Geoffrey Thomas awarded RAES "Journalist of the Year"
To GT and the engineers..
I find it intriguing that, even in the recent results announcement, Mr Joyce made reference to the $130mil hit caused by the ALAEA dispute last year. Now, I'm not an engineer but they had my support then and still do;
"Lawful Industrial Action was taken by LAMEs at Qantas after 18 months of negotiation where Qantas had not budged from their opening position. Engineers had waited 3 1/2 since any rise at all whilst Dixon and co. had recieved cumulative wage rises above 50%."
This was, I believe, overwhelmingly the majority view in Qantas at the time.
In the end a solution was realised, and the engineers accepted it by secret ballot. I'm just confused that management's contribution to, and apparent (or possibly feigned) non-comprehension of the impasse have been allowed to go largely unacknowledged. It seems obvious to me that management tactics forced the dispute unnecessarily into 'expensive' territory and merely reinforced the perception among staff that, where enough disengagement, indignation and unity-of-purpose combine, managers were still prepared to cost Qantas serious coin over industrial point-scoring.
It achieved nothing other than to further harden the employee's attitudes to what was viewed as perpetual disingenuous spin and misrepresentation by upper echelons.
Are things changing? Time will tell.
I find it intriguing that, even in the recent results announcement, Mr Joyce made reference to the $130mil hit caused by the ALAEA dispute last year. Now, I'm not an engineer but they had my support then and still do;
"Lawful Industrial Action was taken by LAMEs at Qantas after 18 months of negotiation where Qantas had not budged from their opening position. Engineers had waited 3 1/2 since any rise at all whilst Dixon and co. had recieved cumulative wage rises above 50%."
This was, I believe, overwhelmingly the majority view in Qantas at the time.
In the end a solution was realised, and the engineers accepted it by secret ballot. I'm just confused that management's contribution to, and apparent (or possibly feigned) non-comprehension of the impasse have been allowed to go largely unacknowledged. It seems obvious to me that management tactics forced the dispute unnecessarily into 'expensive' territory and merely reinforced the perception among staff that, where enough disengagement, indignation and unity-of-purpose combine, managers were still prepared to cost Qantas serious coin over industrial point-scoring.
It achieved nothing other than to further harden the employee's attitudes to what was viewed as perpetual disingenuous spin and misrepresentation by upper echelons.
Are things changing? Time will tell.
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I fully expected to see a bit of a crack at the LAMEs appear in the Qantas report. I did also expect that the fines paid for freight fixing would have been there as well though.
Maybe when we are finished with this room, my good friend GT can do an article about it.
cheers
Maybe when we are finished with this room, my good friend GT can do an article about it.
cheers
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FA18,
I'm not sure where you're coming from:
My questions always have been generic. And, no, I am not feeling guilty.
The whole point (spare me, do I have to do this again?), is there are real aviation stories out there that no one will touch.
This has absolutely nothing to do with individuals. What it does have to do with is the aviation journalists' 'coterie' that won't investigate and ask the hard questions.
So; to the original question, why?
I'm not sure where you're coming from:
You feeling guilty for some reason Howabout?
The whole point (spare me, do I have to do this again?), is there are real aviation stories out there that no one will touch.
This has absolutely nothing to do with individuals. What it does have to do with is the aviation journalists' 'coterie' that won't investigate and ask the hard questions.
So; to the original question, why?
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I have never written a story about the engineer's dispute. I wrote many critical ones on my views on Qantas management however - just see Australian Aviation.
My responses were to direct radio and TV questions...which were "is Qantas safe?"
And the answer for the lay public was yes. Short radio and TV forums are not the place for long winded discussion on the fine detail of disputes.
Did Qantas management at the time do the wrong - absolutely!! It caused heart break and grief for thousands and let's hope we have seen the end of it.
BTW I did a 45 minute program at 4am about six months ago on ABC Australia wide radio discussing the dispute where I praised the engineers and mentioned what QF management had done. Had quite deal of feedback and in particulay one engineer's wife from Geelong if my memory serves me well. She had just dropped her husband off at work.
I also spoke to many engineers who are freinds off record.
And yes I will do a story on the entire dispute for Australian Aviation - warts and all!! And for ATW!
Best GT
My responses were to direct radio and TV questions...which were "is Qantas safe?"
And the answer for the lay public was yes. Short radio and TV forums are not the place for long winded discussion on the fine detail of disputes.
Did Qantas management at the time do the wrong - absolutely!! It caused heart break and grief for thousands and let's hope we have seen the end of it.
BTW I did a 45 minute program at 4am about six months ago on ABC Australia wide radio discussing the dispute where I praised the engineers and mentioned what QF management had done. Had quite deal of feedback and in particulay one engineer's wife from Geelong if my memory serves me well. She had just dropped her husband off at work.
I also spoke to many engineers who are freinds off record.
And yes I will do a story on the entire dispute for Australian Aviation - warts and all!! And for ATW!
Best GT
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It is just because I take mine and our profession seriously that I appear on and speak on a variety of programs to try and add some understanding -not always successfully - of our complex industry to the widest possible audience.
You would have to agree that the level of debate on this forum is not always stellar!
Best GT
You would have to agree that the level of debate on this forum is not always stellar!
Best GT
Evertonian
And the Ansett collapse GT? Surely there's a Pulitzer prize in there somewhere.... 
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GT - again credit for posting in your own name. Aviation journalism in Aus is a tricky business, no big paycheques and always the temptation to simply roll-over and do exactly as the big corporates wish you to do in return for a few material pleasures. Without a decent regular wage it can therefore be a hard gig. There are typically the sell-outs with near zero credibility and the (sometimes slightly loopy) independent magazine publishers who are well-intentioned but often frustrated couddabeens! Finding a realistic medium can be difficult.
As a consequence of this situation few credible journos have had the balls to tackle some big issue items.
* I understand Chris Masters (ABC 4 Corners) had a brilliant piece about the very questionable dealings of an airline CEO in the early 1990's but this was never put to air as the lawyers stymied it.
* There is a fantastic story still waiting to be told about the demise of Compass Mk 1 and a pre-planned and rehearsed strategy (Operation Sewn-Up) created and implemented by a certain (still extant) aviation strategy organisation, using taxpayers money to assist Mr Abeles of Ansett. Ever wonder how so many mothballed 727's were available immediately with full CofA's to 'rescue' pax stranded by the collapse of Compass?
* More recently there is still one major question hanging over the APA bid for Qantas. Within days of the bid failing the CEO of Qantas published profound, extensive and very far-reaching plans for the future of the airline.
a) This information was published immediately after the bid failed and thus could only have had a few hours to have been formulated. Only an incompetent managerial structure could run an airline in such a knee-jerk reactionary fashion. Why hasn't this been highlighted? Such irresponsible corporate governance shouldn't go unpunished.
b) More realistically (given the complexity of the issues), perhaps the plan was already in place before the bid failed? If so, this is even more sinister. If this is the case, shareholders were never made aware of these plans and such information would have been absolutely fundamental to their decision as to whether to support the bid or not. Concealing such manifestly important information from shareholders must surely breach the Corporations Act (or at least morally reprehensible given the importance of QF to the Australian public)?
Whilst we like to deride other countries (like the UAE and the support Emirates receives), the industry in Australia is not as clean as we like to think.
It's about time a decent, articulate, independent and legally savvy journalist tackled some of these issues. The inevitable pressure that would then be applied to that journalist by the organisations reviewed would if well documented, also add to the gravitas of the story.
However given the realities of the issues in first paragraph I doubt such true investigative journalism will be seen any time soon.
As a consequence of this situation few credible journos have had the balls to tackle some big issue items.
* I understand Chris Masters (ABC 4 Corners) had a brilliant piece about the very questionable dealings of an airline CEO in the early 1990's but this was never put to air as the lawyers stymied it.
* There is a fantastic story still waiting to be told about the demise of Compass Mk 1 and a pre-planned and rehearsed strategy (Operation Sewn-Up) created and implemented by a certain (still extant) aviation strategy organisation, using taxpayers money to assist Mr Abeles of Ansett. Ever wonder how so many mothballed 727's were available immediately with full CofA's to 'rescue' pax stranded by the collapse of Compass?
* More recently there is still one major question hanging over the APA bid for Qantas. Within days of the bid failing the CEO of Qantas published profound, extensive and very far-reaching plans for the future of the airline.
a) This information was published immediately after the bid failed and thus could only have had a few hours to have been formulated. Only an incompetent managerial structure could run an airline in such a knee-jerk reactionary fashion. Why hasn't this been highlighted? Such irresponsible corporate governance shouldn't go unpunished.
b) More realistically (given the complexity of the issues), perhaps the plan was already in place before the bid failed? If so, this is even more sinister. If this is the case, shareholders were never made aware of these plans and such information would have been absolutely fundamental to their decision as to whether to support the bid or not. Concealing such manifestly important information from shareholders must surely breach the Corporations Act (or at least morally reprehensible given the importance of QF to the Australian public)?
Whilst we like to deride other countries (like the UAE and the support Emirates receives), the industry in Australia is not as clean as we like to think.
It's about time a decent, articulate, independent and legally savvy journalist tackled some of these issues. The inevitable pressure that would then be applied to that journalist by the organisations reviewed would if well documented, also add to the gravitas of the story.
However given the realities of the issues in first paragraph I doubt such true investigative journalism will be seen any time soon.
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Great post
Hi A Le Rhone...
You make some excellent points and daily journalism in many areas has become 40cm - or 450 words - and that is it.
There are three great stories to tell - The Compass / de-regulation saga, The Ansett demise and the APA / Qantas story.
I have plans to tackle the first next year and am working with a number of people on that project.
The de-regulation saga also leads into the complex out sourcing which I also hope to tackle.
Best GT
You make some excellent points and daily journalism in many areas has become 40cm - or 450 words - and that is it.
There are three great stories to tell - The Compass / de-regulation saga, The Ansett demise and the APA / Qantas story.
I have plans to tackle the first next year and am working with a number of people on that project.
The de-regulation saga also leads into the complex out sourcing which I also hope to tackle.
Best GT
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GT you should sign up in one of our services.I hear they are always looking for Gunners.I still dont understand how commercial factors can alter the way news should be presented.
There are three great stories to tell - The Compass / de-regulation saga, The Ansett demise and the APA / Qantas story.
I have plans to tackle the first next year and am working with a number of people on that project.
I have plans to tackle the first next year and am working with a number of people on that project.
What a pity, GT, you cannot talk with Bryan Grey.
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Perhaps in relation to the Compass story, Mssrs John Singleton, Peter Harbi*** and one RL Hawke may be worthwhile interviewees. Bryan Grey unfortunately no longer with us - I guess he died a broken man.
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The award to Geoffrey Thomas is very well deserved IMHO. FGD135 started the thread with the very words I would like to have said, so let me echo his words with this quote:
My view of Australian media generally is rather cynical and so I subscribe extensively to overseas media to get viewpoints of a range of journalists. In the context of my broader perspective, I really enjoy GT’s writing, with his in-depth knowledge of (what are) specialized subjects, and his ability to write readable articles. RAeS is a high level organisation, and this award is not given lightly.
Speaking of ATW, in the last year or so, they seem to have lifted their game to yet another level. Well done. I spend the thousand dollar subscriptions to the serious aviation trade press each year and read them, yet I get as much out of ATW (and GT) as I do out of the most expensive journals.
Congratulations again to GT for the award.
I have always regarded GT as a fine aviation journalist and will go out of my way to read anything he has written.
This is no minor award. The RAES also awarded him "Best Strategy or Financial Submission".
………………..
Congratulations Geoff. You deserve it!
This is no minor award. The RAES also awarded him "Best Strategy or Financial Submission".
………………..
Congratulations Geoff. You deserve it!
Speaking of ATW, in the last year or so, they seem to have lifted their game to yet another level. Well done. I spend the thousand dollar subscriptions to the serious aviation trade press each year and read them, yet I get as much out of ATW (and GT) as I do out of the most expensive journals.
Congratulations again to GT for the award.
"What a pity, GT, you cannot talk with Bryan Grey."
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Follow up
Thanks for all the positive comments -appreciated.
With relationship to Bryan Grey we will do our best to source as much of the hard fact as we can and use this forum to gain insights etc etc.
However the orginal Compass prospectus does not make for good reading as many of the profit claims were a stretch.
I think we may find there was fault on all sides.
Best GT
With relationship to Bryan Grey we will do our best to source as much of the hard fact as we can and use this forum to gain insights etc etc.
However the orginal Compass prospectus does not make for good reading as many of the profit claims were a stretch.
I think we may find there was fault on all sides.
Best GT
GT don't go in with pre-conceived ideas:
Compass may have had a naieve business plan but had become so popular that it was seriously hurting Ansett, its CEO later admitting that Ansett was at that time within weeks of collapsing.
The Australian Government (PM close friends with Abeles of Ansett) had for months been in a dispute with Compass re the allaged under-payment of Air Nav Charges (a complex issue not settled for many years after the 'collapse').
Why then would the government wait until of all times December 20th to pull the pin on Compass? This was the peak Christmas travelling time for Aussies and if there had been issues with the financial performance of Compass then Christmas was surely the time for the airline to rake in $ and thus have more chance of repaying the disputed charges?
No, the real reason why they chose Dec 20th was to cause maximum havoc amongst the public in an attempt to make travellers revolt against low-fare carriers (given the success of the Ryanairs, Virgins and Tigers this was an eminently foolish concept Mr BDW).
Who were the 'they'? Seems the contacts listed in previous posts might be worth persuing.
The plan (Operation Sewn-Up) was swiftly executed. Ansett and Australian 727's were already re-commissioned and ready to roll to rescue stranded passengers (simultaneously hoping to improve the image of the incumbent airlines) and the government had already fast-tracked the removal of Compass aircraft to overseas lessors, thereby lessening any chance of resurrection.
This was an ultimately foolish act aimed at propping up the PM's friend the part-owner of Ansett, a financial basket-case which inevitably collapsed some time later.
The fact that such governmental bastadry has gone unquestioned is very sad for a country which prides itself on true democratic and capitalistic processes. Jsut like the QF/APA foolishness 16 years later it seems that the chief playes in these acts of bastardy get away scott-free (and often with big financial bonuses).
Its thuggery masquerading as free-enterprise.
There is little incentive for such stories to be told. Particularly if the 'independent' journalist relies directly or indirectly on some of of those involved in the Compass plot who are still active (or in Peter's case at the periphery of the aviation industry) for their income.
Compass may have had a naieve business plan but had become so popular that it was seriously hurting Ansett, its CEO later admitting that Ansett was at that time within weeks of collapsing.
The Australian Government (PM close friends with Abeles of Ansett) had for months been in a dispute with Compass re the allaged under-payment of Air Nav Charges (a complex issue not settled for many years after the 'collapse').
Why then would the government wait until of all times December 20th to pull the pin on Compass? This was the peak Christmas travelling time for Aussies and if there had been issues with the financial performance of Compass then Christmas was surely the time for the airline to rake in $ and thus have more chance of repaying the disputed charges?
No, the real reason why they chose Dec 20th was to cause maximum havoc amongst the public in an attempt to make travellers revolt against low-fare carriers (given the success of the Ryanairs, Virgins and Tigers this was an eminently foolish concept Mr BDW).
Who were the 'they'? Seems the contacts listed in previous posts might be worth persuing.
The plan (Operation Sewn-Up) was swiftly executed. Ansett and Australian 727's were already re-commissioned and ready to roll to rescue stranded passengers (simultaneously hoping to improve the image of the incumbent airlines) and the government had already fast-tracked the removal of Compass aircraft to overseas lessors, thereby lessening any chance of resurrection.
This was an ultimately foolish act aimed at propping up the PM's friend the part-owner of Ansett, a financial basket-case which inevitably collapsed some time later.
The fact that such governmental bastadry has gone unquestioned is very sad for a country which prides itself on true democratic and capitalistic processes. Jsut like the QF/APA foolishness 16 years later it seems that the chief playes in these acts of bastardy get away scott-free (and often with big financial bonuses).
Its thuggery masquerading as free-enterprise.
There is little incentive for such stories to be told. Particularly if the 'independent' journalist relies directly or indirectly on some of of those involved in the Compass plot who are still active (or in Peter's case at the periphery of the aviation industry) for their income.
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I must say that I was dismayed when I read Geoff's article about the LAME's, as I had previously (I think) read one praising QF's staff for making do with the crap management (GD and co) gave them. I was also surprised, because a jounalist he doesn't seem to copy and paste the company press releases.
Hopefully this was an oversight and next time he will do some more digging rather than trust what a company says. After all there is two sides to every story and the truth is normally somewhere in the middle.
Also perhaps Geoff could hightlight in the press somehow that the LAME's p.i.a was highlighted as a cause to lose money, but all the cargo cartel fines were not (or were they). These have the potential to dwarf overall anything that the LAME's did during the "protected" action.
Overall I'd say he writes more good articles than bad and I try to read what his written. Also alot of respect, no matter what you think of him as he posts under his own name.
Hopefully this was an oversight and next time he will do some more digging rather than trust what a company says. After all there is two sides to every story and the truth is normally somewhere in the middle.
Also perhaps Geoff could hightlight in the press somehow that the LAME's p.i.a was highlighted as a cause to lose money, but all the cargo cartel fines were not (or were they). These have the potential to dwarf overall anything that the LAME's did during the "protected" action.
Overall I'd say he writes more good articles than bad and I try to read what his written. Also alot of respect, no matter what you think of him as he posts under his own name.
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Al E. Vator / Rammel
Not going in with pre-conceived ideas. Am looking forward to the challenge of getting to the borrom of the Compass story -the good the bad and the ugly.
With relationship to copy and pasting extracts from press releases I rarely do this and typically only when there is a good legal reason to do so.
Best GT
With relationship to copy and pasting extracts from press releases I rarely do this and typically only when there is a good legal reason to do so.
Best GT
