Letter to Geoffrey Thomas (Aviation expert)
Steve, you are a credit to your Profession and we (Engineers and Pilots) are lucky to have you taking the time to detail the issues so coherently.
I for one am VERY interested in the matters you highlight.
Over to you Mr GT....
I for one am VERY interested in the matters you highlight.
Over to you Mr GT....
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I'm just saying what I am sure a lot of us are thinking. I'm fortunate enough to have been elected to a position that provides my family an income and me time in an office to gather the info and put it out there.
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good reply Steve - well done.
Rule 1 is check the facts and verify.
Rule 2 is offer a balanced argument and.,
Rule 3 is don't just accept what a govt/company/PR hack says or writes.
(Rule 4 is don't let ego hosts run the segment)
GT - you do need to justify why you did not check the claims. - Perhaps deadline pressures?? / lost laptop and phone?? / - at the very least offer an explanation or retract the statements and then let's put the shabby segment behind and move on.
The test for GT will be how he performs on the next one! - so here's a tip - Don't take the outputs of Olivia's three ring circus for anything but uniformed spin unless they are tested and verified.
Ring Purvinas or Jackson or even just get a Pprune name and ask here.
There is absolutely no excuse for denting your cred twice.
AT
Rule 1 is check the facts and verify.
Rule 2 is offer a balanced argument and.,
Rule 3 is don't just accept what a govt/company/PR hack says or writes.
(Rule 4 is don't let ego hosts run the segment)
GT - you do need to justify why you did not check the claims. - Perhaps deadline pressures?? / lost laptop and phone?? / - at the very least offer an explanation or retract the statements and then let's put the shabby segment behind and move on.
The test for GT will be how he performs on the next one! - so here's a tip - Don't take the outputs of Olivia's three ring circus for anything but uniformed spin unless they are tested and verified.
Ring Purvinas or Jackson or even just get a Pprune name and ask here.
There is absolutely no excuse for denting your cred twice.
AT
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So when ever a political journalist pases comment do you hear people demanding to know his political qualifications (if there is such a thing)?
The fact is that Journalists specializes in certain areas and recruit sources to feed them information without necessarily being a qualified whatever, its how I believe the industry works. Arn't we burning t he strawman here. Even if GT had an ATPL and years of experience and he said similar things you still would burn him.
the point is both print media and especially tv is geared towards sensualised soundbites.
The fact is that Journalists specializes in certain areas and recruit sources to feed them information without necessarily being a qualified whatever, its how I believe the industry works. Arn't we burning t he strawman here. Even if GT had an ATPL and years of experience and he said similar things you still would burn him.
the point is both print media and especially tv is geared towards sensualised soundbites.
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Good response Steve. GT you’re an idiot. I got to say though that after reading QF’s latest offer, well it stinks and they can shove it. Think they can do better. Also, why was the confirmed long service trip canned?
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And the conclusion is....wrong
Skylarker,
Good reference article, but how the hell can they come to that conclusion ?
You cannot have a profitable airline without investment. Blame staff/unions etc, the public want new, clean aircraft. No public = no revenue.
Where are the shareholders to vote this mob out?
Good reference article, but how the hell can they come to that conclusion ?
You cannot have a profitable airline without investment. Blame staff/unions etc, the public want new, clean aircraft. No public = no revenue.
Where are the shareholders to vote this mob out?
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quite amusing reading through some comments which I would consider personal attacks on Geoff because his views aren't the same as yours.
some questioned Geoff's credentials - well, what is Steve's credentials in running and managing an airline?
I have absolutely no doubt there are systemic and serious incompetence in management ranks within engineering and elsewhere but it seems both sides management and the unions are having extraordinary success in scaring passengers off from flying the very airline they work for. Of course the media, too, do their bid to the very best of their ability to sensationalise any trivial events to beat them up as near-death experiences.
Struggling to see how this is a win-win situation. But definitely a case of the tall poppy.
The reality is not too long in the near future all the jobs will disappear.
A dangerous cocktail of incompetence, cronyism, scaremongering, sensationalism - yes, this is contemporary australia!
some questioned Geoff's credentials - well, what is Steve's credentials in running and managing an airline?
I have absolutely no doubt there are systemic and serious incompetence in management ranks within engineering and elsewhere but it seems both sides management and the unions are having extraordinary success in scaring passengers off from flying the very airline they work for. Of course the media, too, do their bid to the very best of their ability to sensationalise any trivial events to beat them up as near-death experiences.
Struggling to see how this is a win-win situation. But definitely a case of the tall poppy.
The reality is not too long in the near future all the jobs will disappear.
A dangerous cocktail of incompetence, cronyism, scaremongering, sensationalism - yes, this is contemporary australia!
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With respect runesta,
These three words fit with what I was thinking when I first saw what GT said on sunrise, it felt so contrived, deceitful and probably why this thread has been churning over the way it has. There are some very proud people on here who probably felt as cheated as I did.
Having said that, you made some good points in your last post, but I find myself still 100 % in support of the pilots and engineers, in this case it was poorly judged by GT but I am sure at the time, the PR department at Q thought they kicked a goal.
GT let his mouth run riot at a time when all is at boiling point within the ranks at Q with management. For too long (10 years) GD and now AJ have been pointing the finger at staff labor costs as the blame for all their troubles, it appeared GT didn't sense this at all, amazing for an expert aviation journalist. This thread is about what he said that morning, spin, he split the can of worms wide open for all to see.
cronyism, scaremongering, sensationalism
Having said that, you made some good points in your last post, but I find myself still 100 % in support of the pilots and engineers, in this case it was poorly judged by GT but I am sure at the time, the PR department at Q thought they kicked a goal.
GT let his mouth run riot at a time when all is at boiling point within the ranks at Q with management. For too long (10 years) GD and now AJ have been pointing the finger at staff labor costs as the blame for all their troubles, it appeared GT didn't sense this at all, amazing for an expert aviation journalist. This thread is about what he said that morning, spin, he split the can of worms wide open for all to see.
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They aren't attacks on Geoff because "his views are different to ours", they are because he essentially read from the Qantas PR script! Distorted truth and reporting out of context doesn't make for factual reporting! 
YES, WE ARE PI$$@D OFF! If an "aviation expert" is going to report the facts, then at least do some research and keep it balanced... It ain't rocket science...
YES, WE ARE PI$$@D OFF! If an "aviation expert" is going to report the facts, then at least do some research and keep it balanced... It ain't rocket science...
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runesta..
I assume that you are an outsider looking in and that is fair enough but you probably have not seen the way events have unfolded over the last 20 years or so. I may be wrong of course...
To be a Qantas Pilot or Engineer used to be held in a much higher regard by those who ran the company. A quality product and service was delivered (and still is despite the repeated attempts by successive management groups to undermine such) by highly trained and utterly professional people.
For a long while now the company has sought to systematically dismember the organisation in the pursuit of the mighty dollar.
In the not too distant past, Sydney was the epicenter of widebody heavy maintenance in Australia. We had world class people producing a world class product. The extent of our engineering expertise ranged from machining to plating to structural repairs to engine overhaul, not to mention three lines of aircraft heavy maintenance. We had contract work with other operators (Air Pacific, Air NZ, Evergreen, Polar, Asiana, Air Canada to name a few) and the RAAF and ad-hoc work was often on the menu. Our capability was second to none..
However, slowly but surely, parts of the operation were farmed off, considered unnecessary or inappropriate or uneconomical to remain in Sydney.
Now, there are no more lines of heavy maintenance in Sydney, no fitting and machining capability, no real engine maintenance facilities to speak of. Our landing gear, wheels and brakes, engine, APU and thrust reverser overhauls have been outsourced and Sydney is but a shell of it's former self. Oh, we have a you-beaut automated stores warehouse which works pretty well when we actually have parts in stock..
And yet the spirit is still there, in the people, who work day and night, 365 days of the year, rain, hail or shine to deliver a quality product.
They say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. That may be so, but we're trying our damnedest to.
And as for SP's credentials in running and managing an airline? I can't say. All I know is that he is a highly trained Engineer with a couple of decades of experience in the industry and not some johnny-come-lately with a few new business school buzz words in his vocabulary. And let it be said that Engineers suffer fools lightly.
I assume that you are an outsider looking in and that is fair enough but you probably have not seen the way events have unfolded over the last 20 years or so. I may be wrong of course...
To be a Qantas Pilot or Engineer used to be held in a much higher regard by those who ran the company. A quality product and service was delivered (and still is despite the repeated attempts by successive management groups to undermine such) by highly trained and utterly professional people.
For a long while now the company has sought to systematically dismember the organisation in the pursuit of the mighty dollar.
In the not too distant past, Sydney was the epicenter of widebody heavy maintenance in Australia. We had world class people producing a world class product. The extent of our engineering expertise ranged from machining to plating to structural repairs to engine overhaul, not to mention three lines of aircraft heavy maintenance. We had contract work with other operators (Air Pacific, Air NZ, Evergreen, Polar, Asiana, Air Canada to name a few) and the RAAF and ad-hoc work was often on the menu. Our capability was second to none..
However, slowly but surely, parts of the operation were farmed off, considered unnecessary or inappropriate or uneconomical to remain in Sydney.
Now, there are no more lines of heavy maintenance in Sydney, no fitting and machining capability, no real engine maintenance facilities to speak of. Our landing gear, wheels and brakes, engine, APU and thrust reverser overhauls have been outsourced and Sydney is but a shell of it's former self. Oh, we have a you-beaut automated stores warehouse which works pretty well when we actually have parts in stock..
And yet the spirit is still there, in the people, who work day and night, 365 days of the year, rain, hail or shine to deliver a quality product.
They say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. That may be so, but we're trying our damnedest to.
And as for SP's credentials in running and managing an airline? I can't say. All I know is that he is a highly trained Engineer with a couple of decades of experience in the industry and not some johnny-come-lately with a few new business school buzz words in his vocabulary. And let it be said that Engineers suffer fools lightly.
