fall down on the service side of things.

I am not sure if Australians can ever do service as well as the Singaporeans do but I am sure they can do much better than what I endured during the two flights recently. On both flights there would not have been an fa under 45! This is not to say older people can't do the job but I think after so many years working as an fa they have become stale and don't really want to be there but the conditions are probably too good to leave. On the day flight out of Sydney as soon as we departed they made sure all the shutters stayed closed so as many people as possble would sleep so they did not have to do anymore than min. The English guy next to me was on his first Qantas flight and noted in all the years he has been flying he has never been on a plane where he goes six hours or so without seeing a flight attendant. They all went to their little section and closed the curtain so as not to be bothered. Anyone who flys knows how dry the air is in the cabin and regular drinks are required to remain hydrated.Why should passengers have to chase down a flight attendant to get a drink. On Singapore the girls never stop walking up and down with a tray of drinks. There are several other issues I have but don't want to be here all day.

The people at Qantas responsible for making these changes really ought to booked themselves on A Singapore flight and just take notes the whole time.

I really want to support Australian companies but I have booked with Singapore to Joburg in May via Singapore because the whole experience is just so much better!!!

I am sure Qantas can improve but do these people responsible really what to make the changes required?

[TBM-Legend]

be like my wife and son last Friday plus 7 Platinum Flyers others 'down graded' with no notice LAX-BNE. No the fight begins to get fair fare compensation.

Who wants to order and pay for steak only to served a cheese sandwich on a plastic plate?

The ground staff and CC couldn't have cared less.:ugh:

V Australia has my vote now...[flew BNE-LAX-BNE last Nov and 1st rate all the way.......

[PPRuNeUser0198]

Skybed[/B]"]JB would have taken the ME carrieir's head on by purchasing and using 777's on direct LHR-PER-LHR services

With respect, Perth is a minority market - operating PER/LHR/PER does not really "change the game" for Qantas...Hence why the metal is 330 and not 744 - the demand does not exist ex WA...

[skybed]

the flight would have continued to Syd & Mel (on option was looked at Fra-Per-Mel & Lhr-Per-Syd). which ever way it would have been a better option getting the 777 LR and by passing asia. this would also benefit growing
the WA leisure/ business market. lets not forget the evergrowing mining industry.
TBM legend. as a point of interest what reason was given for the IV downgrades? This sector is done normally by a 747J with 56 JC.:confused: