The Qantas dilemma: still your national carrier?
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......agree CE.
Whatever happened to the 90's management buzz word-EMPOWERMENT.
I still remember Greg Bee banging on about this in between his "revelation"-Pan Am diagram.
I'm not going to go into my usual tirade against CC management( if you're interested ....its in my past rants). As CE said -IF at least 40% of punters have written into this blog. Thats still heaps who have bothered to do it ! There is a massive amount of frustration coming through, In fact I really think they want to like Qantas-but can't bring themselves to do it because they've had it beaten out of them by poor service ( I'll include CC in the mix there !), delayed flights, abysmal IFE, crap (Perry) food and a bothched fleet renewal program (777
)
Where to from here?
Hell, its not going to be easy. Just walking around the Q Buildings precinct yesterday.....with staff eyes looking down-no eye contact, no smiling-just get out of my way !
Qantas staff need to feel good about themselves and proud to work for the Aussie airline again.
Its going to take a great deal of Leadership, Trust and confidence building.
The Dixon era has left massive scars right through this once proud airline. The best thing now is that he is GONE.
We are better than the Asian /Arab airlines..........but please can management get out of their offices and away from their KPI spreadsheets-walk the talk, get out on board or in the operation and finally STOP with the constant berating, beatings and negativity.
Then......we may be able to get the Rat back to a place where we can be proud to talk about it .
Whatever happened to the 90's management buzz word-EMPOWERMENT.
I still remember Greg Bee banging on about this in between his "revelation"-Pan Am diagram.
I'm not going to go into my usual tirade against CC management( if you're interested ....its in my past rants). As CE said -IF at least 40% of punters have written into this blog. Thats still heaps who have bothered to do it ! There is a massive amount of frustration coming through, In fact I really think they want to like Qantas-but can't bring themselves to do it because they've had it beaten out of them by poor service ( I'll include CC in the mix there !), delayed flights, abysmal IFE, crap (Perry) food and a bothched fleet renewal program (777
)Where to from here?
Hell, its not going to be easy. Just walking around the Q Buildings precinct yesterday.....with staff eyes looking down-no eye contact, no smiling-just get out of my way !
Qantas staff need to feel good about themselves and proud to work for the Aussie airline again.
Its going to take a great deal of Leadership, Trust and confidence building.
The Dixon era has left massive scars right through this once proud airline. The best thing now is that he is GONE.
We are better than the Asian /Arab airlines..........but please can management get out of their offices and away from their KPI spreadsheets-walk the talk, get out on board or in the operation and finally STOP with the constant berating, beatings and negativity.
Then......we may be able to get the Rat back to a place where we can be proud to talk about it .
And fairness-why do tech crew get first class travel and not cabin crew
Is it important to you? Then take it to the FAAA along with the benefit you wish to trade in your next EBA negotiation.
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Acutally, staff travel is a discretionary benefit, excluding duty travel - it rarely is included in EBAs.
One thing you may not know:
The executives (read basically any person who holds the term 'Manager' 'Head Of' or 'Executive') yeah, around about a few thousand of them, did not get any bonuses this last financial year gone. What they did get, however, is a new staff travel category that will now trounce any non-executive on staff travel (including Captains - even on a long-service or high priority trip). Not considered 'remmuneration', so no need to report it .... after all it is just a 'discretionary benefit'
Bout time everyone on staff travel could upgrade to any class, based solely on years of service, not position tiltle. It should be a benefit for those who dedicate years to the airline, not a benefit that gives managers (who have been there for a few months) ability to grab a seat before those who have been there for years.
Just another example of our 'transient' management featherering their nest:
Can't get a bonus? Let's make ourselves superior forever on staff travel instead
One thing you may not know:
The executives (read basically any person who holds the term 'Manager' 'Head Of' or 'Executive') yeah, around about a few thousand of them, did not get any bonuses this last financial year gone. What they did get, however, is a new staff travel category that will now trounce any non-executive on staff travel (including Captains - even on a long-service or high priority trip). Not considered 'remmuneration', so no need to report it .... after all it is just a 'discretionary benefit'
Bout time everyone on staff travel could upgrade to any class, based solely on years of service, not position tiltle. It should be a benefit for those who dedicate years to the airline, not a benefit that gives managers (who have been there for a few months) ability to grab a seat before those who have been there for years.
Just another example of our 'transient' management featherering their nest:
Can't get a bonus? Let's make ourselves superior forever on staff travel instead
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Award conditions aside, in many industries or companies it would not be unusual for the senior manager (frequently of 15-20 years' standing) in charge of a business unit containing assets worth several hundred million $$, having up to 20 direct reports and responsible for revenue and expenditure worth several hundred thousand $$ per day, to travel first-class on a work trip.
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Meanwhile, whilst you lot are discussing such mundane things as who gets to sit where, great things are happening up at the village in Brisbane.
I agree with the sentiment that Geoff Dixon has screwed QANTAS, and his successor Alan Joyce has a lot of work to do, but he doesn't have much time to repair the damage.
Expect an announcement from the village soon.
Watch this space..........
I agree with the sentiment that Geoff Dixon has screwed QANTAS, and his successor Alan Joyce has a lot of work to do, but he doesn't have much time to repair the damage.
Expect an announcement from the village soon.
Watch this space..........
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QF ceased to be the national carrier a long time ago, at least since the 1980's when the Federal Government removed its legislative monopoly protection as an Australian international carrier and hence it's domestic stranglehold on international air travel. The other change that occurred which everyone has lost sight of, has been the steady whittling away of the protection QF enjoyed from overseas carriers via the restriction access to international routes vis a vis overseas carriers. The Department of Transport has for years being increasing competitive pressure on QF on virtually all routes into and out of Australia by having to license more and more carriers to keep Australian access to overseas destinations. It is Catch 22 and the old QF or the more recent variant was never in a competitive situation vis a vis lean and mean carriers operating out of Asia and elsewhere. The rise and rapid growth of new international carriers such as Emirates who are able to gain entrance to the Australian market via new routes such as Oz-Arab Emirates, merely sealed the fate of QF. And in case you had not noticed the explosion in the corporate, bizjet world creamed off the high wealth customers everywhere and from everyone including QF. Don't see many CEO's of major global corps or their ilk travelling first or business class on a major airline do you?
You may not have liked Geoff Dixon's methods or him but his understanding of how the game had changed around the world and what this meant for QF was spot on. Want some parrallels - look at the state of every other legacy carrier in any country you like to name, they are all up the creek dependent on bail outs and mergers etc to continue to even trade, most of them are insolvent and have been for a long time. Who would have thought that the once virtually unassailable and proud JAL would be now looking for a merger partner outside of Japan?
Better get used to it guys, the world has changed, the QF we all knew is now part of history and if you want to savour that history then go to Longreach where it is all now being parked. This is not to condone the events, it is a very sobering state of affairs to realise that in embracing globalisation and that includes air travel we sold off the family silver then the farm. You can argue over minutae such as the quality or otherwise of the cabin service, etc., but the fatal blow caused by Dixon unwittingly was to begin to trash the people who made up QF and in the process trashed the brand loyalty in the process, you can't expect to make your staff's life a misery and then expect them not to transfer some of that angst to the customers, which they did in spades with predictable results.
And last but not least Jetstar is the future not QF because Jetstar like the Virgin is targeted at the real market for air travel, younger people, the less flush with cash and the time rich but penny poor. The dress differently , they colour the aeroplanes differently, the ticket and book differently and they do it in a way the technosavy younger generations understand and adapt to. Gen Y has no loyalty and no expectations exactly the sort of customer your mass marketer wants, you can dish out any crap, change the format and they will keep buying it as long as it is cheap.
As for the Big Ret Rat on International? Well to my knowledge no scheduled premier class start up has survived and prospered anywhere, so QF International will continue to diminish as it bleeds its business and first class customers to other carriers and to the corporate jet world. My guess is in about five years they will be lucky to have 15% of the international market especially once the Chinese really get going! If it was my business then I would damn well want Jetstar to prosper and hold onto the business being bled from QF by similarly modelled carriers.
You may not have liked Geoff Dixon's methods or him but his understanding of how the game had changed around the world and what this meant for QF was spot on. Want some parrallels - look at the state of every other legacy carrier in any country you like to name, they are all up the creek dependent on bail outs and mergers etc to continue to even trade, most of them are insolvent and have been for a long time. Who would have thought that the once virtually unassailable and proud JAL would be now looking for a merger partner outside of Japan?
Better get used to it guys, the world has changed, the QF we all knew is now part of history and if you want to savour that history then go to Longreach where it is all now being parked. This is not to condone the events, it is a very sobering state of affairs to realise that in embracing globalisation and that includes air travel we sold off the family silver then the farm. You can argue over minutae such as the quality or otherwise of the cabin service, etc., but the fatal blow caused by Dixon unwittingly was to begin to trash the people who made up QF and in the process trashed the brand loyalty in the process, you can't expect to make your staff's life a misery and then expect them not to transfer some of that angst to the customers, which they did in spades with predictable results.
And last but not least Jetstar is the future not QF because Jetstar like the Virgin is targeted at the real market for air travel, younger people, the less flush with cash and the time rich but penny poor. The dress differently , they colour the aeroplanes differently, the ticket and book differently and they do it in a way the technosavy younger generations understand and adapt to. Gen Y has no loyalty and no expectations exactly the sort of customer your mass marketer wants, you can dish out any crap, change the format and they will keep buying it as long as it is cheap.
As for the Big Ret Rat on International? Well to my knowledge no scheduled premier class start up has survived and prospered anywhere, so QF International will continue to diminish as it bleeds its business and first class customers to other carriers and to the corporate jet world. My guess is in about five years they will be lucky to have 15% of the international market especially once the Chinese really get going! If it was my business then I would damn well want Jetstar to prosper and hold onto the business being bled from QF by similarly modelled carriers.
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...'some very astute observations grip-pipe.
Don't agree with all of it.....but your assessment is well put.
You mentioned China. I ( initially- reluctantly ) flew with Air China to PEK last month. I wanted a direct flight + Shanghai is now a terminator for QF.
I was very very impressed with Air China. Brand new kit-A330-200's. An Aussie pilot in the left hand seat on both sectors. Service-friendly and efficient, ontime, everything worked! Mix of punters onboard all appeared happy.
I chatted to the CSM equivalent in the galley-he said that Air China are working to the goal of being the #1 WORLD airline by 2017.
Gulp!
Don't agree with all of it.....but your assessment is well put.
You mentioned China. I ( initially- reluctantly ) flew with Air China to PEK last month. I wanted a direct flight + Shanghai is now a terminator for QF.
I was very very impressed with Air China. Brand new kit-A330-200's. An Aussie pilot in the left hand seat on both sectors. Service-friendly and efficient, ontime, everything worked! Mix of punters onboard all appeared happy.
I chatted to the CSM equivalent in the galley-he said that Air China are working to the goal of being the #1 WORLD airline by 2017.
Gulp!
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Grip-pipe you've got it wrong
Grip-pipe in all respect mate I completely disagree with you. Those that live with/work with/are young Australians will attest that generation Y possess two chief characteristics; firstly young Australians are very patriotic and proud to be Australian, more so than those of yesteryear. Secondly, they rely upon status symbols/quality products to define themselves and are happy to pay for it (think of the iPhone). Because of such, Qantas should appeal to this generation as it a national icon and supposedly offers a quality product. However, Qantas mainline currently marginalises this market in its marketings and are therefore limiting its appeal. Should Qantas capitalise upon the “Australianess” of the brand, improve its hard product and embrace the younger market in its advertising campaigns it would be in a much healthier position.
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Grip pipe
his understanding of how the game had changed around the world and what this meant for QF was spot on
And last but not least Jetstar is the future not QF because Jetstar like the Virgin is targeted at the real market for air travel, younger people, the less flush with cash and the time rich but penny poor
The real issue is here
so QF International will continue to diminish as it bleeds its business and first class customers to other carriers
I have constantly questioned why the airline is moving toward lowering it's yield. Read the annual report. That is, ultimately, the only place the "Jetstar strategy", Dixons brilliant legacy, can take you.
Spot on Ferris. GD will go down in QFs history as the greatest failure of a CEO we have ever had. The cost will be felt for many years and possibly we will never recover. The brand has been trashed well and truly and if Clifford thinks " by any measure Geoff did a great job" so we will give him $12mill then the problems are not going to be easily fixed and certainly not from board level.
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I am twenty something Australian and I can tell you I don’t like Qantas one bit. It may have been an Australian Icon in the past, but really is it anymore? The biggest joke I find is that at one point Virgin Blue actually had a higher Australian ownership rate than this supposed icon – so if I was really being patriotic I would have been flying Virgin (haven’t seen recent figures relating to Australian ownership).
If older people could get over the fact the Richard Branson own part of Virgin Blue, they might actually see that it is a majority Australian owned airline. I prefer to fly Virgin (and even Tiger) as I find they treat me well as a valued customer. Whenever I fly Qantas I always feel like that I should feel privileged to be there and that I’m just something the staff has to put up with.
You also claim that we rely upon status symbols/quality products to define ourselves – I don’t actually have an iPhone but I would like one. I actually want it for the fact it is a functionable piece of technology not just as a fashion piece. It may surprise you but I’m sure if this product didn’t work, people wouldn’t buy it. For Qantas to be able to sell itself under this guise they would actually have to offer a “quality” product. I have never flown Qantas internationally and I NEVER will (even though supposedly the A380 service is brilliant), because the offering on their DOMESTIC service is so poor I would never want to put up with that on a long-haul flight.
Also in my view Qantas should not try to capitalise upon the “Australianess” of its brand anymore than it already does (I’m not actually sure how they could try and do it anymore than they do). I actually think the fact it markets itself as so Australian is one of its biggest downfalls. The reason why everyone is so quick to bag Qantas is because it markets itself as so Australian. Virgin has its major maintenance done overseas as well, but no one ever talks about that – why? Because Virgin doesn’t bang on itself being the Sprit of Australia and other such nonsense.
If older people could get over the fact the Richard Branson own part of Virgin Blue, they might actually see that it is a majority Australian owned airline. I prefer to fly Virgin (and even Tiger) as I find they treat me well as a valued customer. Whenever I fly Qantas I always feel like that I should feel privileged to be there and that I’m just something the staff has to put up with.
You also claim that we rely upon status symbols/quality products to define ourselves – I don’t actually have an iPhone but I would like one. I actually want it for the fact it is a functionable piece of technology not just as a fashion piece. It may surprise you but I’m sure if this product didn’t work, people wouldn’t buy it. For Qantas to be able to sell itself under this guise they would actually have to offer a “quality” product. I have never flown Qantas internationally and I NEVER will (even though supposedly the A380 service is brilliant), because the offering on their DOMESTIC service is so poor I would never want to put up with that on a long-haul flight.
Also in my view Qantas should not try to capitalise upon the “Australianess” of its brand anymore than it already does (I’m not actually sure how they could try and do it anymore than they do). I actually think the fact it markets itself as so Australian is one of its biggest downfalls. The reason why everyone is so quick to bag Qantas is because it markets itself as so Australian. Virgin has its major maintenance done overseas as well, but no one ever talks about that – why? Because Virgin doesn’t bang on itself being the Sprit of Australia and other such nonsense.
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When comparing the brands you have to remember that Virgin is not specific to either aviation OR Australia, whereas Qantas will only ever be associated with Australia and with aviation.
From an international perspective the two brands are very different. Living in Ireland, to me Virgin was either £99 seats to EWR or the short-lived LCC based in SNN. Qantas was the airline you flew when you wanted to go to Australia - you associated Qantas with Australia.
Virgin Blue may be largely Australian owned but the Virgin brand sure isn't.
From an international perspective the two brands are very different. Living in Ireland, to me Virgin was either £99 seats to EWR or the short-lived LCC based in SNN. Qantas was the airline you flew when you wanted to go to Australia - you associated Qantas with Australia.
Virgin Blue may be largely Australian owned but the Virgin brand sure isn't.
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From casualobserver:
I have never flown Qantas internationally and I NEVER will (even though supposedly the A380 service is brilliant), because the offering on their DOMESTIC service is so poor I would never want to put up with that on a long-haul flight
"Qantas' domestic offering is so poor" ,compared to who??? Virgin? JetStar?, Tiger?. Ever travelled domestically in America?
" I would never put up with that on a long-haul flight", well there is a difference between long-haul and short-haul ,believe it or not!
This concept is not unique for Qantas either.
Casualobserver, you obviously must be a well seasoned traveller to come up with those observations!
I have never flown Qantas internationally and I NEVER will (even though supposedly the A380 service is brilliant), because the offering on their DOMESTIC service is so poor I would never want to put up with that on a long-haul flight
"Qantas' domestic offering is so poor" ,compared to who??? Virgin? JetStar?, Tiger?. Ever travelled domestically in America?
" I would never put up with that on a long-haul flight", well there is a difference between long-haul and short-haul ,believe it or not!
This concept is not unique for Qantas either.
Casualobserver, you obviously must be a well seasoned traveller to come up with those observations!
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When listening to p.a. announcements from the flight deck, I get a tremendous sense of security hearing an Australian voice. I also prefer laid-back Australian service, rather than the formal service that comes from other cultures. Why? Because I'm Australian and that should be Qantas' biggest selling point to someone like me.
I fly annually between Europe and Australia, so not frequently, and while I like flying, I don't like the 24 hour Europe-Australia flight in Y class. In this situation the type of seat, the condition of the cabin, the attitude and attentivenes of the cabin crew and the standard of food outweigh the nationality of the crew.
In the last few years my partner and I have flown long-haul on Air France, Austrian, Cathay, B.A., Qantas, JAL, Malaysia, Emirates and Ethiad.
Of these, Qantas stands out as the worst experience and cost the most dollars - I pay for my own tickets. The flights left late because of tech problems, the cabins were the shabbiest, the Australian staff were disengaged, the IFE systems were the least reliable and had the smallest program choice - no individual screens on one flight from Melbourne to Tokyo - and the quality of the food was worst. I'm not fussy and I don't expect great things from Y class food, but the last Qantas meal I had was so bad it went uneaten.
I'd rather support the "national carrier" ahead of the other carriers I've tried by why would I when the others' product is better and costs less?
I fly annually between Europe and Australia, so not frequently, and while I like flying, I don't like the 24 hour Europe-Australia flight in Y class. In this situation the type of seat, the condition of the cabin, the attitude and attentivenes of the cabin crew and the standard of food outweigh the nationality of the crew.
In the last few years my partner and I have flown long-haul on Air France, Austrian, Cathay, B.A., Qantas, JAL, Malaysia, Emirates and Ethiad.
Of these, Qantas stands out as the worst experience and cost the most dollars - I pay for my own tickets. The flights left late because of tech problems, the cabins were the shabbiest, the Australian staff were disengaged, the IFE systems were the least reliable and had the smallest program choice - no individual screens on one flight from Melbourne to Tokyo - and the quality of the food was worst. I'm not fussy and I don't expect great things from Y class food, but the last Qantas meal I had was so bad it went uneaten.
I'd rather support the "national carrier" ahead of the other carriers I've tried by why would I when the others' product is better and costs less?
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"...you only have to step on board a flight from x to y on UA or AA and realize how impressive the Qantas domestic offering is."
Which is to say how much QF use perceived value to mask high operating costs. American carriers serve as a useful indicator of where QF domestic service is heading.
Of course, the coming real collapse will render all these arguments as irrelevant.
Joyce's Armageddon warning
Which is to say how much QF use perceived value to mask high operating costs. American carriers serve as a useful indicator of where QF domestic service is heading.
Of course, the coming real collapse will render all these arguments as irrelevant.
Joyce's Armageddon warning
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I might be the odd one out, but I'm one Australian who doesn't have an issue with US domestic airline services. I travel on them regularly and they really are a bus service (Jetstar?), but that's all they need to be They get passengers from point A to point B mostly on time and safely and passengers deal with them as commuter transport. When there's only one or two domestic flights a day from A to B, passengers have different expectations, but when there's 50 flights on 4 or 5 airlines and the flight time is only an hour or three, US passengers don't have much expectation for inflight or terminal services. Southwest Airlines has a very simple check-in process and acceptable flight services, makes a profit and continues to set the benchmark for domestic airline operations.
International flights of several hours duration are different. Passengers have different expectations. The degradation of Qantas international service was disappointing. There were cost savings to be achieved. Dixon went way too far and tried to make Y class into a cattle truck by applying the Jetstar model across the board. He and the board dug the hole and Joyce is trying to scramble back out before the hole gets deeper. It's good to see. Dixon wasn't going to stop until he ran out of dirt (or labor). I have confidence that Joyce is at least looking to make the company sustainable again.
IMHO, the biggest advantages Qantas international held was service, reputation, reliability, codeshare and route protection. The first three were pummelled under Dixon. The last two are being whittled away fast by competitors.
International flights of several hours duration are different. Passengers have different expectations. The degradation of Qantas international service was disappointing. There were cost savings to be achieved. Dixon went way too far and tried to make Y class into a cattle truck by applying the Jetstar model across the board. He and the board dug the hole and Joyce is trying to scramble back out before the hole gets deeper. It's good to see. Dixon wasn't going to stop until he ran out of dirt (or labor). I have confidence that Joyce is at least looking to make the company sustainable again.
IMHO, the biggest advantages Qantas international held was service, reputation, reliability, codeshare and route protection. The first three were pummelled under Dixon. The last two are being whittled away fast by competitors.
Last edited by Lodown; 10th Dec 2009 at 18:56.