Qantas Pilots, You Are Losing The Battle.

[rodchucker]

ALEA Fed Sec,

I think the problem raised related to the Sunrise show particularly where not only was the message missed but also the delivery was an issue. Seemed that it may have been advisable to look at the approach.

No disrespect to the individuals, but this is a tough gig and they are up against the best spin doctors, so maybe matching like with like would be a good start.

You need to bring the fight up to them and bring Joe Public with you. Sadly that just is not happening at the moment. Half the battle in these events is getting the public on side, you have that but are leaving them posted wondering what is going on (in my view) as the Rat spins constantly.

cheers and good luck

[Fatguyinalittlecoat]

Facebook

I'm in my 30's. When my wife and I wake up each morning we don't turn on Sunrise or the Today show or any other news program, we find out what is happening in our lives via Facebook.

The news will come when we turn on the radio, but that is not relevant to this.

I get bombarded with stuff on my Facebook from a Facebook friend about American news, as he is American, some of it interesting, and some not. However it is there with the headline and usually a picture for me to read.

I just had a quick look for AIPA on Facebook. There is a page, but you cannot become a friend, all you can do is "like" it.

Imagine if all of my Facebook friends, and all of their Facebook friends and so on, logged onto Facebook and there was headline "The truth about Qantas pilot wages", or Qantas lies to public about engineers claims. A lot of people might say, Ok I'll have a quick look. Might change a few minds. It would cost virtually nothing, and AIPA could write the stuff themselves. No shoddy journalism. And with the way Facebook works, it would be on everybody's Facebook page that is a "Friend" of the last. It would go Viral in seconds.

Why hasn't this been done?

My point being mostly, people don't watch sunrise. That bloody woman drives me nuts. Get with the times guys. Forget retaliating via TV or print, no one will listen. Social media is the way to go.

Note, it is this site that is changing my post to FacePPrune.

[peuce]

I think it may have been done already, but:

" I still call Australia ... by phone"

[crosscutter]

A few catch phrases:

Qantas: Safety first Qantas Asia: 98% Safe
Qantas Asia: The worlds most inexperienced airline
Qantas Asia: Made in China

Personally I think "Qantasia", whilst a great play...should not be used as it requires some interpretation. For a media campaign it needs to be simple and instantly understood...so I think "Qantas Asia" should be used. My two cents

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by GB

Wrong, Leigh Clifford and Alan Joyce simply do not want mainline pilots in their "future Qantas" even if we worked at GA rates of pay.

Romulus, we are fighting to keep our jobs - all the other crap in the media is simply smokescreen.

GB, your post highlights the issue. You have my argument 180 degrees from where it is. That is the key thing about media, you need to make sure your message is out there in the way you want it.

I agree, you're fighting to keep your jobs. Now tell me why, as a member of the general public, in a way that resonates and gets media traction, I care about that? Sure it matters to *YOU*, equally as I pointed out earlier, that doesn't matter in the media war. You need to convince Joe Public of that. And it's not just because "QF are so good they're the best" because it's pretty obvious that, given the others aren't exactly falling out of the sky on a regular basis, you're not.

And remember to put yourself in Joe Public's shoes. Everyone is under the threat of being outsourced to India/China/wherever. What makes you so special? Why should I care when overpaid flyboys have to face the real world? If you're making $500K a year to have the fun of flying a plane, chasing hosties and travelling the world then suck it up the punters will say.

That's the perception you're fighting, you need to address that in the way that the public will buy into. Heck, even the wharfies got the public on side so why aren't you guys?

Let's be clear - YOU ARE CURRENTLY LOSING THE PUBLIC VOTE.

And that makes your opposition stronger.

And out in public land that smokescreen you refer to is working. You can yell and scream and call it a smokescreen all you like, but you're losing because of it. Either you find some way to blow it back at QF or you'll find that the smokescreen enveloping you is actually mustard gas and you're campaign is dead.

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by fedsec

Thank you Romulus. I knew you would not be seeing our campaign through rose coloured glasses but some of your advice is good. Just a couple of points -

I don't know enough about the pilot situation to really comment except in the general terms that I have, I do care more about the engineering side. In the same way I got to know everyone by name at AAES when I was there I got to know the history hence the comments on SARS and 9/11. There is an opportunity in Aus aviation to streamline QF maintenance but doing it through pay conditions isn't the way to go and if it's done well it brings a lot of stuff back on shore.

Originally Posted by fedsec

Originally Posted by romulus

Um, aren't YOU the ones going on strike and disrupting me?

We haven't yet.

The comment about striking was meant to represent what the average flyer will believe is happening.

Actually, what you did was worse. I changed my travel plans and rescheduled some meetings on the day you intended to strike, no big deal to me, a little inconvenient perhaps but, overall, fair given you gave me plenty of notice.

Then you didn't strike that day and changed it to another day which meant the rescheduled meetings were, you guessed it, rescheduled again. I'm starting to be disrupted in my overall work rather than just shuffling a few things around (which happens anyway) and when I or my admin people talk to other people they all go "Damn engineers and their union". Now you're starting to piss the people I'm working with off, you're pissing the people I'm meeting with off and that starts to piss me off. You're starting to disrupt me as part of your fight with your boss and what can I do about that? You can see where I'm going, you know I have a fair knowledge of your situation, you should know I'm actually reasonably sympathetic in that informed way, but what do you expect the uninformed (and there's no real reason they should be informed) majority to do?

Think of Paul Keating and interest rates. He certainly went way to high but what he did was correct, a massive correction to clean out the crap and make it clear he was serious rather than fiddling about with rates like they do now. Make it clear you will take the action you propose and management will get the message. Denial is a very powerful human emotion, we all do it. QF management will treat you like nurses are treated, they will believe you won't act so much because you care too much about you airline in the way that nurses care about their patients.

If you're going to strike, then announce it and strike. Stick to it. You've warned us, the public, well ahead of time and whilst we think it's dreadful we accommodate. Borghetti loves it and pitches some kind of deal to get business travellers to see Virgin as a real alternative (If I were him I'd go to all the corporate travel arrangers like Carlson Wagonlit and give free upgrades to their top tier corporates on the days you guys are on strike to get them into the new product) and you really, really, slam your management whilst impacting the public the least.

Think about the key message in that last paragraph. Imagine the opportunity for Virgin, the competition (and no, I do not regard Tiger as QF competition in this regard) and what that means to QF management. THAT is your schwerpunkt, your point of maximum attack. QF don't mind a lot of things and will clearly fight you but if the activities seem to help the competition to a significant degree then you are playing a card that makes them crap themselves.

Originally Posted by fedsec

Originally Posted by romulus

Sunfish is right, you guys are fighting the wrong war. Get genuine PR in from the outside.

Not sure about the pilots but we do have a media company that advises and helps us prepare. At the end of the day, our message is delivered by Paul Cousins and I no matter who is assiting or advising us. We have done our media training and just need the 5 key ponits. The AIPA message similarly will be delivered by Barry and Richard. It gives it far more credibility than a spokesmodel.

To be fair the ALAEA does it far better than the pilots are doing it, plus you have the advantage of not beign seen as some rich boys flying club with all the perks of global travel and glam hosties on tap (regardless of what the reality is) . It is critical that you or PC do the talking as a "man of the workers/people" as opposed to an attractive spokesbint who is immediately tagged with "ooh, look, a bimbo". You are the working class guys, getting shafted by greedy management, etc etc etc. You don't *SAY* that, you let people come to that conclusion themselves and it is way more powerful a message then.

Here's a quick "media soundbite". As always, make sure to put real figures in there.

"Engineers 3%, that's 2c per ticket, after we sought no payrise when times really were tough (SARS, 9/11), CEO 37% plus millions in options and what did that role take in the years of SARS and 2001? How does that make sense? Who is the greedy party here. And by the way, if we do go on strike we'll give plenty of notice so the only real inconvenience is to QF management. Business travellers might like to see if John Borghetti at Virgin will give them a free upgrade to trial his business class product..."

I don't care about safety as a front of mind thought, it's what's called a hygeine factor, I just assume it's there. Sure, I don't fly some third world airlines because I perceive they are too dodgy but in your category pick any of them, even Air France with their current issue, and I don't think the average punter will ever say they are unsafe. Focus on what makes a difference to me to win the publicity war, focus on what strikes fear into AJ and win that war. I've flown Virgin's new class and if AJ doesn't crap himself when others do as well then he's really, REALLY in trouble. They were good, very good. But it takes people to experience that to believe Virgin is not some lower status airline than QF because of their semi LCC legacy. That's a lever to get Joyce jumping to your tune.

How they respond to that will be interesting.

[ALAEA Fed Sec]

Very good advice again thanks.

[prairiegirl]

Fatguy is right!

i hope they have a couple of young guys like you on the EC at AIPA!

Pprune has lots to loose if Facepprune catches on with the older set, as do lots of industry specific sites.... cracks me up but it's so bloody spot on.

[gordonfvckingramsay]

"Hungry Beast" this Wednesday 2130 ABC1 (check your local guides), it looks like they are having a go at QF/Jet Connect regarding the off shoring issue. It may be a fairly low brow, satirical TV show, but it has a public audience none the less.

[assasin8]

The link to this article was posted under another thread, but I thought it should also appear here, as it goes to the public arena...
The real Qantas kamikaze - to be sure to be sure | Daily Telegraph Miranda Devine Blog

Good to see some balance...

[Qantas_PIA]

Follow it on twitterpprune... qantas_pia

[diablo_caliente]

ACME pilots-Just add water!

[Fatguyinalittlecoat]

Twitter

While I'm pleased that AIPA has used it, Twitter is not the same. For twitter to work, you need people to care enough to subscribe. With Facebook, you just have to be Friends and it is sent to everyone.

The thing is people really don't care. You need to make them aware of what is going on. Nobody is going to go and seek out the information because, as I say, they don't care.

Facebook.

Again Note: PPrune in this post is a twit program.

[packrat]

Q and A on the ABC

Get yourselves and Queen Mother Muppet on this programme.The run off to the print media will be enormous

[Mr. Hat]

Qantasia viewing:

[YOUTUBE]

YouTube - ‪Air Crash Investigations: Flight 574: Lost‬‏

[Sunfish]

What Romulus said. You need the unique selling proposition = why should I care?

[Popgun]

WIIFM

Exactly. The key to any successful PR campaign is figuring out the "Whats In It For Me".

Public relations 1.01

Its very sad to watch QF pilots losing this battle...

Its been said so many times...FFS AIPA, hire a heavy-hitting top flight PR consultancy to fight the QF management spin. (Yes it will cost serious coin)

PG

[Romulus]

Look what you're starting to come up against

What good PR can do for you

Now, your first reaction is what has that got to do with pilots and engineers?

If you're reading what's in this thread then you should be getting worried because this is redefining Australian air travel. It looks slick, it looks enticing, it looks professional. Hate to say it because they are classics and beautiful in themselves but school kids in a choir and the nostalgia trip makes you QF guys look old and very, very tired.

So what does it mean for you?

This is what good PR can do for you, that ad is brilliant in conveying a the message they want to convey. It is anything but the ad you'd expect from a LCC. They are reinventing, they are going large and they have put something out there that is fricking smooth as. Pilots and Engineers need this sort of thinking on their side to beat the tired QF mindset. Reinvent the game and win.

[TIMA9X]

look what happened to this bloke.

Hi assasin8,

Good to see some balance

Yes, not just balance, I think Miranda
hit the nail on the head with

Qantas’ current industrial strife is a worry to fans of the national carrier. Why is a newly arrived Irish CEO with an incomprehensible accent attacking the pilots, of all people, and calling them “rogues” and “kamikazes”.
Clearly Alan Joyce, 44, doesn’t understand Australians’ attachment to Qantas.

The real Qantas kamikaze - to be sure to be sure | Daily Telegraph Miranda Devine Blog

I believe many Australians would like what Miranda wrote as well, they don't like CEOs destroying a national icon. Unlike the 89 horror story, I believe the public are tired of outsiders bulldozing with spin in the media, which is probably perceived as opportunistic (lining their own pockets for short term gain, then out of here.) The punters can see through it this time.

Look what happened to this bloke after what he did as CEO of another large Australian company.


Telstra (ASX:TLS) in Turmoil as CEO David Thodey Takes Charge

Thodey is still trying to pick up the pieces after Trujillo left the company, but it is time he sets things in place and moves forward, as the uncertainty has gone on as long as it can without meaningful change made to set the company on a firmer foundation.

AJ looks like he will go the same way, his image is all wrong.

[maggotdriver]

We've had the flying kangaroo, the boxing kangaroo but Mr Joyce, the Asian kangaroo?