Fun and Games on QF32

[Avid Aviator]

From today's Sun Herald:


A QANTAS pilot is under investigation over a mile-high scandal with a female passenger during a long-haul flight to Australia.

Passengers in the first class section of QF32 from London were stunned at the pilot's amorous antics with the woman, the Herald Sun reported.

He was seen sitting on her lap during the flight in the luxurious premium section of the Qantas A380 jet before things became quite steamy, sources told the Herald Sun.

The seat has privacy walls and reclines to become a bed. The pilot was off-duty and not in uniform at the time of the incident.

He was scolded twice by crew as passengers became annoyed at the public display of affection, sources said.

After the flood of complaints, the pilot shifted to economy.

Qantas said an investigation was under way that could cost the pilot his $240,000-a-year job.

The female passenger left the flight in Singapore and the pilot returned to the first-class cabin.

It was unclear whether the pilot knew the woman before boarding the flight, or if he was intoxicated.

First-class passengers are entitled to a range of wines, spirits and beers.

The pilot stayed on the flight, which landed in Sydney at 8.10pm on Friday.

A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed there was an incident.

"Qantas is aware of an incident involving a travelling crew member on board QF32. The matter is being investigated internally in line with Qantas policy," the spokeswoman said.

"Interaction of that nature is something that wouldn't be sanctioned."

The Australian and International Pilots Association has vowed to defend the pilot.

AIPA vice-president Captain Richard Woodward said he was aware of the incident and was gathering more detail.

"The rights of this member, like any other, will be defended by AIPA should the need arise," he said.

It is not the first time that amorous behaviour on a Qantas flight has hit the headlines.

Actor Ralph Fiennes was sprung in a tryst with former Qantas hostess Lisa Robertson in January 2007.

[Helmut Smokar]

QF must be feeling the heat, crappy story wheeled out by OW to discredit pilots again. The Pilot who was off duty and not in uniform, geez how did the media pick this story up I wonder....... :ugh:

[Mud Skipper]

You would expect the bloke to suffer the same treatment as BB, promotion and a very large pay increase.
Btw I thought all Qantas pilots were on 500K a year , why is he only on half that much?👮

[Artificial Horizon]

Hey, it was good enough for Bruce when he was at Qantas and he got a promotion!! Lead by example and all that!

[b_sta]

How'd the pax know he was a pilot if he was off duty and out of uniform? How do they know the woman wasn't his partner? And most of all, who gives a crap if he was sitting on her lap, seriously :ugh: Quite different to taking a hostie into the lavatory a la Fiennes...

[sierra5913]

Quite different to taking a hostie into the lavatory a la Fiennes...

I think she took him into the lav. :}

[Cactusjack]

I know that many will shocked at my comment but 'Mr Pilot, well done'!
Why not I say? I mean seriously, big deal, if you can get a shot away why not? Hell, if I had been a pax I would have enjoyed the show, much better than IFE or listening to kids crying.
This is 2011, life is short and stress reigns supreme, we all need a little 'QF 32' in our lives!! Well done Mr Pilot you brought a smile to my face and a tingle to my.......
Everybody, live life and enjoy life, when the urges of nature call then go for it. Maybe society in general don't approve and nor do QF management, but who cares. Everyone go forth and have a 'QF 32'!

[pull-up-terrain]

If he was out of uniform and off duty is it really such a big deal?

[Helmut Smokar]

If he was out of uniform and off duty is it really such a big deal?


It is if you are trying to vilify those nasty pilots and can't seem to get much traction of late. QF seed friendly media outlets stories all the time.

[73to91]

Just a reminder:


A SENIOR Jetstar executive has been accused of engaging in 'funny business" with a woman on a fold-down seat in the first-class cabin of a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles on Friday.

Bruce Buchanan, the airline's commercial general manager, was on Qantas Flight 93 to the US when the incident allegedly took place. After the lights went down on the 14-hour trip, a woman apparently moved to share his seat.

Another first-class passenger complained to a flight attendant, according to people in the cabin at the time.

Sources on the flight said it was not clear what was going on but there was no suggestion the pair were having sex. "It was just funny business," one source said.

It is unclear whether cuddling constitutes a breach of strict behavioural guidelines which apply to airline employees but the incident was enough for staff on the flight to prepare a report for Qantas management.

It raises questions about the behaviour of Jetstar employees, including senior executives such as Mr Buchanan, travelling on discounted staff flights.

Staff must wear "appropriate" clothes, not jeans, and show exemplary behaviour.

Last week Qantas, the parent company of Jetstar, was forced to reinstate
a cabin supervisor sacked for breaching policy by taking chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from a flight.

The cabin steward, Philip Woodward-Brown, had been stood down immediately after the offending nuts were discovered on his person during a routine security check in Tokyo last year.

When the incident took place on Friday, Mr Buchanan was travelling to Los Angeles for a holiday.

A Jetstar spokesman confirmed last night the incident was being investigated but said the airline was yet to speak to Mr Buchanan about the complaint.

"We do not believe the event was of a serious nature. A full investigation will take place but we obviously want to hear Mr Buchanan's side of the story," the spokesman said.

Qantas also confirmed that it was investigating the incident but said it did not appear to be a serious offence.

Mr Buchanan, who could not be reached for comment, is due back from his holiday next week.
Qantas inquiry into first-class footsies - Travel - theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/news/travel/qantas-inquiry-into-firstclass-footsies/2007/07/30/1185647865620.html)

[Keg]

Drat. I'd always wanted save the Bruce Buchanan defence for something that I had done wrong and this guy is going to go and use it up. I reckon the response should be 'guilty your honour, I'll take the same punishment that Bruce Buchanan got'. I mean, QF is all about 'natural justice'. :E

Mind you, it's disgraceful that something like this gets into the press. :rolleyes:

[c173]

$240,000 a year job? I thought it was 500k? Common media keep the lies straight

[Capetonian]

Wait until it gets really dramatised and we read about the 'giant airliner hurtling to oblivion through the stormy tropical skies after the pilot changed into plain clothes and abandoned his post at the controls to enjoy fun and games with a female passenger half his age .....'

[NewPiper]

Pull Up Terrain said "If he was out of uniform and off duty is it really such a big deal?"

This person must have been a QF Captain since they are the only Pilot group able to buy staff travel First class. When a QF Capt pays a little over $1000 for a return flight to LHR in F class, and then de-values the product by behaving in such a manner, well, I'm afraid he/she certainly deserves to get sacked and the Company should now review who is entitled to F class. Even a full fare F class pax would find themselves in trouble, let alone staff travel pax. What a mentality on the part of that Pilot and its further evidence that some QF Pilots think the sun shines out of their ass!

NP

[Trent 972]

A Qantas spokeswoman confirmed there was an incident.
"Qantas is aware of an incident involving a travelling crew member on board QF32. The matter is being investigated internally in line with Qantas policy," the spokeswoman said.

NewPiper, says
This person must have been a QF Captain...... What a mentality on the part of that Pilot and its further evidence that some QF Pilots think the sun shines out of their ass!
Time to remove the blinkers and let some sun shine inside your brain.
Not even the wirthless spokesmodel said anything about Staff Travel!
Now let's hear more about BB's escapades. What's good for the Bruce is good for the remainder.

[sisemen]

OK. Big deal. So this time it was a member of staff screwing the customer rather than Alan Joyce. So what.

[C441]

What a mentality on the part of that Pilot and its further evidence that some QF Pilots think the sun shines out of their ass!

That some is a very few. Most are just normal human beings with normal feelings of pride and humility like you and me NP.

I would suggest also that the ratio of those that believe they're responsible for the sunrise and those that haven't even given that a thought, is no greater in Qantas than any other organisation.

Enjoy life!:)

[Fatguyinalittlecoat]

Come on people. It's obvious.

QF trying to have first class duty travel entitlement put in dispute so it can be arbitrated by FWA.

I'm serious.

[Andu]

10/10 to the Fatguy. That's exactly what this is about.

[AMEandCPL]

So if that's what this is all about, why would the pilot involved supply such easy ammunition to the company? Especially when the pilots union is in current negotiations regarding access to entitlements which include first class!

Was he being deliberately provocative to the process, or just dumb??

[teresa green]

Forty nine years, forty nine :mad: years and not once did I get accosted in first class, business or even in cattle, and as for the flight deck, I was only ever in the company of ugly ol pilots and flight engineers, who had no appeal whatsoever. Must have been my aftershave when I took a walk in the cabin. (You could in my day).:{

[adsyj]

One would assume he will be dealt with the same as bonking Bruce. Surely that is the precedent with these matters.

Or are senior executives treated differently, forget that we know the answer.

Typically double chip on both shoulders NewPiper has grabbed the opportunity to put the boot in.

[32megapixels]

One would assume it should go the way of so called 'death threats'!:ugh:

[goodonyamate]

also it was a 747, not an A380. :roll eyes:

I'm sure the 'Bruce Buchanan' card is still up the FO's sleeve if things get nasty.

Would sure be nice if the media would remember to mention that!!

[rh200]

I think she took him into the lav.

years F$#%ing years I have been traveling back and forth, all with the vain hope of being ravished by a hostie, damm some guys get all the luck:p

[Slasher]

Its all just a reminder to do all your chatting and feeling up in
cattle class where it belongs, whether in or out of uniform. I
seriously doubt some full fare-paying "Ferst Closs" pax ever
engage in anything as dirty and filthy as sex or even tried it.

"Stop that young man! That's dirty and decrepit and I didn't
pay all this money to fly to London just to watch you engage
in something as foul as....kissing and cuddling and sucking
that female's neck. Yukky poo this sex nonsense - far below
my status to engage in."

[ohallen]

Could not have been too hot and heavy if she got off alone in Singapore and he travelled alone to Sydney.

There were some better options available.

[Mr Leslie Chow]

I did read somewhere that this disaster occurred in premium economy and the 500K a year pilot ran away to the economy section?

Of course the media always gets it facts right.

Hope that the pilot and AIPA bring up the BB precedent if this goes further.

At least this guy did not f%#€ as many people over on a qf32 as RDC has recently, intentional or not.

[teresa green]

I would be far more worried about what the missus would do, rather than the company, Hell hath no fury etc etc etc. Providing of course it was not his missus, but if it is half his luck. For most of us, a withering look would be all we got at such a suggestion.:{

[another superlame]

What is the alleged BB story.

Just getting in with my alleged and allegedly beforehand.

[Dogimed]

Qantas inquiry into first-class footsies
Ben Cubby
July 31, 2007

A SENIOR Jetstar executive has been accused of engaging in 'funny business" with a woman on a fold-down seat in the first-class cabin of a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles on Friday.

Bruce Buchanan, the airline's commercial general manager, was on Qantas Flight 93 to the US when the incident allegedly took place. After the lights went down on the 14-hour trip, a woman apparently moved to share his seat.

Another first-class passenger complained to a flight attendant, according to people in the cabin at the time.

Sources on the flight said it was not clear what was going on but there was no suggestion the pair were having sex. "It was just funny business," one source said.

It is unclear whether cuddling constitutes a breach of strict behavioural guidelines which apply to airline employees but the incident was enough for staff on the flight to prepare a report for Qantas management.

It raises questions about the behaviour of Jetstar employees, including senior executives such as Mr Buchanan, travelling on discounted staff flights.

Staff must wear "appropriate" clothes, not jeans, and show exemplary behaviour.

Last week Qantas, the parent company of Jetstar, was forced to reinstate a cabin supervisor sacked for breaching policy by taking chocolate-covered macadamia nuts from a flight.

The cabin steward, Philip Woodward-Brown, had been stood down immediately after the offending nuts were discovered on his person during a routine security check in Tokyo last year.

When the incident took place on Friday, Mr Buchanan was travelling to Los Angeles for a holiday.

A Jetstar spokesman confirmed last night the incident was being investigated but said the airline was yet to speak to Mr Buchanan about the complaint.

"We do not believe the event was of a serious nature. A full investigation will take place but we obviously want to hear Mr Buchanan's side of the story," the spokesman said.

Qantas also confirmed that it was investigating the incident but said it did not appear to be a serious offence.

Mr Buchanan, who could not be reached for comment, is due back from his holiday next week.Qantas inquiry into first-class footsies - Travel - theage.com.au (http://www.theage.com.au/news/travel/qantas-inquiry-into-firstclass-footsies/2007/07/30/1185647865620.html)

[Capt Fathom]

Good to see some passengers are pleased with the service! :uhoh:

[MR WOBBLES]

how long a go did this happen

[Phalanger]

If it was enough for the fellow crew to report it to management, then it was enough to discredit his employer. It does not matter if he/she is on duty. In this case there is no legitimate reason to discredit the employer.

You can't work for someone's profit then turn around and try to lower their profit... It is irrelevant of the seriousness of the act itself, it is the effect on the profit base. By publicly stating the dislike of the act by the rest of the crew and management they are lowering the damage. If they had a public view of supporting the behavior through inaction then it would be much more damaging.

If you want to complain about the timing of the event, look at the guy who did it...

[rammel]

If he is guilty of anything (lucky bloke if he is), then all it should be is a slap on the wrist, and maybe a suspension of staff travel for a period of time. About a year ago there was a staff member in j cls who was supposedly pleasuring someone aurally, only she couldn't reply as her mouth was full. The outcome of this was a suspension of staff travel for a period of time.

[noip]

TG,

In all probability, from reading the article, the "female passenger" WAS his missus, or partner.

To Others,

My guess is that he was paxing home on duty having taken his missus with him on the trip. Upon checking in at LHR the only seat for her was in economy, so he gave her his first class seat and he took economy. Later in the flight when things were quiet he went to visit her. Much of what is written here is implication and "nudge" "nudge", so I'm seeing a little inventive fiction to spice things up for the article here.

I doubt there would have been the mass complaints the article says - this just sounds like a complete political beat-up to me. Passengers are well separated from each other - they are barely aware of each other. If there WERE complaints, why did the Captain not get involved? Sounds like a CC member got their nose out of joint and complained he was visiting and so he eventually went back to his economy seat. In SIN, the aircraft was probably full, so the travel partner got bumped as usual, so he continued home in his first class seat.

I'm wondering if the only questionable actions here are those of Qantas in releasing the "details" (for a political hatchet job) to a breathless Murdoch newspaper, and those of the CC member for "reporting" the "incident". It wasn't necessarily the CSM who did the report - I've had CSMs complaining to ME about the attitude of occasional crewmembers .......

But then, I'm sure the newspaper was only reporting word for word every detail that happened and I'm completely wrong in my skepticism ......... :rolleyes:


N

[notaplanegeek]

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2011/1/19/19538af3-31e9-47c6-a251-b61939b36141.jpg

[Capt Claret]

Was he being deliberately provocative to the process, or just dumb??

Did it really happen?

Just because it's been published in a newspaper doesn't make it so. The Sun/Herald huh? Owned by he of the hacking journos if I'm not mistaken. :rolleyes:

Remember the allegations and pictures, allegedly of a naked Pauline Please explain Hanson of a few years ago. :cool:

In the absence of AUTHORITATIVE evidence to the contrary, I agree with the suggestions that this story is akin to the death threats pantomime. :hmm:

[teresa green]

Even if I gave up the first class seat for the missus and went down to cattle, my reward would not be THAT. Come to think of it, I doubt if it would ever be. Lucky bugger.:{

[travelator]

Imagine if the headline was "Jetstar passengers attempt to join Mile High Club". Would all these guys defending the pilot do the same for the "bogan trash"?

[Cargo744]

So when did the rules change for duty travel or upgraded leisure travel? I remember the saying that you would always know a staff traveller in 1st as they were always the best dressed an behaved. Things have changed. The guy is a complete and utter goose.

[ohallen]

Dealing with the issue how this matter came to the notice of the press.

There is an enquiry in the UK called the Leveson Enquiry which is dealing with the media and phone hacking matters. Tonight a journalist Richard Peppiatt has given illuminating evidence about dealing with PR agencies.

He talked about how journalistic decisions are made by the accountants and the enticements offered to journalist (eg trips) to do supportive stories based almost entirely on PR spin and how spin is added at almost every level of development of "stories" that are more in the form of advertising.

Also dealt with how personal information was improperly leaked to support an agenda.

Could be of some relevance to OZ media given recent events.

Well worth a listen when posted onto the website and lets hope Senator X is tuned into this one.

[Icarus2001]

there was a staff member in j cls who was supposedly pleasuring someone aurally,

Was she talking sweetly to him or did he stick it in her ear?

[Conductor]

I'm still in awe at Newpiper's contribution to the thread. Visionary stuff. :rolleyes:

[slamer.]

So if she "got-off " in Sing, they didnt actually "go around the world" together .... so no problem ..!