Tigerair chief Merren McArthur warns on aviation industry’s lack of diversity

[stormfury]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/tigerair-chief-merren-mcarthur-warns-on-aviation-industrys-lack-of-diversity/news-story/73965575e095370d541fb61ac3b17b51

Ms McArthur said the lack of diversity not only related to gender, but also to ethnicity, age and culture.

“We tend to see aviation as so unique and special, it can only be run by aviation industry veterans,” she said.

“This insularity could mean aviation is missing out on what the industry has previously been renowned for — leading edge innovation.”

Then in the next few paragraphs she highlights SWA as an example of what a LCC can be. Last time I checked there were more than a few ‘industry veterans’ at the helm over there.

Additionally, the SWA ‘culture’ is unsurprisingly raised. MM’s first step should have been to see why SWA’s culture sees high-performance, employee satisfaction and inevitably company profits. Although SWA do not offer the best ‘on paper’ salary their profit sharing and stock purchase plan demonstrate that management care about employees and don’t view them as a column on an expenses spreadsheet, which if reduced will ensure their increased bonuses.

If MM thinks all it takes is ‘striking uniforms’ to change a companies culture I predict she will not last long enough to be considered an industry veteran.

[stormfury]

The new chief executive of Australian low-cost carrier Tigerair has used a key address at the annual Centre for Aviation conference to highlight the lack of diversity in the industry.

Merren McArthur, Australia’s only female airline CEO, said women held just 3 per cent of chief executive roles in the aviation industry, compared with 12 per cent in other industries.

Ms McArthur said the lack of diversity not only related to gender, but also to ethnicity, age and culture.

“We tend to see aviation as so unique and special, it can only be run by aviation industry veterans,” she said.
“This insularity could mean aviation is missing out on what the industry has previously been renowned for — leading edge innovation.”

Ms McArthur also tackled the challenges of overcoming the perception of low-cost carriers as “cheap and nasty”, pointing to the success of pioneering LCC South West Airlines.

“Their success was not directly attributable to fares, but the striking uniforms worn by cabin crew and the positive culture which all made the experience memorable for travellers,” she said.

“South West took this business model mainstream and wherever they flew to, prices fell and passenger numbers grew.”

By the end of 2019, Tigerair will have replaced its fleet of A320s with Boeing 737s, which will be able to carry an extra six passengers per flight.

Ms McArthur said this would deliver a “little bit of extra revenue” that would be “much appreciated”.

But she would not be drawn on the timing of Tigerair tackling another overseas route, following its short-lived Bali service.

However, Ms McArthur did indicate any new international venture was more likely to involve New Zealand than Indonesia.

“I haven’t got any plans at the moment, because there’s plenty of room to optimise and improve our domestic operation. Once I’ve done that I’ll move to look at what other market opportunities exist, but that’s still 12 months away.”

[Rated De]

“We tend to see aviation as so unique and special, it can only be run by aviation industry veterans,” she said.

There precisely is the reason, encapsulated in one sentence why people like that ought be no where near signing the cheques in airlines.
There is no industry like aviation where the cost of poor decision making kills potentially hundreds of people at a time.

It is the plethora of MBA driven accountants that desperately cling to the myth of it being 'like any other business' where all that matters is revenue and expense.


Ms McArthur also tackled the challenges of overcoming the perception of low-cost carriers as “cheap and nasty”, pointing to the success of pioneering LCC South West Airlines.

“Their success was not directly attributable to fares, but the striking uniforms worn by cabin crew and the positive culture which all made the experience memorable for travellers,” she said.

“South West took this business model mainstream and wherever they flew to, prices fell and passenger numbers grew.”


Clearly the little dear hasn't read much literature on the Low Fare Model adopted by Herb Kelleher at Southwest.
It mostly certainly is not uniforms.

“If the employees come first, then they’re happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It’s not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.” – Herb Kelleher

Stick to law Ms Mcarthur

[airdualbleedfault]

"women held just 3 per cent of chief executive roles in the aviation industry, compared with 12 per cent in other industries"
Statistics and damn lies, I assume she is comparing one relatively small industry (when you are talking about the amount of big players) to the rest of the industries in Australia put together, seems like creative accounting :hmm:

[stormfury]

Although it’s only NSW data (isn’t Sydney the epicenter of Australia anyway :} ) but I don’t recall seeing too many public PR campaigns pushing for more women to become butchers, mechanics and plumbers. Also, when was the last campaign to get more men into nursing - asking for a friend.

https://www.women.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/269184/attachment_lesson_plan_2_3016_WomenNSW_Girls_in_trades_stats _web.pdf

[mr flappy]

Funnily enough, just yesterday, a friend of mine who travels regularly within Australia, said to me that she prefers to fly on Tigerair because the staff are clearly happier than on other airlines which creates an overall nicer atmosphere.
Merren McArthur sounds like just the sort of CEO a LCC like tt needs.

[Flyboy1987]

Christ.
This gender crap is getting out of hand.
How is more men pursuing this career than females a problem for anyone?

If you want to pursue in aviation, male or female, great, go for it, both genders have the ability to study the same subjects at school and pay for their flight training. Only difference is females will be presented with more employment opportunity for the “glamour” jobs, while their male friends are in a c210.

[stormfury]

Funnily enough, just yesterday, a friend of mine who travels regularly within Australia, said to me that she prefers to fly on Tigerair because the staff are clearly happier than on other airlines which creates an overall nicer atmosphere.
Merren McArthur sounds like just the sort of CEO a LCC like tt needs.

I guess that’s why they were on the verge of industrial action a few months back.

[mr flappy]

I didn’t realise that stormy, I thought it was just the pilots

[stormfury]

I didn’t realise that stormy, I thought it was just the pilotsIt was (AFAIK) but to think the CC is representative of all aircrew and maintainers is a bit of a long bow to draw. I could be wrong; I’m sure some TT employee with give us the facts.

[mr flappy]

to think the CC is representative of all aircrew and maintainers is a bit of a long bow to draw. I could be wrong; I’m sure some TT employee with give us the facts.

Fair call, I don’t know much about what goes on inside tt but it was an interesting coincidence, time will tell if she’s all talk or not

[LeadSled]

Folks,
Given the extremely limited number of airlines in Australia, is not one with a female (apparently, and whatever that means on the "spectrum") CEO means that such perX are vastly over-represented in the CEO ranks, compared to Australian industry, generally. This comment based on her own statement and figures.
Tootle pip!!

perX: Gender neutral description of a homosapien, X designating any chosen position on the gender spectrum, which can comprise anything from 23 (Canadian Government) to 56 (one Sydney University) gender choices. See Australian Government Style Guide.
This X should not be confused with the X chromosome, which is gender specific, and therefore is a disallowed concept.

[CurtainTwitcher]

X chromosome, which is gender specific
Bigot! That's offensive to X chromosomes! Everyone knows X is a switch hitter and can go each way.

It's the Y chromosome that is gender specific... A true ideological outrage against all reason for the forward thinking modern progressive person. Chromosomal modification is a human right! Biology is not destiny.

/s

[Icarus2001]

Is she not concerned about the low numbers of male cabin crew in her airline?

Or perhaps the low number of male check in staff?

Or the low number of female engineers?

[davidclarke]

By the end of 2019, Tigerair will have replaced its fleet of A320s with Boeing 737s, which will be able to carry an extra six passengers per flight.”


I’m willing to bet good money on that NOT happening....

[ADawg]

I'm getting tired of this gender cr@p too. Appears to blow from only one direction

Nurses and Midwifery Gender Percentages
Female 89%
Male 11%
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registration Data Table - March 2018

So why no media articles and recruitment campaigns recruiting more men?
What about the breakdown of gender for school teachers? Similar percentages I suspect. Anyone seen any media stunts from the Education department calling for more male teachers?
Check out the multiple defence force jobs advertised on SEEK clearly stating (Female opportunity)

[Titan Slave]

I’m willing to bet good money on that NOT happening....

Haha, DC on the money.
There’s 100% chance there is a 0% probability of that happening.

[The Golden Rivet]

More important things to worry about

VH-VUB

just saying

[Chocks Away]

EXACTLY, Rated De! Couldn't have said it better myself.
These lawyers; accountants; fulltime Board-sitters (the list goes on) who think they can run an airline AND start feigning moral superiority via their virtue-signalling, expose themselves as real muppets and how out of touch they are.
We could no doubt, all start a long list here, of all the Regional and International airlines that have "gone with the wind" from such peoples "expertise".

P.S. I understand Tiger pilots were just hours off taking POI over their own agreement, long expired.

[mr flappy]

Why would she be concerned about bricklayers teachers and nurses, do tiger employ many bricklayers?

[ADawg]

Why would she be concerned about bricklayers teachers and nurses, do tiger employ many bricklayers?
I didn't mention she was concerned about teachers and nurses. My point was I'm a bit over the regular reporting of the lack of female representation (first pilots and now CEO's) in aviation when there are other industries where there seems to be obvious inaction to balance the gender numbers.
Why is there so many crusaders for equal gender numbers in aviation yet not even a murmur in others?

[Rated De]

When the war between the sexes goes hot, there will be no people left. (Apologies to Joe Jackson)
Before the lead starts flying Ms Merren, how about a presentation of the facts?

There is a lack of diversity in some professions. The BLS (Bureau of Labour Statistics-USA) assessed this. It found a 'gap' in representation.
Median wage of women divided by median wage of men, revealed a 'gross pay gap'
The 'gross gap' was extensive, but removing bias from the data set revealed that the 'gap' was not anything like being portrayed,
The 'gap' was distilled and researched and statistically corrected the gap is not very much.
The reason for the gap; CHOICE. That is women choose jobs that just happen to be paid less. Men in those jobs are paid the same as the women.


Nurses and Midwifery Gender Percentages
Female 89%
Male 11%
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Registration Data Table - March 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcDrE5YvqTs



For a quick summary: When the median wage of women(full time) is divided by the median wage of men(full time), there is a difference. Of course given that women CHOOSE particular professions, often these vocations aren't remunerated as well.

So the diversity craved by Ms Merren would result in women being forced into professions/vocations that suit her ignorant view, rather than where many women CHOOSE to work. Hardly a step forward Ms Merren is it?

Another lightweight lawyer

[mr flappy]

I’m not quite sure why I feel the need to defend her but the replies here are a bit unfair. She merely stated the figures, she didn’t imply that any male who chooses to become a pilot is sexist because he didn’t choose to be a nurse. On the other hand she also referred to ethnicity, age and culture, I’ll be interested to see when tiger next employ pilots over the age of 50

[Transition Layer]

More important things to worry about

VH-VUB

just saying


Is that a reference to this fairly major stuff up?
Av Herald (http://avherald.com/h?article=4bb5fa79&opt=0)

[unexplained blip]

In an industry where the insight, empathy and quality of management decision making in both the private and public sectors is bemoaned - at least based on articulations provided in pprune - I might have thought that a call for diversity had the potential to be embraced.

[Pavement]

I don’t see any older men or women working as cabin crew on your aircraft Merren. Diversity works both ways.

[layman]

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/03/sexism-gender-bias-women-equality-employment/

A couple of extracts from the article about research into sexism in job selection

Student job applications were randomly assigned a male/female name. Male applicants were rated much more highly than female applicants.

When violinists were assessed behind a curtain, females in orchestras rose from around 5% to more than 25%

Regards
layman

[Snakecharma]

I don’t wish to suggest ulterior motives, but it seems to be a coincidence that some individuals might be working the PR circus like a slot machine in Vegas.

i would love some senior executive to come out and declare that they hire the best applicants for the roles, regardless of whether they are male, female, black, white, orange (though that has worked for at least one), straight or alphabet.

The search for gender and other criteria fairness is inherently unfair on those in the over represented demographic, and some times unfair on those selected as they sometimes (note I said sometimes) don’t have the skill set to undertake the role and they muddle through.

Why the best person for the job can’t get it is beyond me...but I am part of an over represented demographic and I subconsciously apply my biases and therefore cannot be trusted.

[Kelly Slater]

All Female CEOs make the same speech when appointed, they must feel obligated to act as a role model for women everywhere.
Anyone have statistics for senior company positions held by women in companies with female verses male CEOs? I would be interested but not interested enough to do the work myself to find out.

[stormfury]

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say how fed up to the back teeth I am with these social crusading airline CEO’s. Just get on with the job and try to run a safe successful business.
The attempts to create a perfectly equal utopia aren’t ever properly thought out and usually attached with crudely implemented highly destructive programs. Don’t see anyone crying foul over the inequity of male to female ratios in the HR sphere do we?It would appear it’s not just you, Dutto’s had a gut-ful too. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/peter-dutton-blasts-big-business-for-pushing-a-pc-agenda/news-story/1b530a167effbf0e98a84ef55144f6c7Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has denounced the rise of political correctness within the business community and warned that it is adopting the agenda of radical activists while remaining largely silent in debates over the economy and industrial relations.“They are participating in social and political debates that have absolutely nothing to do with their stated purpose,” he told a legal conference on Saturday.“These companies are using company funds and brand equity to pursue pet political and social causes. Some businesses are now acting in the interests of special-interest activist groups.“The interests of shareholders are becoming secondary con*siderations, if they are being considered at all.”His remarks, at a conference of the Samuel Griffith Society in Brisbane, coincide with disquiet in the business community over pressure from activists and the Australian Securities Exchange to take up social policies that go beyond the interests of their shareholders.The ASX is considering a proposed update of its corporate governance principles that urges companies to adopt employment polices that take account of gender identity and the cultural background of employees while avoiding “aggressive tax minimisation” and acting in a “socially responsible manner”.Mr Dutton singled out Qantas for campaigning in favour of same-sex marriage and Queensland University of Technology, which had “buckled under pressure from protest groups and agreed to divest from fossil fuels”.He said his concern about Qantas was not aimed at stifling free speech and he believed there was nothing wrong with Qantas chief Alan Joyce expressing his personal opinion about same-sex marriage.“Regardless of your view on that topic, this was a multi-*million-dollar publicly listed company throwing its weight behind one side of a debate it had no business getting into,” Mr Dutton said.Mr Joyce and other business leaders were engaging in “ideological indulgence” when they used company funds for social activism. Activist shareholders and investment funds were targeting companies, including Woolworths, the Commonwealth Bank and BHP Billiton, with the goal of pressuring these companies into policy changes on issues such as climate change or in some cases to force the resignations of board members, he said. Organisations such as GetUp! were targeting businesses involved in border protection and major banks had established ethics committees that were turning away companies engaged in lawful, profitable activities.He said it was even more concerning that companies were being subjected to retaliation when they chose not to take sides in particular debates over social policy.“We constantly see pressure heaped on businesses to observe all manner of left-wing ideological fetishes,” Mr Dutton said.“The difficulty is that many of these companies have now withdrawn completely from any discussion about economic or industrial relations policy. No company is out there at the moment flying the flag on business tax cuts, very few companies are talking about the need for industrial relations reform and it is not good for public debate.“Economic reform becomes much harder if the government is left as a lone voice in any argument.“When the business community is more comfortable pursuing left political issues than it is standing up for its shareholders something has gone terribly wrong.“When Australian businesses are routinely bullied into supporting ideological positions, we have a big problem,” Mr Dutton said.

[Lookleft]

The CEO needs to concentrate on the operation of the airline before spruiking for more diversity. This stuff has killed people in the past:

A Tiger Airways Australia Boeing 737-800, registration VH-VUB performing flight TT-229 from Sydney,NS to Melbourne,VI (Australia), was climbing out of Sydney when the crew stopped the climb at about FL150 and descended back to FL100. About 5 minutes after levelling off at FL100 again the aircraft continued the climb to FL340 and continued to Melbourne for a safe landing about 85 minutes after departure.

On Jul 20th 2018 the ATSB reported while climbing through about FL100 the crew notice the cabin did not pressurize. The crew subsequently detected that the pressurization system had not been correctly armed during pre-flight checks. The occurrence was rated an incident and is being investigated.

[LeadSled]

Bigot! That's offensive to X chromosomes! Everyone knows X is a switch hitter and can go each way.

It's the Y chromosome that is gender specific... A true ideological outrage against all reason for the forward thinking modern progressive person. Chromosomal modification is a human right! Biology is not destiny.

/s
Curtain Twitcher,
Of course, in a factual world, but the X fitted in with the narrative, in a post-factual world.
Tootle pip!!

PS; At least one of you doesn't even recognise a bit of tongue-in-cheek (at least attempted) humour.
And do look at the Australian Government style guide at the use of MX, as a replacement for Mr/Mrs/Miss/Mz, hence the proposed, perX, singular or plural, and allegedly more elegant than the Peoples Popular and Democratic Marxist State of Victoria, they/them as replacements for the sexist he/she, the latter, of course, being binary gendered, so doubly unacceptable.

[Chocks Away]

“The difficulty is that many of these companies have now withdrawn completely from any discussion about economic or industrial relations policy. No company is out there at the moment flying the flag on business tax cuts, very few companies are talking about the need for industrial relations reform and it is not good for public debate.“Economic reform becomes much harder if the government is left as a lone voice in any argument.“When the business community is more comfortable pursuing left political issues than it is standing up for its shareholders something has gone terribly wrong.“When Australian businesses are routinely bullied into supporting ideological positions, we have a big problem,” Mr Dutton said.

BINGO! :ok: The last thing Australia needs right now are virtue-signalling lectures from business CEO's!
As many have said here above - Run the f%$#ing company and run it well. Deliver a safe product at a quality price, FULL STOP
Only because alot of Australians are struggling right now, with huge bills and rising. It has become a very expensive country, very quickly and the egalitarian socialist definitely haven't helped (especially in corrupt "money burning" Socialist Republic of Victoria!).

[Aussie Fo]

Perhaps there is a lack of females amongst the pilot ranks because they are smarter than us men and realise how bad the conditions are in the industry and how pathetically pilots are viewed by management as a whole.

12 hour days, minimum rest where one doesn’t have time to eat/exercise properly. A lack of long term career progression in many airlines. I could go one but you get the idea

[shoddy88]

Is she not concerned about the low numbers of male cabin crew in her airline?

Or perhaps the low number of male check in staff?

Or the low number of female engineers?



I've never seen a female do a toilet dump in my entire aviation career.

Perhaps Merren should get out there and show us just how dedicated she is to gender equality in aviation.

[CurtainTwitcher]

Of course, in a factual world, but the X fitted in with the narrative, in a post-factual world.

Sorry Lead, guilty as charges for failing to fully embrace the post modern, post-factual world. I fell at the first hurdle, but then I got up and gave the second & third a good go!

[Rated De]

The CEO needs to concentrate on the operation of the airline before spruiking for more diversity. This stuff has killed people in the past:

This is precisely why she is not only out of her depth, but horribly ignorant.
The reason why industry veterans ran this industry was that they operationally understood the necessity to mitigate risk.
The modern airline faces more risk emanating from the hallowed halls of the board/executive management.

The Challenger Launch Decision is well worth a read. 105% certain Ms Merren hasn't read it.



Anybody thinking that an airline CEO gives a hoot about safety ought look around the world and see where the AOC responsibility resides...It certainly isn't with the CEO and board.

[Buster Hyman]

Anybody thinking that an airline CEO gives a hoot about safety ought look around the world and see where the AOC responsibility resides...It certainly isn't with the CEO and board.

Out of curiosity, where does it fall when there's no CP?

[Wunwing]

My experience with this company as SLF ( best description of status that I can find) is that they really could do with a bit of diversity. Maybe some more mature check in staff who actually understand that keeping pax in a terminal for hours without any explanation of what is going on is not how any airline should run? Maybe staff who when there is a problem have a better solution than attempting to sell you another ticket as a hugely inflated price while the aircraft that you are booked on sits there with nothing happening? Maybe back office staff who when they receive a complaint actually address the problem?

I'm also with the comments that I don't see any diversity of age among the cabin crew. Perhaps Ms McArthur could address this issue as its an easy one to fix. Just run the ads and the age discriminated will come running.

Wunwing

[wheels_down]

Looks like they are sending the 737s to Clark for engineering.

These 737s are absolute pieces of junk. Have a look at the OTP 737 vs the A320. Dreadful. Always breaking down. Seem to be copping a lashing on social media for this too.

[DUXNUTZ]

I fear for the success/viability of VAA if she gets the CEO gig.

[pilotchute]

Wunwing,

The check in staff aren't allowed to use initiative. They have very strict guidelines for how to deal with passengers.

The cabin crew pay is awful and only attractive to youngish people who don't have big bills.

Thats why it looks like it does.

[bazza stub]

100% of Tigers current CEOs is female! And she wants diversity :}

[Wunwing]

pilotchute.
I am aware of the wages but I know many older Australians who cant get a job due to apparent age discrimination who would grab anything, even at low wages at this stage in their lives. The wages are greater than Newstart. If the Tiger CEO is introducing the topic of non discrimination and positive discrimination( if there is such a beast) then she has to look at the whole airline, not just top office jobs and pilots.

If the check in staff included people with a few years of life experience perhaps they could be allowed to use their initiative and actually sort out problems rather than create a whole cohort of ex customers who will never fly with the airline again. During my working airline life we were constantly told that for every customer we lost we needed to find another 7 due to those ones we lost persuading their friends not to fly with our company.
Wunwing

[Pearly White]

More important things to worry about

VH-VUB

just saying


Don't put them under any additional pressure...

[pilotchute]

Wunwing ,

​​​​I worked in Ops at Tiger. The Aero care check in staff aren't allowed to use any initiative at all. Even the Aero care supervisors are not permitted to give refunds, change flights or allow late check in without the express permission of Aero care upper management or a member of Tiger ops team.

[Chocks Away]

Further, McArthur said the debate around diversity in aviation should be broadened beyond gender and also include “culture, race, age and even personality”.
...well, time to got through the Psychometric profiling, behavioral testing and rigmarole pilots "have" to do then, Merren! Well done. That's the go :ok:

Specifically on aviation, the Tigerair Australia chief executive also thought aviation needed to be more open to bringing people into the industry from other sectors. “When was the last time you heard of an airline CEO being appointed from outside the aviation industry,” McArthur said.
... arrrrh, every month Merren! The new Etihad Group CEO... the new Easyjet CEO... just to pick two off the top of my head. But alas, here's what happens when your outsider "joins the party" (https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/delta-klm-concerned-over-new-air-france-klm-ceo/)
You really are showing what a part-timer/amateur you are, my dear. Lets concentrate on running an airline first shall we!

[The Baron]

I'm a bit bemused. This person making grandiose statements about what is wrong with our industry when she demonstrably hasn't ever really been part of it. The worrying thing for all Virgin employees is the way her profile is being "groomed" prior to the inevitable succession announcement.Old saying," You can put lipstick on a pig but at the end of the day....."

[porch monkey]

Nail. Head. Jockeying for position now.

[hoss]

Screw diversity, she needs to understand her industry first.

Did you hear the one about the F100 replacements. She asked about buying brand new ones. The sound of crickets would have been hilarious.

If true, she clearly has a lot of homework to catch up on. Hard to follow that kind of leadership.

[Lookleft]

Just like Ansett in its final days when non-aviation types infested the Ops Centre. They sent A320 crews to operate a flight only to find a 767 standing at the gate. Apparently they weren't aware that pilots could not simply jump into any aircraft and turn the key.

[hoss]

Can you imagine the disappointment when she realises it’s an Airline and not a hippy commune!

[Rated De]

...well, time to got through the Psychometric profiling, behavioral testing and rigmarole pilots "have" to do then, Merren! Well done. That's the go :ok:


... arrrrh, every month Merren! The new Etihad Group CEO... the new Easyjet CEO... just to pick two off the top of my head. But alas, here's what happens when your outsider "joins the party" (https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/delta-klm-concerned-over-new-air-france-klm-ceo/)
You really are showing what a part-timer/amateur you are, my dear. Lets concentrate on running an airline first shall we!

Yes, a peculiar quirk of modern day (post Napoleonic) France are the 'Grande ecoles' where the socialist society educates its err natural leaders, pardon the irony!
Nonetheless Mr Capron may find that the doors don't swing open as readily as he would expect.The shareholders, being other airlines don't see a quirk of French high society sufficient justification for his candidature. Neither should VAH shareholders accept the Ms Merren candidature. Given that she has demonstrated abject ignorance and relies on the gender/diversity narrative, perhaps she ought stick to the law, or go and get the experience to be considered a 'veteran industry person' where gender means nothing.



Despite Ms Merren pulling the gender and diversity card, let us all hope for those at VAH that she is seen as the lightweight she is, despite all the posturing. Perhaps she would be well advised to keep her mouth closed and let people think she is a fool, rather than open it and confirm their suspicions.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

The only actual Tiger staff most people will encounter are the Crew. Practically everyone else is a contractor, and they are getting what Tiger pay for.

[Trevor the lover]

When will these idiots get it??? The women just aren't out there to realise the dream of full gender diversity. Where I work, in the last 2 years, I reckon we've interviewed about 30 pilots, employed about 20. One lady and one lady only. How many apps from women - ONE and ONE only. And she got the job because she is good, not 'cause she's a chick. Go and look at your pilot applications Merrren, what is the ratio of men to women? Please get back to me with how you feel the gender argument is going.

[Mach E Avelli]

Grand social experiments have no place in certain professions. Who would willingly submit to the knife of a ‘token’ surgeon? Or drill of a should-have-failed dentist?

A good friend was married to a very capable female pilot who had risen to a senior check pilot position in a major U.S. airline. She did it on equal terms with a mostly white male cohort. Then this airline decided to have a quota to include various minority and disadvantaged groups. Failure rate increased and remedial training costs blew out.
She was quite vocal in what she thought of the break down in the traditional meritocracy that had worked so well for so long.

If only the shareholders knew how wisely their money was being spent by their ‘progressive’ CEO.

[JPJP]

Merren McArthur, Australia’s only female airline CEO, said women held just 3 per cent of chief executive roles in the aviation industry, compared with 12 per cent in other industries.
Ms McArthur said the lack of diversity not only related to gender, but also to ethnicity, age and culture.

“Their success was not directly attributable to fares, but the striking uniforms worn by cabin crew and the positive culture which all made the experience memorable for travellers,” she said.

“South West took this business model mainstream and wherever they flew to, prices fell and passenger numbers grew.”


With the greatest respect to Ms McArthur; I wonder if she’s actually seen the “striking uniforms” that she’s referring to ?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/1979x1601/8a966ff8_7783_4458_bd68_c5b659e33f5f_4bab9ee1e1b26f1fea6e154 99513d845a401eece.jpeg

[stormfury]

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/Southwest-Airlines-Flight-Attendant-Fashion-Through-the-Years-1970s-Present-423210574.htmlhttps://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/476x268/4e132645_9aea_4530_bb82_16a0b21656d2_aa082cf07fcc6fc65ca15cc c7c331ab8e044d52e.jpeg

[Rated De]

JPJP and Stormfury, Brilliant!


Ms Merren ironically is 'channelling' The Simpsons

Lisa: It is better to remain silent and be thought the fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Homer’s Brain: Uh-oh, what did that mean? Better say something or they’ll think you’re stupid.
Homer: Takes one to know one!
Homer’s Brain: Swish!
The parallels are striking...

[AerialPerspective]

There precisely is the reason, encapsulated in one sentence why people like that ought be no where near signing the cheques in airlines.
There is no industry like aviation where the cost of poor decision making kills potentially hundreds of people at a time.

It is the plethora of MBA driven accountants that desperately cling to the myth of it being 'like any other business' where all that matters is revenue and expense.




Clearly the little dear hasn't read much literature on the Low Fare Model adopted by Herb Kelleher at Southwest.
It mostly certainly is not uniforms.

“If the employees come first, then they’re happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It’s not one of the enduring green mysteries of all time, it is just the way it works.” – Herb Kelleher

Stick to law Ms Mcarthur

Someone associated with Virgin once said to me, talking up WN as an example of a great company - words to the effect "... if you go up to a engineer in the hangar at Soutwest he or she can tell you what the share price was the previous day..." I responded "Are these the same hangars that were not so long ago visited by the FAA and asked to explain the multiple breaches and failure to carry out urgent AD work...???"

[AerialPerspective]

Grand social experiments have no place in certain professions. Who would willingly submit to the knife of a ‘token’ surgeon? Or drill of a should-have-failed dentist?

A good friend was married to a very capable female pilot who had risen to a senior check pilot position in a major U.S. airline. She did it on equal terms with a mostly white male cohort. Then this airline decided to have a quota to include various minority and disadvantaged groups. Failure rate increased and remedial training costs blew out.
She was quite vocal in what she thought of the break down in the traditional meritocracy that had worked so well for so long.

If only the shareholders knew how wisely their money was being spent by their ‘progressive’ CEO.

Reminds me of that scene in one of the Dirty Harry movies where he's transferred to personnel and has to interview candidates for Inspector... a feminist is on the panel and the first applicant has never made even a misdemeanor arrest but is vying for the job to help the Mayor's 'equality drive' - Callaghan in his typical style says "So, she might get her ass blown off but that's not the end of it, out there she'll have a partner and he'll probably get his ass blown off as well and that's a hell of a price to pay for being stylish."

One small note - tell me to bugger off if you like - but I liked your comment except for the use of the word 'cohort'... it's the favorite of politicians and people like MM these days - so smacks of that whole group - just an observation - I find it and things like reaching out and 'outcomes' to be tiresome.

[Mach E Avelli]

Use of ‘cohort’ was preferable to writing “colleagues of approximately equal experience, age and seniority”. Certainly not intended to emulate PC speak.
Staff who write manuals etc should refuse to write ‘they’ or ‘their’ when the singular he, she, her, his, etc. is easier on the eye of the reader.

[AerialPerspective]

Use of ‘cohort’ was preferable to writing “colleagues of approximately equal experience, age and seniority”. Certainly not intended to emulate PC speak.
Staff who write manuals etc should refuse to write ‘they’ or ‘their’ when the singular he, she, her, his, etc. is easier on the eye of the reader.






Agree. Was just an observation... I know it wasn't intended to be PC. Another one writers of manuals should avoid from what I remember some years ago is 'you should do this' and 'you should do that'... etc. Not that I'm any expert on writing or manuals.

[FL11967]

LOL, ironically the majority of responses here justify McArthur's observations.

[hoss]

LOL, I think the silent majority haven’t even started yet. Wait until we tell you what we really think!

[tio540]

The pilots award, Appendix 6, still stipulates females, and short pilots, are to be remunerated 15% less than their counterparts. This is a hangover from the testosterone filled 1970’s, and should be amended.

[Stationair8]

Can’t wait until they reomove that sexist word NOTAM from the industry and replace it with something that recognises the first people of our nation, transgender persons, the fairer sex, migrants, those with a disability, members of the NSW Labor party and any miniority group of religious and non religious persuasion, global warming sceptics, etc!

[Captain Dart]

I would suggest NOTAP: NOtice To AirPersons. It would be good airpersonship to check them before flight.

[itsnotthatbloodyhard]

LOL, ironically the majority of responses here justify McArthur's observations.

Got any sort of objective rebuttal to offer, or is that it?

[The Bullwinkle]

I would suggest NOTAP: NOtice To AirPersons. It would be good airpersonship to check them before flight.

Didn’t they already change the flight deck terminology from “Cockpit” to “Box Office”?

[jetlikespeeds]

LOL, ironically the majority of responses here justify McArthur's observations.

i think it just reflects that most of us are sick of all the PC Crap that is rammed down our throats every day. This muppet should just concentrate on running an airline.

[LeadSled]

I would suggest NOTAP: NOtice To AirPersons. It would be good airpersonship to check them before flight.



Captain Dart,
--- Person is not permissible, as it reflects (white) heterocentric bias, PerX is preferred (see Australian Government Style Guide, or whatever its present name is)
X denotes multiple genders of choice, is singular or plural, and completely devoid of any hetero-normative connotations.

As in Mx, as the recommended substitute for Mr/Mrs/Miss/Master/Ms. My "spouse equivalent" and I have both received letters, Dear Mx -------, so addressed, from Commonwealth bodies.

So, how about NOTAX ??

Tootle pip!!

[73qanda]

No tax would be nice but I have to admit I like the idea of roading, hospitals, benefit for people who are really having a bad run etc, so how about SUMTAX?
On topic, I agree that most people who are not a clear minority are sick to the back teeth of Australian executives wandering around tut tutting and giving ‘sage’ advice.

[AerialPerspective]

Can’t wait until they reomove that sexist word NOTAM from the industry and replace it with something that recognises the first people of our nation, transgender persons, the fairer sex, migrants, those with a disability, members of the NSW Labor party and any miniority group of religious and non religious persuasion, global warming sceptics, etc!

We're mammals aren't we... change it to NOtice To Air Mammals and no need to change the abbreviation

[hoss]

NOTHS

Notice to Homo sapiens!

[73qanda]

But I’m not a Homo sapien....not that I have anything against those who are.

[hoss]

I’ve probably been hanging out with too many VA pilots with facial hair;)

[JPJP]

We're mammals aren't we... change it to NOtice To Air Mammals and no need to change the abbreviation

Its a new age. We need new definitions. :E

Notice
To
Pan Sexual
Exogenous
Non identifying
Uni doctrinal
Sycophants

[Biatch]

I’ve probably been hanging out with too many VA pilots with facial hair;)

jealous??

............

[Snakecharma]

It will be interesting if any of the internal candidates get the ceo role. Given the way to joint has been managed the internal candidates cannot be anything except complicite with the incompetence, so it stands to reason that if an internal is appointed then more of the same will result.

If the major shareholders are prepared to dump money into the place then great, but a middle eastern airline who shall remain nameless has let their shareholdings in Air Berlin and Alitalia go by the wayside after they stopped being prepared to pour good money after bad, and their other major shareholding in India is reportedly close to running out of cash, so it wouldn’t seem impossible that they might get to the end of their rope at some point. Similarly with another major investor, from a nation to our north, being forced to divest themselves of assets because they are over extended, it also wouldn’t come as a great shock if they graciously declined the offer to tip in more cash.

So I would think the employees have a lot to fear from an internal getting the job. Would an external do a better job? Don’t know, it might be too late, who knows, but hopefully an external might have some perspective which is currently missing.

[The Bullwinkle]

So I would think the employees have a lot to fear from an internal getting the job.
ABSOLUTELY!!!:{

[Sunfish]

the usual rationalization is that if you are stupid enough to work for us, you can't possibly be promoted to CEO.

[Stationair8]

They are advertising for Head of Flight Operations in today’s The Australian.
Any transgender, dwarf, group hugger, basket weaving, non married but in a committed relationship, climate changer believer, Toyota Prius driver available to apply?

[PoppaJo]

Forget MM for the job, CW from SQ surely a lead contender for the job. A Tiger to Scoot rebrand would work well for the parent no doubt also. Would get SQ closer grip on any plans for a full takeover. Watch this space folks.

[Rated De]

Forget MM for the job, CW from SQ surely a lead contender for the job. A Tiger to Scoot rebrand would work well for the parent no doubt also. Would get SQ closer grip on any plans for a full takeover. Watch this space folks.

That is a very astute observation.
Singapore has repeatedly argued for greater Australian access.

[AerialPerspective]

ABSOLUTELY!!!:{

There is no one internally who is any good... anyone with any talent or experience has been culled and drummed out by the current regime and the only choice is external... the current regime are so unbelievably incompetent the only thing they've demonstrated 'competence' at is getting rid of anyone with any ability.

[The Baron]

Thanks Stationair. Just noticed on the same web page, Tiger also have a opening for a new CEO. Wonder where the incumbent is off to....oh surprise surprise...

[wheels_down]

Ideally SQ buys out EY for full takeover, brings in CW to run the joint, and bumps off EB. Tiger absorbs into Scoot branding providing greater feed to its 787 operation. Would be a large coup for SQ, not sure how the new Chinese owners would feel about this lol.

SQ really need to takeover this mob, they have large input behind closed doors compared to the others, who essentially have little involvement in key decisions. Etihads once heavy involvement essentially went with Hogan. Out the door.

[ECAMACTIONSCOMPLETE]

I just watched her presentation from the CAPA conference earlier in the month, when pressed on the fleet transition from A320 to 737 and how long that would take she answered ‘a year or so... a few years.’ Surely for a low cost carrier with only 15 airframes to have a split fleet for what may be up to 4-5 years (given the transition started 18-24 months ago) this is terribly inefficient.

[Lookleft]

Always be careful what you wish for! There were many people at Ansett who thought that SQ was going to be the white knight and fix all the problems, after all they were a big successful international carrier. SQ are indeed a big successful international carrier but whenever they stray outside their own territory they have a dismal record.

Whether its a complete lack of understanding of politics in Australia and NZ or an inability to influence decisions behind the scenes I don't know. When it comes to successful offshore partnerships they just don't have the runs on the board.

[fdr]

I just watched her presentation from the CAPA conference earlier in the month, when pressed on the fleet transition from A320 to 737 and how long that would take she answered ‘a year or so... a few years.’ Surely for a low cost carrier with only 15 airframes to have a split fleet for what may be up to 4-5 years (given the transition started 18-24 months ago) this is terribly inefficient.

A conversion time from one type such as the A320 to the B737 for a fleet of 15 aircraft will be dependent on the management of surplus of flight crew and maintenance staff, as well as finances. Short haul operators average 4 to 5 crews per aircraft dependent on the employment contracts and FTLs. Reducing operating aircraft will not give as many spare crews as long haul does for entering training activity. Management usually is much less than 10% of the total manpower, so does not add greatly to the available manpower, but does assist in the early stages while qualifying training staff.

Normal leave coverage provides some slack, if the crew training can be negotiated to occur in lieu of annual leave. That at best may add up to 10% crew availability for entering training. To do that, the management would need to have good relationships with crewing. The type training and line training is going to be in the order of 60 days to complete processing. To that end, the 15 aircraft fleet will be able to work up to transitioning around 7.5/2 crews per month using leave allocations only, which is about 1 aircraft worth of transition a month without too much stress. If you add some management to the current and new flying to release crews to training, then that can be increased by a couple of crews, but that would be about it, making for 1 plane a month being a practical rate of transition, without adding additional staff in a surge through contract or other source. Going to contract on either type increases ramp up rate. There is still an initial delay in process to achieve approvals for the initial crews, adding to the front end time.

Transitioning from the 320 to the 737 without using extra crewing is going to to a year long program at the minimum, and up to 15-18 months for a fleet of Tigers size. Add enough additional crew, and it can be done as fast as aircraft can be delivered, if the line training staff are on hand, but they will usually be the bottle neck. Going from the 320 to 737 is going to be faster and more reliable in outcome that doing the other way round... Company policy and Regulatory guidelines add to the IOE training time which will be unique to each operator, with short haul doing well if the controlling factor is sectors, and less so if they are hours flown, compared to long haul.

Maintenance is a bottle neck, dependent on the regulatory licensing requirements. AF & PP courses will remove staff from current activity, putting demand on oversight and specialists, and could be just as limiting or more so than the flight crew.

[Icarus2001]

SQ are indeed a big successful international carrier but whenever they stray outside their own territory they have a dismal record.
You are correct, SQ is Temasek is the government. They get what they want at home,

The quote also applies to Qantas....Red Q? Jetstar Hong Kong? Jetstar Vietnam with management under house arrest?

Transitioning from the 320 to the 737 without using extra crewing is going to to a year long program at the minimum, and up to 15-18 months for a fleet of Tigers size.

Great analysis but they have been going for 18 months already and that is WITH contract crews on short term contracts to speed up the process.

One explanation is the same as the Bali debacle...incompetence.

[Buster Hyman]

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride,,,,

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmforum.com-vbulletin/330x248/tenor_66dbb6da366e50560aa11339c27f1f628cc81120.gif

[Snakecharma]

Interesting article in the AUSTRALIAN which amongst other things said that the person in question was “said to be a popular leader”

Not sure if the person who said that was the person running the pr campaign but it brings into doubt the level of research and industry knowledge these so called aviation reporters have.

how hard is it to do some research and report facts?

[The Bullwinkle]

Interesting article in the AUSTRALIAN which amongst other things said that the person in question was “said to be a popular leader”
Didn’t see that article but surely they’re not talking about JB!

[PammyAnderson]

Anyone know how the Tiger EBA vote turned out?

[shoddy88]

Anyone know how the Tiger EBA vote turned out?
Yes = 39.5% (73 votes)
No = 60.5% (112 votes)

The final participation rate was 91% (185/204).

[PammyAnderson]

Yes = 39.5% (73 votes)
No = 60.5% (112 votes)

The final participation rate was 91% (185/204).

oh wow. Didn’t both unions endorse the agreement?
What is it that the pilots were most unhappy about?
Genuine question as I don’t know.

[GWhizz]

Didn’t both unions endorse the agreement?

Its not the first time a union endorsed EA has been voted down. The first version of the recent Cobham EA was overwhelmingly supported to the verge of being forceabley promoted by the unions. There were promises made to the company that the unions simply couldn’t back up and it was subsequently voted down. Pilots are not going to listen to a union who doesn’t represent their best interests. This is bad for the employees and bad for the company.

[davidclarke]

oh wow. Didn’t both unions endorse the agreement?
What is it that the pilots were most unhappy about?
Genuine question as I don’t know.

Both unions endorsed it. Doesn’t mean it a good deal. The unions are more and more detached from their members than ever before. Unfortunately neither union is after the interests of Tiger pilots and only Tiger pilots. They will look after their majority and it’s not TT pilots!

[machtuk]

Not a good outcome:-( What now?

[Popgun]

Its not the first time a union endorsed EA has been voted down. The first version of the recent Cobham EA was overwhelmingly supported to the verge of being forceabley promoted by the unions. There were promises made to the company that the unions simply couldn’t back up and it was subsequently voted down. Pilots are not going to listen to a union who doesn’t represent their best interests. This is bad for the employees and bad for the company.

Anyone able to shed light on the main few reasons the Tiger EBA was voted down?

i’ve been told it wasn’t the base salary...any truth to that?

PG

[Jetstarpilot]

How many of the jocketts voted yes as a percentage of jockettes :}

[wheels_down]

Do those contracted pilots get a say also? There are quite a few currently on temp contracts.

[Icarus2001]

Not a good outcome:-( What now?

Not a good outcome for whom? Certainly good for the employees as they rejected an inferior offer. You must mean not a good outcome for the company. Oh well, they will survive. If the parent company can lose another $650 million in the last year a few million for employees cannot hurt.

[zanthrus]

Dear Tiger Airways.......From all the pilots in Australia....F*ck YOU!

[mattyj]

Seems to me Merren has got much bigger fish to fry than a push for gender equality. Start by sorting out the finances of the operation you run..then sort out the parent company’s finances (if she indeed is after that job) and then sort out the unhappy staff she has already got..only then she can worry about hiring more females if that’s a big concern for her! No use complaining about gender equality when you’re losing 650 mil per annum

[morno]

Dear Tiger Airways.......From all the pilots in Australia....F*ck YOU!

Why exactly? What did they do wrong to you?

[parabellum]

Whether its a complete lack of understanding of politics in Australia and NZ or an inability to influence decisions behind the scenes I don't know. When it comes to successful offshore partnerships they just don't have the runs on the board.

The failure of SQ to take over Ansett was entirely due to the board of Air NZ voting against it, nothing to do with a failure to understand Australian and NZ politics at all.

[PPRuNeUser0198]

losing 650 mil per annum

They're not losing $650M per year. Don't get caught up in non-cash impairments. Care about the business generating cash, which it is. It will deliver at an underlying and statutory level over the next fiscal.

[Bula]

The market must feel the same, seeing the share price has returned to its status quo,

[mattyj]

Is this the same company that twice went to its institutional investors looking for more cash in the last 18 months?!

[Gate_15L]

Is this the same company that twice went to its institutional investors looking for more cash in the last 18 months?!
urgh, no, because the last captial raise was two years ago.

Don’t you have a A320 rating to pass rather than worry about an airline that you didn’t get into..?!

[DutchRoll]

LOL, ironically the majority of responses here justify McArthur's observations.
As an airline pilot married to a surgeon I have to agree.

Many responses here are typical of the attitudes which have really p*ssed her off over the years of fighting her way through the male domination of her profession (particularly the specialty she chose) to be a successful and in-demand surgeon, and seeing aspiring competent women crushed under the weight of blokes who just seem to enjoy being d*cks. The beautiful irony is that those same blokes simply can’t understand why more of the girls aren’t applying and aspiring to be like them.

It’s been 20 years from the time she first decided to break into her desired profession to where she sits now and it has been a fascinating - gob smacking on occasions - insight for me into the psychological workings, petty jealousies, double standards, and personal insecurities of these male dominated professions which I’ve been a part of my whole career. It has made me pick up on a lot of things I might otherwise have missed in my own interactions. But of course as we see repeatedly, those who are not one of these women, or not closely related to one, wouldn’t actually know.

[PPRuNeUser0198]

Is this the same company that twice went to its institutional investors looking for more cash in the last 18 months?!

There is nothing wrong with raising capital from investors. It is much cheaper to do that than to borrow more money at market rates. And I am sure you know the significant capital investments VA had to make in order to transform its business into where it is today. You can't rely on waiting for free cash flow reserves to build up sufficiently to use for investing activities. VA also needs to keep cash reserves for when the hard times hit, so it does not collapse the moment headwinds occur.

The business is generating positive free cash flow. It is paying down debt, and its debt-to-equity ratio is within tolerence. This is what matters.