Vanessa’s lovely message to members

[Global Aviator]

Just as well everything is rosy at the flying roo, such positives!!! Do staff get the same diatribe? Now wonder the public love QF.

Cut and paste below.



Over the past few months, everyone at the Qantas Group has been working hard to improve your journeys with us. We know our people are our biggest asset and we're giving them more tools to serve you better.

If you've flown lately, hopefully you've noticed that our on-time performance is up and cancellations are down. We're listening to your feedback and we have new investments rolling out. Here are some examples:

New fleet – introducing the Airbus A220 aircraft from March 2024. The A220s have more comfortable cabins, are much quieter and have twice the range of the 717s they replace.


Wi-Fi onboard – switching on international Wi-Fi from the end of 2024, coinciding with new satellites that will deliver similar connection speeds to our domestic flights. The rollout starts with our A330s followed by the 787s and A380s.


Easier to deal with – a new Qantas App gives you more control over your trip, including baggage tracking. Better training for our call centre agents is helping solve issues faster.


Better value – average fares have dropped more than 10 percent since peaking in December 2022 and we'll shortly announce a major investment to improve our Frequent Flyer program. Until 27 February 2024 we have a Double Points/Status Credits offer (https://t.e.qantas.com/r/?id=o7d564362,5bb2e060,2474368f&e=YXBfb2lkPTE1MzU1MTQxNjA&s=otL1Tydt3VecOztHy2R8OnZZ2_Okc0gqKejOoZqnB8A) when you book a flight.


Better recovery – we've increased what we provide when there are significant delays. This includes giving our people better tools to fix problems on the spot to support the amazing job they do every day.

On behalf of everyone at the Qantas Group, my sincere thanks for your support as we work to restore trust and pride in the national carrier. Please stay tuned for more improvements.
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https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/per/email/spacer.gifVanessa Hudson
CEO
Qantas Group

[MickG0105]

...
Now wonder the public love QF.
...
​​​​​​
Love, hate, or indifferent, their pax numbers are up 14.7 percent over H1FY24.

[Global Aviator]

Love, hate, or indifferent, their pax numbers are up 14.7 percent over H1FY24.

My point exactly. The professionals in the industry know what’s going on behind the scenes but the public still love the national airline.

I’m sure someone can rewrite the above release with the facts, I did but it was not fit for public consumption 🤣.

[megan]

Month ago flew Darwin to Perth, ticketing said 737 seated row 26, got to the airport to find the flight was a A320 seating row 5. At least the flight was on time and staff most pleasant, good trip. Friends who we were to meet in Perth were booked QF Newcastle to Perth via Adelaide arriving much the same time as we. The flight to Adelaide was cancelled at the last minute and were put on a J* flight to Brisbane thence Perth, arriving 4 hours later than originally planned, they were not happy.

[unobtanium]

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/500x560/fe423tr4fwzf4b6tb_68459d79aaae439d85a54e5198743c73bab6eb4c.j pg

[Window heat]

I commute, staff travel works just fine.

=unobtanium;11601779]https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/500x560/fe423tr4fwzf4b6tb_68459d79aaae439d85a54e5198743c73bab6eb4c.j pg[/QUOTE]

[unobtanium]

I commute, staff travel works just fine.

congrates well done you are such an inspiration meanwhile the rest of us cannot get leave or when we can good luck getting the wife and kids on any flight to any decent destination

[C441]

I commute, staff travel works just fine.

Commute from where to where?

Melbourne - Sydney? Yep, probably no probs there.
Brisbane - Sydney? Good most of the time.
Brisbane - Melbourne? Careful planning needed on this one at times.

Anything else including anything overseas, staff travel 'down the back' should be okay.
Want an upgrade? No probs after the commercial upgrades and the F36s recognition trippers are catered for. Mmmmm; that's a definite maybe at best.

[hotnhigh]

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/250x187/cb23e50b_0527_4c6a_8caf_971c307c6018_c261baea2c3b4913913f909 e4dac70fc801dc327.jpg
Premium airline, premium price. Imagine paying that and something like this rolls up. Oh, wait...... the Rav is actually younger than some of the 737s.
All about priorities and share buy backs.

[Australia2]

Hi Megan,

So 2 Qantas purchased . . . . .

The first flight operated not by Qantas but Network Aviation, a lower cost subsidiary who's flight crew are currently embroiled in long running industrial action trying to secure the minimum award wage and industry standard rostering practices focussed on acceptable rest periods.

The second downgraded to JetStar, a Qantas low cost subsidiary. The Newcastle to Adelaide flight was to be operated by a contacted company, not Qantas nor Qantas owned.

The public paying premium fares to travel with Qantas have a right to be aware of this.

[Johnny_56]

You could probably get a refund and not travel…

At least they’re investing in their digital presence - that’d make you feel better I’m sure

[LivingtheDream46]

Great, if you are at Network, you can fly somewhere cheap, but that's only if literally nobody in Australia wants that seat & Qantas can't sell it at any price. The problem then is, coz you are getting paid below the FWA minimum award wage & can barely afford to eat, you can't afford a holiday anyway! plus the chances of you getting any annual leave are so low you are better off telling you kids "sorry maybe we can all have a holiday next year guys" plus you are so whacked from constantly getting out of bed at 4am, (coz you have FA roster protections), the last thing you wanna do on your day off is fly standby with QANTAS & get offloaded at the gate!!

[extralite]

"Now wonder the public love QF."

The comments on Qantas's social media advertising used to be a hoot until they turned them off. I doubt for the current generations, Qantas will ever be seen as superior to anything. Which is of course such a damn shame since it did used to rank up there as one of Australia's most trusted brands.

Passenger numbers may be up, but that's probably because capacity was increased and Qantas does have the network. But i wouldn't be confusing that with the public suddenly forgetting about "flight credits:, under staffing, delayed and cancelled flights, ghost flights" etc. As they say, "Brands are personalities", and Qantas still has Alan Joyce's personality and will for a long time because he was so prominent in the media with Qantas.

Check out Bonza's and Rex's on time performance. Which are the budget airlines? https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-domestic-flight-data-delays-cancellations-january-2024/090617c3-5ea8-4dc2-a099-d670ed703732

[Ladloy]

"Now wonder the public love QF."

The comments on Qantas's social media advertising used to be a hoot until they turned them off. I doubt for the current generations, Qantas will ever be seen as superior to anything. Which is of course such a damn shame since it did used to rank up there as one of Australia's most trusted brands.

Passenger numbers may be up, but that's probably because capacity was increased and Qantas does have the network. But i wouldn't be confusing that with the public suddenly forgetting about "flight credits:, under staffing, delayed and cancelled flights, ghost flights" etc. As they say, "Brands are personalities", and Qantas still has Alan Joyce's personality and will for a long time because he was so prominent in the media with Qantas.

Check out Bonza's and Rex's on time performance. Which are the budget airlines? https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-domestic-flight-data-delays-cancellations-january-2024/090617c3-5ea8-4dc2-a099-d670ed703732
Rex have shady ways of bolstering numbers.

[MickG0105]

...
Check out Bonza's and Rex's on time performance.
...
You ever tried paying a bill or getting a line of credit using OTP?

[Saintly]

Rex have shady ways of bolstering numbers.

What does REX do to bolster numbers?

[gordonfvckingramsay]

Oh the spin! What they left out though.

Over the past few months, everyone at the Qantas Group has been working hard to improve your journeys with us coal face staff have been doing this for decades. We know our people are our biggest asset and we're giving them more tools to serve you better.

If you've flown lately, hopefully you've noticed that our on-time performance is up and cancellations are down should never have gotten that bad! Cost cutting had come home to roost We're listening to your feedback coalface crew have been telling you for years and we have new investments rolling out years too late. Here are some examples:

New fleet – introducing the Airbus A220 aircraft from March 2024. The A220s have more comfortable cabins, are much quieter and have twice the range of the 717s they replace.


If we can find crew who want to leave the protections of the 2017 EA to fly these janky things on the new janky EA.


Wi-Fi onboard – switching on international Wi-Fi from the end of 2024, coinciding with new satellites that will deliver similar connection speeds to our domestic flights. The rollout starts with our A330s followed by the 787s and A380s.


Catching up to most other international airlines.


Easier to deal with – a new Qantas App gives you more control over your trip, including baggage tracking. Better training for our call centre agents is helping solve issues faster.


Catching up again

Better value – average fares have dropped more than 10 percent since peaking in December 2022 and we'll shortly announce a major investment to improve our Frequent Flyer program. Until 27 February 2024 we have a Double Points/Status Credits offer (https://t.e.qantas.com/r/?id=o7d564362,5bb2e060,2474368f&e=YXBfb2lkPTE1MzU1MTQxNjA&s=otL1Tydt3VecOztHy2R8OnZZ2_Okc0gqKejOoZqnB8A) when you book a flight.


Dropped from the peak when post COVID price gouging was a thing

Better recovery – we've increased what we provide when there are significant delays. This includes giving our people better tools to fix problems on the spot to support the amazing job they do every day.


How about more people like gate agents that aren’t covering multiple gates and engineering that can fix problems before they lead to a delay. How about catering that turns up or better rostering so crews don’t go out of hours at the first sign of a delay.

On behalf of everyone at the Qantas Group, my sincere thanks for your support no thanks to mangement as we work to restore trust and pride in the national carrier. Please stay tuned for more improvements that should have been part of our core business model anyway.

[nomess]

They always make it sound like they are doing passengers a favour when announcing all these late to be introduced initiatives.

Fancy announcing refurbishments to A330s, in the fleets dying years. Upgrade programs should run continuously over time to keep the product in check with modern day standards. 737s should have power at every seat. They don’t. The seats are from day dot also.

All these last minute capex splurges in ‘customer experience’ is just poor planning. You are meant to forecast and plan that stuff 10 years ahead like everyone else does.

The NG fleet should all have had power a decade ago. The Yanks got onto the Scimitar program almost immediately when the program became available and forecasted over the coming decade, Virgin got wind of that and jumped on that also. Meanwhile QF have now decided to install them, in the 737s dying years.

[Saintly]

They always make it sound like they are doing passengers a favour when announcing all these late to be introduced initiatives.

Fancy announcing refurbishments to A330s, in the fleets dying years. Upgrade programs should run continuously over time to keep the product in check with modern day standards. 737s should have power at every seat. They don’t. The seats are from day dot also.

All these last minute capex splurges in ‘customer experience’ is just poor planning. You are meant to forecast and plan that stuff 10 years ahead like everyone else does.

Probably tax deductions too - using money to upgrade the A330s.

[Angle of Attack]

It is SOP for Qantas to upgrade their jets just before they retire them, been doing it for decades. Remember they installed EFIS into the 747 Classics, last one was upgraded literally as they started retiring them lol.

[neville_nobody]

Can't let capex get in way of anyone's bonus now can we?

[extralite]

"Rex have shady ways of bolstering numbers." What are these ways?

As an aside, Rex is killing it in the marketing. They just hit the right spot in terms of appearing genuine which is the marketing gold at the moment. Qantas has the silver tongue gumph from marketing as per the OP's posts that anyone can see through and it just looks old fashioned.. It is a tricky one for Qantas, the only thing they could do is show they care for more than only profit and corporate bonuses, but as a public company, they really can't. Another sleeper marketing issue i think for Qantas is their FF program. With virtually nonredeemable flights unless you are retired and can book a year in advance, it has alienated from the Qantas brand the very people it should be trying to befriend. All in all, while i think people still feel warmth towards the Qantas front line staff recognizing it is not their fault, the QANTAS brand feels like a family member who ripped off the inheritance.

Qantas is the best positioned in the industry due to a lot of legacy factors, but it is well past its Peter Allan days. It will be in its Alan Joyce days for at least a decade brand-wise.

[megan]

The Newcastle to Adelaide flight was to be operated by a contacted company, not Qantas nor Qantas ownedFrom the net Australia, just when is Qantas realy Qantas for an unknowing punter, fraudulent advertising I would call it.
Take-off to Adelaide with QantasLinkTake off from Newcastle to Adelaide with Qantas.You can now fly direct to Adelaide 5 times a week on a Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

With a flight time of just 2 hours and 20 minutes a weekend trip to South Australia just got a whole lot easier.

Fly out Friday and return Sunday or stay a little longer and fly home on Monday, the choice is yours.

Qantas has partnered with Alliance Airlines to operate an Embraer E190 jet aircraft on this service with 10 business and 84 economy seats. The E190 is the perfect size for the short flight time.

If you are booking online you may see a description such as 'Flight QF1969 is operated by Alliance Airlines' or similar, and when boarding the plane you will notice it features Alliance Airlines' livery and logos.

[MickG0105]

...
As an aside, Rex is killing it in the marketing.
...
And the evidence for that is what exactly?

[extralite]

And the evidence for that is what exactly?

Ads are subjective so unless you would like me to recruit a focus group I don't have any.. But the favorable PR featuring senior manager (CEO?) talking to camera about how they are full service, they dont charge for bags etc seemed to hit the spot along with things like the on time rankings report. I don't see any social advertisements for Qantas lately, but when they did pop up on my feed they would have done more harm than good.

[glekichi]

20 years ago there seemed to be a big difference between a low cost airline and a traditional carrier.
Right now it seems the only difference is if the baggage is included or if I need to check a box to make it included during the booking.
QF offers little to nothing more, at 6'2" the seats aren't any more comfortable in a QF737 than a JQ320.
(Except when travelling business class)

[aussieflyboy]

20 years ago there seemed to be a big difference between a low cost airline and a traditional carrier.
Right now it seems the only difference is if the baggage is included or if I need to check a box to make it included during the booking.
QF offers little to nothing more, at 6'2" the seats aren't any more comfortable in a QF737 than a JQ320.
(Except when travelling business class)

Amusingly the brand new domestic Qantas (QantasLink) aircraft has the same economy seats as the Jetstar NEOs…

[MickG0105]

Ads are subjective so unless you would like me to recruit a focus group I don't have any ...
People may react differently to different advertising but when it comes to marketing, it is there to ultimately put bums on seats and transfer cash from the punter to the business.

[extralite]

People may react differently to different advertising but when it comes to marketing, it is there to ultimately put bums on seats and transfer cash from the punter to the business.

There is bums on seats marketing which would be "August Special - Fly Qantas/Jetstar to "Byron Gateway" for the price of a case Crownies". But there is also brand building marketing, which was the "Still Call Australia Home" type. Right now, when airlines are pretty much at capacity, it doesnt make much difference as people will fly it anyway.

My point was only really to agree with the OP. and most other posters. Qantas as a brand was destroyed over the last ten yrs and sugary words from Vanessa or a new chairman won't change that. SO many things, including its involvement in Joyce's political beliefs, its alleged rorting of jobkeeper, its screwing of the worker (baggage handlers for example.). There is not much the marketing people could do right now for domestic anyway.. Can't polish that turd. But if Qantas actually made some changes on the ground, for example investing in excess capacity so that it always was on top of cancellation/delayed rankings rather than doing worse than the so called "budget airlines:, and then advertised that fact, it would be something. I mean if you are going to call yourself premium, there has to be some difference. And there isnt. It feels a bit more special getting on Bonza at the moment than Qantas for me anyway. But Qantas has the netwrk and frequency so it wont be challenged too much.

[Chronic Snoozer]

There is a difference between what a company says and what it does. Granted, QANTAS is not the only airline guilty of this but it's hard not to imagine QANTAS like a V-Dub with a Rolls Royce hood ornament, flattering to deceive.‘Zero empathy’: Qantas refunds customer forced to pay $1900 for spelling mistakehttps://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/zero-empathy-qantas-refunds-customer-forced-to-pay-1900-for-spelling-mistake-20240222-p5f714.htmlQantas will refund a customer who was forced to cancel a flight booking and buy an airfare more than twice as expensive because of a spelling mistake.

Chris Bowers was left about $1900 out of pocket after he was advised by the national carrier that a typo in the spelling of a name on a booking from Japan to Australia could not be corrected because the itinerary contained a flight operated by Jetstar Japan.

Bowers booked a $1400 flight from Sapporo in Japan to Brisbane last November for his nephew Frazer Linscott to accompany his daughter Sasha on the flight.

But he made a typo when booking the airfare, spelling Linscott’s name with an “s” instead of a “z”.

“A hasty call to the Qantas customer care line informed me that the only solution was to cancel and rebook the flight,” Bowers said.

However, the cost of the flight had jumped since the original booking to more than $3000.

Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson last year promised to improve the airline’s customer service.

“The injustice was compounded when I discovered that the cancelled flight had also attracted a $300 cancellation charge bringing the total cost of a single letter spelling mistake to $1900,” Bowers said.

Bowers complained to Qantas and then the Airline Customer Advocate, a complaints body set up by Australian airlines (https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5ejv8) that has long been regarded by consumer advocates “as a glorified post box” because it lacks powers to enact resolution outcomes on behalf of customers.

Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson last year promised to improve the airline’s customer service and review outdated customer policies such as charging customers to change their name on a ticket. (https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5e6q8)

Hudson also apologised to customers in a video message.

“I know that we have let you down in many ways and for that, I am sorry,” she said. “We haven’t delivered the way we should have. And we’ve often been hard to deal with.”

However, a Qantas customer care representative told Bowers that customers could only correct names on bookings wholly operated by the national carrier.

“As your ticket also contained flights operated by Jetstar Japan (GK) , we advised you to cancel the booking and rebook; however, the fare is not guaranteed,” she said in an email dated January 24.

She also said Qantas would not refund the difference in fares but offered to “provide an insurance letter stating the changes made, and the fare difference paid when you made the change”.

A Qantas spokesman said changes made to bookings on other airlines on the same day attracted no fee. Qantas is a minority shareholder in Jetstar Japan.

“Whilst the customer was given the correct information from our customer care team regarding changes for a Jetstar Japan booking, we have offered the customer a refund for the cancellation fee as a gesture of goodwill,” he said.

However, one day after this masthead contacted Qantas, the airline offered Bowers a $1600 travel voucher “in recognition of your experience”.

Bowers said he was frustrated with the “zero empathy” shown by Qantas. “Despite asking multiple times whether they thought this was the right thing to do, they refused to engage,” he said.

Consumers’ Federation of Australia chairman Gerard Brody said there was a gap in the law when it came to unfair trade practices by airlines.

“Refusing to allow a simple name change and imposing additional costs by forcing the customer to cancel a ticket and make a new booking at significant expense doesn’t sound fair,” he said.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said last year in asubmission to the Aviation Green Paper (https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/accc-submission-to-aviation-green-paper-nov-23.pdf) that a lack of competition in the domestic airline industry had led to high prices, poor customer service, decreasing service quality and issues resolving disputes and obtaining redress.

The Consumers Federation of Australia wants an airline and travel ombudsman to resolve these sorts of complaints more efficiently and cheaply for consumers.

“At the moment, there is little access to justice with these sorts of complaints,” Brody said. “Consumers are largely reliant on the airline’s goodwill unless they have the time and resources to go to court.”

[Pinky the pilot]

https://www.smh.com.au/business/cons...22-p5f714.html (https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/zero-empathy-qantas-refunds-customer-forced-to-pay-1900-for-spelling-mistake-20240222-p5f714.html)

Paywalled here.