QF Ground Handling Contracts

[hewlett]

Can anyone give a management perspective for QFs move away from customer airline ground handling?

There was a time when customer income covered the operating cost for QFs own line maintenance operations(fact ?)by being able to utilise staff who would otherwise be underutilised between company transits.QF are now citing the recent PIA as causal in the loss of contracts,however the move away started well before the PIA and if anything should make the operation more manageable.

Qantas use to be the primary ground handling agent in MEL BNE and SYD but with the current management direction has handed that role to others which seems to be conterproductive in growing a business.

[domo]

I believe and I talked to a manager about this that it is a plan to allow the other maintenance companies to grow strong so qantas will have somewhere to go during industrial disputes. I sensed that a certain amount was payback due to our pia, and he did mention that the customers unhappiness was the rooted in our pia.I did not mention that it was management that removed us from servicing these customers. I mean he is still my boss

[Clipped]

QE, will allow other 'affiliated' handling companies eg. JHAS, IASA to dwell amongst us, for reasons already mentioned. They do away with $$$ customer payments $$$. They reduce O/T requirements because of the manpower now available for the QF fleet, may even let a few blokes go. They also get to blame us as causing them to be outpriced in the contracts marketplace.

In a year or two they may bid again for contracts, but just like J*, it will be a whole new entity, with new terms and conditions.

It's all a bit too obvious. They've talked about it for a long time and now the final nails are being hammered.

And for the loss of all that revenue (and goodwill)? Well, they'll say that contracts were never profitable.

Buggery.

[Hardworker]

Face Saving Exercise by Management

Guys nothing to do with whether the contracts are profitable, QF can't attract engineers, so since they have downsized the business and the A380 is proving to be a disaster with regards to manpower - aka Black Hole, there only option is to terminate or make Handling other operators leave by increasing handing price excessively, to allow manpower to be redistributed within the Engineering umbrella....
Sadly all the experience of handling and goodwill and respect with these customer airlines will be gone....The likes of DH/KM/TG/DM/TD should all be terminated...it is ridiculous, but hey remember, they will all receive a bonus for this redistribution!

[hadagutfull]

Who is to blame for this mess?? The engineers　。。Ｔｈａｎｋｓ　Ｇａｖｉｎ！！！
　
Ｉ　ｈｏｐｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｌｏｔ　”ｋｅｅｐ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｅｇｇｓ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｓａｍｅ　ｂａｓｋｅｔ”。。。　ｃａｕｓｅ　 ｔｈａｔｓ　
ｗｈｅｒｅ　Ｉ　ｆｅｅｌ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｗｈａｃｋｉｎｇ　ｙｏｕ　ｌｏｔ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｍｙ　ｓｔｅｅｌ　ｃａｐｐｅｄ　ｂｏｏｔ 　
。。。。。　ｇｏｔ　ｔｏ　ｗｅａｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｒｉｇｈｔ　ＰＰＥ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｊｏｂ。。　　

Ｕｎｂｅｌｉｅｖｅａｂｌｅ。。。。。

　
　　　　

ＰＳ　。。　ｗａｓ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｕｎｉｏｎ　ｍｅｅｔｉｎｇ　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ＳＩＴ　ｙｅｓｔｅｒｄａ ｙ？？
Ｗｈａｔ　ｗａｓ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ　ｏｖｅｒ　ｔｈｅｒｅ？？

[rammel]

It's not just Engineering, but also Ramp and Customer Services. For the last 15 years or more, we were told we need to look after our client airlines as they bring in big dollars. Since the time of the pia we have lost quite a few contracts.

A lot of this seems to be the prices we are charging. The prices are so much more than anywhere else that we don't have a chance. Behind the scenes I have talked to the clients an they would've stayed with us if our prices were competitive, not necessarily cheaper. Seeing whoever is in charge of the contracts wouldn't budge, you can only assume that QF doesn't want them.

My view is that QF are a pack of greedy pr!cks who are looking at the short term gain of ridiculously high priced contracts, not the long term value of them. The other ground handling companies may have slightly lower wages, but they are still covered by the same unions as in QF. If the other companies are significantly less than QF, and they are still making a profit then that to me points at QF being greedy. No one starts a business to lose money, so I guess the other companies are looking at the long term potential of all these contracts.

[Ngineer]

Hardworker, your explanation seems the most logical. But if this is the case, why is management bu!!shi+ing us all?

If we are so low on manpower that we cannot take on customer work, why don't they come right out and say it? I believe something more sinister maybe going on here.

[Bumpfoh]

Pay back

In light of what has transpired with the NZ contract in AUS, as a matter of principle NZ should do exactly what QF did and double the fee at the next contract renewal.

Since there isn't a dearth of engineering handling agents in NZ, remembering that NZ look after all of the Jitconnict aircraft as well as QF transits at all ports in New Zealand one of two things could happen, one QF have to cop it sweet and pay up or two, QF have to start from scratch and set up their own engineering group in New Zealand, either way plenty of $$$.

You reap what you sow you dumb pr1cks!

[hewlett]

Wots to become of the surplus line guys now.Maybe they will get the redundancies identified by lighthouse b4 the pia and start up a grnd handling operation .Its not like they will be in opposition to the rat anymore?

[company_spy]

I think maybe you are all reading a bit too much into all this, the people with their hands on the levers are buffoons. Not the foggyest idea about how to run a "business", the problem I see is that they rely far too much on "data" and "spreadsheets" prepared for them by people who have never worked on or run a line station, and not being from an operational background themselves,they do not posses the common sense gut feeling about anything.

I don't think they are smart enough to formulate some of the conspiracies I have heard bandied around the smoko room. At least we know who is number one on the hit parade with the assn. now......

[SeldomFixit]

I'm well out of touch with the scene but are there enough handling organisations to take on this work ? Who are the players nowadays - I only remember QF in Oz

[Tom Sawyer]

Seldomfixit...if you mean on an engineering basis, at SIT there is;

United Airlines.
Cathay Pacific
Virgin Atlantic
Emirates (maybe back in the game)
John Holland
AMSA
IASA
and maybe in the future Etihad.

All of them gained in last years repurcussions and are looking for more.

[SeldomFixit]

Times have changed since Jack Cydesdale fettled the HS125's I guess. Thanks for the update.

[Ngineer]

And I guess QF's plan to redeploy staff will backfire as most of these companies will need more staff, and drain personel from the QF workforce under better pay and conditions, as they have in the past. (plus the chance of training).

I guess there is a bright side to this after all.

[Clipped]

the problem I see is that they rely far too much on "data" and "spreadsheets" prepared for them by people who have never worked on or run a line station,

From an accounting perspective.

Now, GH, how would you like those figures to look?

Sustainable future? Too bad our recently ousted senior managers could not sustain their own. Perhaps it's a way for our next layer of management to save themselves - short term cost savings? Then, leave us in the scrapheap we find ourselves in now.

[Ngineer]

Even the lower level of management at the SIT appear to have very little experience in operating in a customer contract line station. A very well orchestrated plan. A true legacy of the idiotic decisions made by middle managemnt, and one that will have them heading for the door before too long.

[hewlett]

Any feedback from meetings held to discuss loss of grnd handling contracts?No info north of the harbour.

[Hardworker]

Logic Not Involved?

Well Joyce comes out and says Qantas isnt doing too good, international loads are down and the outlook is bleak, so then why if SIT Line was making in excess of 17M per year in Customer Contracts, handling and rectification, why would you go down the path of terminating them all???
The excuses that they havent been reviewed for many years just doesnt fly, if thats the case, which Mr Harris has been quoted on, then isnt it time the people involved in handling these Customer Contracts be given the sack for basically not dong their job! (Incompentance)
Mr Green & Mr Gouras surely must be held accountable, but hang on wasnt Mr Harris also involved with Customer Contracts & Mr Mc Dermott & Mr Mills, let not forget Mr Deck....accountability isnt a thing QF Engineering Management requires as skill required....it seems to be a prerequiste not to have..
So now the profit forecast is down you would think QF Engineering would be doing the opposite and chasing every possible contract under the sun, taking on as much line work, rectification as possible, under cutting Cathay Pacfiic, AMSA and John Holland, but middle management are going in the opposite direction.....Does the likes of the Board really know whats going on?... or are they happy to accept the lies and rubbish filtered thru to them....I wonder there doesnt seem to be any logic in what management are saying...

[hewlett]

Maybe all part of the master plan?

[Short_Circuit]

Well there is 6 names to go into the bucket of 500 for not meeting KPI's & KRA's not supporting the bottom line.
How many Millions of dollars not being recouped, was that 17 million - 10% of the QANTAS Group 2008/9 forcast profit which could start as early as tomorrow?
10%
10% profit increase is anyone listening