Qantas Pilots, You Are Losing The Battle.

[mrdeux]

Bit like the A330-300 being the "long range one".....

[DEFCON4]

Burrito's Post Makes Me Weep

Breakfast burrito has beautifully highlighted the shortcomings of Qantas Management.They have absolutely no technical expertise and understanding.Yet they are paid a fortune to make complex technical decisions unassisted.They are also not accountable.They have adopted the "divine right to manage mantra" which precludes input from expert employees.I doubt that there is an MBA or tertiary achievement/qualification any where in senior management.It has been suggested that Qantas has the most poorly educated executive of any Australian corporation.Dixon was a dimwit and surrounded himself with dimmer wits.We are paying the penalty.
Surely the large institutional investors are not pleased.The share price has tanked and no dividend has been forthcoming for three years.Time for an extraordinary shareholder meeting which would hopefully result in a no confidence motion not only in Joyce but also the board and Clifford(who also happens to be an advisor for KKR~ a private equity fund)
The girl who is the Executive Manager of Cabin Services is an ex Virgin Hostie with no qualifications apart from ambition and anger

[QAN_Shareholder]

breakfastburrito,

Senior management could not get their heads around the fact that there was essentially a FIXED fuel burn for an empty aircraft, and then a small additional fuel burn per full seat. Management assumed fuel burn was essentially a linear function. In other words if QF had a 650 seat config the fuel burn would indeed be 30% less than the -400, but not in a 450 seat config. This remember is many months after the introduction of the aircraft.

Apologies for my skepticism but it sounds like an urban myth to me, but if you're convinced it's true I'd like to know who the 'senior management' were, any chance you can PM me?

[jibba_jabba]

they are being directed to do all this.

All I can add to this issue is that Qantas is following tactics being laid out for them by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG made all the arrangements to get Jetstar up and running and they are very good at restructuring and lowering T&C's as we all know.

So beware those involved that this just may be a tactic given to them to push people over the edge and trigger reactions.
If PIA is done in regards to crew etc I have it on good authority that Qantas will not give in on this 'strike' of sorts. So I can only assume that they have tricks up their sleeves (contracted pilots from o/s??).

Your only bet is to have massive support on whatever action you take.

good luck.

[breakfastburrito]

Apologies for my skepticism but it sounds like an urban myth to me,

QAN_shareholder, I wish it were. Perhaps we could get some comparisons of burn /pax load / overall wind from A380/744/777 pilots across the Pacific in an attempt answer the question.

['holic]

In 2005 the $A bought about 42 pence today it is 65 pence. So all else being equal a Qantas pilot would be getting 55% more in GBP, this undoubtedly has closed a lot of the gap to BA pilots.

Ok, before we get bogged down in historical currency exchange rates I don't believe it's really relevant. Qantas employees don't compete globally. peuce said it best :

I don't know what line you're in, but if a person in Singapore, doing the same job as you, gets paid less than you, will you automatically take a pay cut?

You'll never hear Qantas employees making an EBA claim for a payrise because Cathay employees earn more.

Executives, however, do compete globally. A few years ago when the $A dollar was 60c, CEOs were justifying their exorbitant salaries by saying they had to attract the best candidates from a global pool. The only trouble is when the exchange rate went up, the salaries didn't come down. So I think in their case, it's absolutely relevant to compare salaries with comparable foreign businesses.

As for seniority, I'm not convinced it is a great system for either employer or employee, danger is that you end up with disenchanted employees that want to leave but can't afford to.

Or if managed correctly, loyal employees who are willing to give 110% to see the company succeed because they have a long term vested interest in making this happen. Let me just point out that nobody joins Qantas pissed off and disengaged. It takes a special kind of management and at least a decade or two to wear them down to this state.

[rodchucker]

Do you really think that the Rat is game enough to use strike breakers? Sure they can plan but the ramifications for the Company would be huge.

Now lets all hope the rumoured friday meeting of investment funds happened and is working.

I live in hope.

[nitpicker330]

May I say good luck to the QF boys and girls, don't let AJ get away with this BS.

Also, has anyone seen the Jetcon 738 ( ZK-ZQF ) flying around with the titles "THE JOURNEY HAS STARTED" on the side?

Seems rather apt don't you think!!

Although one could argue the Journey started after 1989 and has been downhill ever since.

Time to reverse the trend.

[psycho joe]

Do you really think that the Rat is game enough to use strike breakers?

Absolutely. A major strike would make AJ appear impotent, petty and dominated.

My guess is that one man’s difficult childhood has manifested itself into insecurity, self loathing and a deep resentment toward a group, predominantly made up of men, whom he perceives as Alpha males. He desperately wants to assert his dominance, by the most public display of prowess. In his mind he's going to be perceived by the public and his workforce as a tough and fearless leader, a power to be reckoned with, as the news crew capture him working tirelessly behind check in desks. He'll be thinking that he's finally become the Alpha male that he always wanted to be.

Pity the delusional fool; He hates himself more than he hates you.

[Sunfish]

Clifford thinks he can treat you like miners - bulldozer drivers, etc. Just a bit of biffo and you will give in, then we all go and drink at the pub and be good mates until the next time.

[kellykelpie]

You're such a stirrer Sunfish. Are you trying to wind everyone up? I don't think miners are doing so badly, do you? Perhaps you're considerable knowledge on how managers think could be put to better use...

[fishers.ghost]

Kelly You Have Misunderstood Sunfish

You will find that Sunfish was referring to Clifford's days at Rio Tinto where he "broke' the unions.
Clifford is little more than an egomaniacal corporate thug.Another narcissist to stir the pot at Qantas

[teresa green]

As a 89er I cannot believe some of these posts. Firstly ALAEA FED SEC, Limos? Us? Mate we were lucky to get a taxi and then only if the crew bus broke down, limos are for rock stars mate, not line pilots. (Not in TAA anyway). Secondly who was the goose that put in that staff travel crap? In my long career I have seen Sky Gods DEMAND a seat on a aircraft that is chockers, to the discomfort to the ground staff and the FSD/CSM or what ever you call them these days. Pull your head in, if the freckin thing is full, tough, get the next one, like the rest of us. Thirdly, I would like to take you down the path to 89 and let you know what it is like. The company, the govt, who will support them, yes, even a left wing bunch of idiots that we have running the country now, they will bat for management not you. Thirdly, as much as I cannot imagine them recruiting pilots from OS who are current on type, we thought the same. There are plenty of pilots who would love to come to OZ from South Africa, USA and the sandpit. Also from Europe. Don't doubt it. Yes, less money (perhaps) but the life style for them and their families appeal. So softly, softly, catchee monkey boys, just remember that, from one that had his life turned upside down and how. You need a professional PR person, for a start, You need to get the journos on side, (get rid of the idiot with staff travel fetishes) and proceed slowly and with caution, we, the 89ers, would HATE to see it happen again, we dont want any of you placed in our situation EVER again.

[Ultergra]

I welcome strike breakers.

I seem to recall some clown climbing up the harbour bridge and that caused heavy traffic delays. Then I recall someone dumping a whole heap of soil on the same bridge... again traffic couldn't get past...


How many roads lead into Sydney airport again?

[Slasher]

we, the 89ers, would HATE to see it happen again, we
dont want any of you placed in our situation EVER again

Speak for yerself Theresa. History will be repeated and theres
no sense in beating your head against a brick wall. Its gonna
happen AGAIN, except this time WE have the safety of a nice
grandstand seat overseas. The methods by QF management
will be different, but the psychological warfare will be exactly
the same as it was with the fat turd and his bow-tie lackey.

Be a shame when the White Rat goes down the gurgler but that's modern Oz for ya.

You need to get the journos on side,

You mean a silly thick-headed bloody AUSTRALIAN journo?
Won't happen! What's needed is to get the media moguls
on side (as I mentioned in a thread somewhere else News
Corp I don't think has any financial interest stakes in QF,
so it might be possible).

BTW I'd steer clear of the ABC - they were a miserable
bunch of ALP-sycophant ratbags then and they still are.

[Hugh Gorgen]

I wonder how many "strike breakers" around the world have an A380 rating. Not many I suspect.
Qantas will not want "its jewel in the crown" not flying and I suspect it will be hard to find qualified crews that CASA will approve.

That said, I think AIPA and QF pilots are a long way off striking.

[Keg]

I'd be very surprised if 'strike' was even included on a PIA ballot. Stop work though? Won't at all be surprised to see that but even then would suspect there are a number of things that crew will do prior to us getting to the point of actually having a stop work.

[teresa green]

Hope your right Hugh Gorgon, but then we never considered they would do what they did. As far as the A380 is concerned, do you think CASA would not back french pilots? Hardly likely. Never say never mate.

[SkyScanner]

breakfastburrito ask and you shall receive(it's not the pacific but similar distance)

CX HKG LHR. Same day. 744 vs 773. Same route (B330) and time ( I asked the planners for a comparison). Almost identical pax loads. In other words apples v apples

773 trip fuel 100.6 Ton
744 trip fuel 133.8 Ton

If you did a 380 run it would be around 150-160 ton.

QAN_SHAREHOLDER if you run the numbers on pilot costs, you will find Qantas pilots sit right in the middle (I have done a CX, SQ, BA, VA, QF, EY, EK, QR, SAA comparison based on both current and a floating average). Whilst the exchange rates have moved, it does not affect the rankings as much as you are suggesting and CX are still the highest paid pilots in the region. In fact their contract has a built in fixed exchange rate of just over 6.1 HKD/AUD.

As for CEO costs, AJ is miles in front of pretty much every other major competitor we face.

[breakfastburrito]

Thanks Skyscanner, appreciate the effort.

There you have it, at $100 US per barrel
158.987 litres per barrel = $0.629 per litre, divided by av SG 0.79 = $0.796 per Kg
=$796 per tonne

Total fuel burn for the sector:
777 $80,078,
744 -$106,505
=$26,427 per sector additional fuel burn to carry ~same pax load on the 744.

Tech crew costs are a piss in the ocean compared to the additional fuel burn of the 744. This is why QF is uncompetitive, the equipment, not the tech crew.

More data burn/pax load would be appreciated.