Wirraway
20th May 2003, 02:51
Tues "The Australian"
True blue Virgin Blue
Michael West
May 20, 2003
WHILE Qantas was copping some bad press on Friday over an aborted flight from Melbourne to Brisbane, Virgin Blue passengers en route to Sydney were held up in Coffs Harbour.
They had been scheduled to fly to Sydney on Thursday but Coffs airport shut down after an air ambulance crashed and some bloke on a surfboard dragged the aircraft's wheel out of the surf.
Passengers were promptly put up at a hotel and were to fly the following day, only to be delayed again for three-and-a-half hours due to filthy weather.
In compensation for the delay – which was unavoidable and not due to sloppy maintenance, cost cutting, synergy benefits, executive-option schemes or thinking inside the square at the end of the day – Virgin passengers were treated to free grog at the bar and presented with a free flight.
You might recall our monumental whinge first day back from the Christmas break after being stuffed around by Qantas for 22 hours at Frankfurt Airport. We must not be mean though because we did make some friends. Moreover, chief executive Geoff Dixon still hasn't called us on the IOU we instructed Qantas representatives to present him in lieu of payment for a cup of coffee on hour 14 of the 22-hour maintenance extravaganza.
And although there still has been nary a whiff of acknowledgment, let alone an apology, we won't worry about that because team Qantas clearly finds it preferable to get a merciless thrashing over its shoddy service right here, on regular occasions.
By the way, the Virgin tale came to us, not via its PR department, but care of a colleague's mother.
What with its attitude, and its compulsory G-string-for-hosties policy, it's no wonder Virgin picked up 30 per cent of the domestic market in no time.
Of course Qantas is by no means alone among big swaggering corporates risking the ire of customers in favour of the bottom line but one might wonder at what point a brand becomes damaged.
==========================================
Pic: Virgin Blue 737-700 VH-VBM
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=77624
Photo: Wirraway
==========================================
True blue Virgin Blue
Michael West
May 20, 2003
WHILE Qantas was copping some bad press on Friday over an aborted flight from Melbourne to Brisbane, Virgin Blue passengers en route to Sydney were held up in Coffs Harbour.
They had been scheduled to fly to Sydney on Thursday but Coffs airport shut down after an air ambulance crashed and some bloke on a surfboard dragged the aircraft's wheel out of the surf.
Passengers were promptly put up at a hotel and were to fly the following day, only to be delayed again for three-and-a-half hours due to filthy weather.
In compensation for the delay – which was unavoidable and not due to sloppy maintenance, cost cutting, synergy benefits, executive-option schemes or thinking inside the square at the end of the day – Virgin passengers were treated to free grog at the bar and presented with a free flight.
You might recall our monumental whinge first day back from the Christmas break after being stuffed around by Qantas for 22 hours at Frankfurt Airport. We must not be mean though because we did make some friends. Moreover, chief executive Geoff Dixon still hasn't called us on the IOU we instructed Qantas representatives to present him in lieu of payment for a cup of coffee on hour 14 of the 22-hour maintenance extravaganza.
And although there still has been nary a whiff of acknowledgment, let alone an apology, we won't worry about that because team Qantas clearly finds it preferable to get a merciless thrashing over its shoddy service right here, on regular occasions.
By the way, the Virgin tale came to us, not via its PR department, but care of a colleague's mother.
What with its attitude, and its compulsory G-string-for-hosties policy, it's no wonder Virgin picked up 30 per cent of the domestic market in no time.
Of course Qantas is by no means alone among big swaggering corporates risking the ire of customers in favour of the bottom line but one might wonder at what point a brand becomes damaged.
==========================================
Pic: Virgin Blue 737-700 VH-VBM
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=77624
Photo: Wirraway
==========================================