Hero pilot Richard de Crespigny takes sides with Qantas in IR war

[Mr Leslie Chow]

Tim as Mohikan said this was done with intent.

I would agree with you if it had been 'on the fly' but this obviously has been planned, hopefully it dies out with not much media pick up.

I think the right things have already been written. Interesting to see where this goes to say the least.

Sheesh

[adsyj]

I'm speechless. God let me get out of Qantas soon.

[ejectx3]

The QF PR team hard at work...

Comments from the article...

• Derek Merrin of Mount Tamborine Posted at 2:21 AM Today
  Good old common sense at last
  
  Comment 1 of 13
  
• steve browning of Perth Posted at 2:39 AM Today
  About time we heard from a dinkum aussie qantas worker!!!! Stuff all the Unions they are nothing but bloodsuckers and either Aust Unions become a hell of a lot more modern in their approach to industrial relations or they will one by one cease to have a reason to exist.
  
  Comment 2 of 13
  
• Craig of Sydney Posted at 2:56 AM Today
  Its actually fantastic to see someone with some common sense. Maybe he should be running the union, not the other turkey! His comments are all valid, Asia is booming, we all know that...we need to get on the bus !
  
  Comment 3 of 13
  
• Monty of Brisbane Posted at 6:26 AM Today
  Thanks Captain de Crespigny for supporting Qantas management in this dispute. Everything you said makes perfect sense if Qantas is to survive another 91 years. That you side with management shows how archaic this union process has become. It seems to me that these unions, and they're not alone, are struggling to win this dispute, more so for their own survival, than for seeking job security for their members. Unions are becoming more irrelevant with each passing century, and the union powerbrokers know it.
  
  Comment 4 of 13
  
• Helen Posted at 6:53 AM Today
  Congratulations to Captain de Crespigny for having the courage to say what many others in his profession probably think but are frightened to reveal.
  
  Comment 5 of 13
  
• anthony of Brisbane Posted at 7:35 AM Today
  What about our baggage handlers? Are they up there with the best in the world? On current pay rates, our suitcase handlers must be the best around. $85k to load & unload suitcases would attest to that.
  
  Comment 6 of 13
  
• Piano of Brisbane Posted at 7:36 AM Today
  I recon a lot of other Qantas pilots will end up coming to similar conclusion. The business has to grow and evolve and that will not happen if the unions are calling the shots. How about individual contracts for pilots with the union out of the frame.
  
  Comment 7 of 13
  
• Allan of Brisbane Posted at 7:48 AM Today
  At last we have some sensible comment from someone with credibility. It seems that Captain de Crespigny can see the writing on the wall and I wonder why the self-proclaimed worlds best Qantas pilots cannot understand the simple rudimentaries of what the good Captain is saying. Or is it that they really don't have faith in their worth to Qantas and fear they may be dumped along the way? Get over yourselves; you are not indespensible and you have to compete like everyone else.
  
  Comment 8 of 13
  
• Glenn of Townsville Posted at 8:10 AM Today
  A good man, de Crespigny. He's head and shoulders above the whiners who think Qantas owes them a living no matter what.
  
  Comment 9 of 13
  
• Tony alder of Bribane Posted at 8:14 AM Today
  Congratulations to Capt Crespigny. A brave man in saying what he felt was sensible and obvious to the outside world of International flying. I have been a pilot for 40 years and flown Internationally for some 25 of those years and agree totally that if Qantas pilots don't realize they live in a very competitive world, particularly within Asia they will eventually be naturally forced into unemployment. The aviation industry is one of the most difficult professions to be in and one can't rest on a "public service " type mentality in assuming that The world owes them the opportunity and security for a life time regardless of economic conditions. The Airline pilot is a professional, Qantas pilots need to set the example.
  
  Comment 10 of 13
  
• Keith of Brisbane Posted at 8:58 AM Today
  At least someone with sence works at Qantas, just need a few more.
  
  Comment 11 of 13
  
• Dirk Alber Posted at 9:01 AM Today
  I own a medium sized business and fully understand Qantas' position (in terms of potential future outsourcing of jobs) in order to be more competitive. The airline must do this to survive the competitve airline world ..and in the long run it will save more jobs from being lost. However...the timing of announcing a $2million dollar pay increase for Joyce was lousy to say the least and gives the Unions more ammunition. Can you imagine if Joyce had taken a pay cut!! and 'spruked' to shareholders and Unions that he's doing his bit for securing the long term future of the airline !!!
  
  Comment 12 of 13
  
• Jenny Morris of Perth Posted at 10:02 AM Today
  At last, a cool headed assessment of the reality that Qantas and other Australian businesses are facing.
  
  Comment 13 of 13
  

[On Guard]

Totally agree. I read this this morning and was appalled. Fine if he has those views (some of his points I agree with) but have some integrity and keep them private. To go to media like this at the end of you career is not worthy of respect. I don't know the guy and don't work for QF but I have no respect for him whatsoever.

Compare him to Sully. He held up his colleagues beside him, he also spoke out for the pilots even though he never had to work again.

Shame on you.

[Capt Kremin]

Talked to some junior guys on the A380 this morning. Feelings are running high with our Dick. Could be some interesting times ahead for him.

Nuffi said.

[teresa green]

Want a management job mate? There are more subtle ways of doing it, exercising your right to your own opinion, fine around the kitchen table, but to a journo and your mug on the front page of the OZ , well, like a few in 89, you will possibly find quite a few flight decks like a fridge, and enjoy room service meals more often up the track. Hope the job is worth it, most find it is not.

[The The]

troppo - fool!

Plenty of good reading to bring some balance to the argument.
The Australian workforce mentality is that 'you are owed a job'...the unions need to be broken and are parasites. Historically they played a role but unions cannot be at the cost of financial viability.

Both JetBlue and Southwest pay considerably more than United, have a look here.

US Airline Pilot Salaries

And southwest is heavily unionised (87%)

Southwest success

The second article explains why southwest is so successful:

In a 2008 in-house article, Joe Harris, a labor lawyer for Southwest, explained that the company’s harmonious employee relations were no accident. “At Southwest, our employees come first; our customers come second; and our stockholders come third,” he said. “The rationale is pretty simple. If we treat our employees right, they’re going to treat our customers right. If our customers are treated right, they will come back and our stockholders will benefit.”

It is about the most opposite to Qantas thinking as you could possibly find - just ask Dixon!

Sorry for the thread drift

[Tankengine]

Look into Dick's family companies - I think you will find that flying a 380 is just a little fun money.

His ancestors probably only just missed madame guillotine!

Hardly an "average" pilot background.

[Long Bay Mauler]

Mmmmm...Sounds a bit like, "I'm right Jack"

The average punter would see him saying "I have a habourside house, $500,000 salary, and I am a Hero pilot", no wonder there is no real support for the cause.

[mrdeux]

A mate told me he saw a Chairmans Lounge Membership pin on Hero Dicks lapel recently.

Can anyone else confirm this "honor" was bestowed?

The pin is the Chairman's Award, not anything to do with the Chairman's lounge. I think you'll find that there are eight such pins in circulation amongst the long haul pilots.

[iawa]

Protect the QANTAS brand

Regardless of what union one represents, pilots, LAME or who ever, my first
priority would be to protect the Qantas brand and the people that have contributed to that reputation - ie world's best in safety, service, and product quality.
QF mgmts short term focus is destroying that reputation.
Qantas can no longer claim any right to highest standards in quality. All new fleet components are repaired by MROs whose repairers are in opposition to the equipment manufacturers OEM. Spares are drawn from a shared common airline pool and the Qantas quality acceptance standards are now diluted to accept whatever component is offered without the like for like and traceability of past. Qantas repaired units, many only a couple of years old, can be replaced with pool exchanges 20 years old and greater. Qantas spares receipt staff are already openly complaining about the MRO pool quality of spares and changed policy standards.
A380 have been outsourced to a 3rd party German MRO - Spareliners
A330 have been outsourced to a 3rd party MRO consortium headed by Air France
B737-800 have been outsourced to a third party UK based MRO - SRT
Years of relationship building with OEM suppliers has been forfeited with OEMs openly walking away due Qantas disregard and for dumping of their services and support. Qantas is putting all their reliance in the MRO and that is a disaster as $ Millions in OEM support with reliability mgmt , modification support, quality material support and cost of ownership support are all forfeited. OEMs are saying dont complain about the reliability of our product, we dont repair it and yr operation is polluted with other operator components - so we take no responsibility for yr product concerns. Qantas will make a short term saving on selling the inventory to the MRO on one fleet type of approx $ 22 M but will lose $ 50 Million over the 10 year program on lost OEM benefits. Even the values on Inventory sale benefits are overstated as MROs reject Qantas package cost.
Have a look at what remains of the Sydney and Melbourne component workshops that have effectively been closed down with workshop and professional engineers made redundant. Eleven engineers with over 300 years of service left without official farewell last Friday and their experience cannot be replaced locally.
So when the CEO says Qantas first priority is safety, then policies such as these above illustrate why we should worry about Qantas future and the Australian support content.

[Oakape]

From the article -

Anyone who touches a Qantas aeroplane has an internationally recognised and audited licence so their qualification is of the highest standard

I'm sorry, but that is just naive.

[Me Myself]

Speaking of balls........Kremlin.....you're on the spot mate.
You are doing nothing more than implying without naming. Why don't you go all the way and tell us all the juicy details of Cpt de Crespigny's carreer.
The man was ballsy or stupid enough or both to go front page and maybe not realizing what his life at Qantas would become. Or maybe he just couldn't care less with 500 000 a year, a beach house, a book to come and speaking engagement on " how to manage a crisis " at 10 000 a speach.
All what's required of you is to spill the beans hiden behind your so eloquently chosen alias. I'm sure you can manage this, can't you ? Or I suggest you shut up.
I'm waiting.

[skol]

You'll probably find the Mrs. is actually in command there.

[Keg]

Lol @ skol. I had the same thought when I read the comments this morning.

The other thing is that if guys and gals now choose to dine elsewhere or not to be available for drinks with Captain DeCrespigny, he'll be the victim. If they choose to dine with him and voice their opinions- which unfortunately won't be put on the front page of the Oz- then he'll again be the victim. Either way, he'll look good put of this when his response should have been 'no comment'.

I did have to laugh at the bit where he said we need to forego legacy conditions. Funny given he has the least to lose. It was also thoughtful of him to indicate that a move to SE Asia for me and my family is a wonderful opportunity. Perhaps hr should take that opportunity and I can take his A380 command given he thinks it's a good thing. He'll also be assisting by no longer working for 'legacy' conditions.

[ruprecht]

Well said, Keg.

[Shark Patrol]

I'm thinking more that Far Q might want a well-known Australian pilot to be the Chief Pilot of the new amaaaaaazing business in Asia. Either that or PW is thinking of pulling the pin.

(Thinks to self) How much better it would have been to hear our (currently) most notable pilot say how Qantas careers are going down the toilet under the current management with no prospect of an end to the madness in sight.

[blueloo]

Such a Sad way for him to end his career.

To lose the respect of one's peers. What a bizarre way to go out.




(I presume he must be retiring.....after all how could you stay on after making such comments.)

[SeldomFixit]

I remember cringing when Mrs R. De C came out with her thank God He was there comments - from now on she will need to learn to cringe being seen beside a man who lost all respect from peers - there is no darker hole to inhabit

[ampclamp]

Just one man's opinion used in the spin war against you.
It will not effect the outcome one iota.

It is sad to hear it from someone who has benefited from the system he now has decided to dump on.