QF SOs now operating as Flight Attendants

[mrpaxing]

this is all about

akl-lax-akl and syd-mum-syd ,new A330-200 with 8 crew. that would save them a j/c seat for t/o and ldg which they could sell to some other staffy for t/o & ldg and then stand for the rest of the sector.
more bonuses

[lemel]

i think this is a bad move. dont we want the so at the front with the other flight crew. as has been posted before "an extra set of eyes is always a plus". in addition, the so is new to the game, shouldn't he or she be there observing and contributing during the most critical phases of the flight???

[Keg]

I spotted this in a company document written by the Chief Pilot:

...an operating crew took it upon themselves to use a Pilot in the cabin for takeoff and landing due to a shortfall in Cabin Crew numbers. This course of action would not have been agreed to by management if contact had been made. It has never been the intention to use such a procedure to solve day-to-day operational issues. The FSO was issued to
stop Flight Crew taking it upon themselves to use this procedure. I hope this clears up the various conspiracy theories.

I hope my highlighted bit has been defined and enshrined in stone somewhere!

Of course it also begs the question of why couldn't this kind of background have been included in the FSO to start off with! It would have saved a considerable amount of angst!

[G-ZUZZ]

more conspiracy

Sounds like a BS back-down. Has anone ever heard of this event having taken place?

No?

Management reverse their position and spin a could of BS to cover their tracks:

"It has never been the intention......"

Ri-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight..........

[Keg]

I've heard of it being discussed before- particularly in the old days to get extra staff travelers on the flight deck- but never heard of it actually happening to cater for crew illness.

[NO LAND 3]

Ah - the old "extra pair of eyes" sentiment. I've operated 2 pilot, 3 pilot, 4 pilot, single pilot, 2 pilot 1 eng, and ummm...3 pilot 2 eng.
Extra pilots are to extend allowable duty times. My experience is that in airliners designed for two pilots, extra pilots sitting in the jumpseats are often as much a distraction as an asset. Historically we have no higher incident rate on our two pilot operations than with four.
I presume QF operate with more than minimum cabin crew (ie in my current airline we usually operate the 777 -300 with 14 - 16 crew vs the minimum requirement for door coverage of 10). So it would have to be very exceptional circumstances for an augmenting pilot to assist with door coverage.
Think about it: why be stuck in some crappy outstation waiting for a replacement crewmember when there is someone perfectly capable of covering a door sitting in a cockpit jumpseat?
Bit hysterical guys.

[rockarpee]

No land 3 in Qantas we operate with minimum crew. Big problem occurs on the A330.200, 8 doors 8 crew. on the 767.300GE 7 crew total for 4 main exits and 4 overwing exits. 767.300RR 8 crew total for 8 exits. I have no idea about 747.400 but I know it is minimal.

[NO LAND 3]

Ha ha, you third world airlines! I had no idea. Does throw a different light on it and I can see there must be other issues behind the scenes. Pardon my intrusion into a sensitive area.

[rockarpee]

Funnily enough its the third world airlines that are able to load up the cabin with zillions of crew. Problem is here in QF it wouldn't matter how cheap we got the labour, it'd still be min crew.