Qantas Sacking Tarmac Engineers
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Hi Eshlon,
Bosses wanted 400 qal ( expensive ) to go.
Only 240 took the package.
So far only a few have been let go.
A lot more of them busting a gut to get out. Emotionally, most of them have already left. Very happy no matter what is happening on the plane. Fun to watch them, maybe I am a little jealous as I have a while to go before departure.
Bosses wanted 400 qal ( expensive ) to go.
Only 240 took the package.
So far only a few have been let go.
A lot more of them busting a gut to get out. Emotionally, most of them have already left. Very happy no matter what is happening on the plane. Fun to watch them, maybe I am a little jealous as I have a while to go before departure.
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Qantas Sacking Tarmac Engineers
Why have people who still haven't completed the postponed 737-800 full B1 course been awarded the full 737 points plus the 20% bonus? Recommencement date still to be confirmed. If it is to recommence at all. Yet people with valid 737 licenses are being transferred to SAM from the SIT.
Last edited by bandit2; 8th Aug 2014 at 06:58.
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More from the smiling assassin......
Words fail me. Just pass a bucket please.
The Base Maintenance team have been busy this week supporting both their internal and external customers in AOG events. Externally I’d like to recognise their great work in helping out both AAE and Qantas Link with their AOG aircraft. From an internal perspective their efforts in completing the in service mods on VH-VZL earlier than planned, freed up the aircraft to then support our own AOG disruption. In addition to this they also completed the first A330 QStreaming fit out. The aircraft is now back in service and I’m sure it’s generating a good reaction from our customers.
As part of our ongoing effort to return and generate value for the airline, a project is underway to increase utilisation of the A380 from 13 hours to 14 hours per day. The project team involved in working through the transit requirement includes people from Melbourne, Sydney, Customer Experience, London and Los Angeles. They have started their analysis and will work together with Supply Chain to create a proactive parts supply that ensures OTP is maintained and workload is managed to achieve the transit times. Our work on improving utilisation as well as the other smart things we are doing to optimise our network has enabled us to offer more services at the times and places our customers want fly, and will support the launch of A380 services to Dallas six days a week from October. This new challenge will require MEL to turn the aircraft in 2 hours every time without room for delay and for ports like SYD, LAX and London to maintain the Fleet health during its natural ground time. Knowing the folks we have in these ports I am confident Engineering will not let our customer down!
One correction to last week’s update, I failed to acknowledge the key role the A380 S21 crew played in identifying the defect, staying over shift and providing a precise handover which minimised the delay. Thanks to them for the excellent customer service and dedication.
In terms of consultation this week, we met with both the ALAEA and the Alliance unions. Both meetings were used to provide an update on the EOI and mitigation progress, appeals and remaining job opportunities. Our next ALAEA meeting will be held on Friday 15 August.
A few weeks ago now I talked in detail about overtime and the fact that it will always be a feature of a healthy staffing model in a dynamic working environment. I know there are certain views on overtime and it’s perceived connection to the integrity of our workforce modelling. I just wanted to add some further thoughts to this. Lately we’ve used overtime to help get the operation back in balance as crews have been unevenly impacted by people leaving or transferring to other roles. But as you know overtime is also used to cover things that are unexpected and infrequent such as AOG aircraft, or excessive sick calls. More importantly we do try hard to allow folks to use their leave when all slots are taken and a family matter arises, like a child’s sporting events, weddings and funerals. At these times we try hard to balance our employees’ needs, operational requirements and cost by choosing to cover these events with OT. I want to thank those that have stepped up to cover for their fellow employees or to protect the operation. These actions show the pride and brand that Qantas Engineering has in our craft and the care we have for each other. We are all working hard to secure a future for Qantas and Engineering. Working together we can achieve any anything.
Finally, I want to recognise one of our long serving employees who leaves us this week to pursue an external opportunity. David Kelly started in Qantas 1984 as a Structures engineer and has since held a variety of roles in QE including Senior Technical rep in Seattle, General Manager Fleet Planning, Head of Aircraft Commercial Projects, Group General Manager Technical Services and Program Director for Marlin. Most recently David joined my leadership team managing the safety and risk function for QE. I would like to sincerely thank David for his professional and dedicated approach throughout his many years serving the airline. On behalf of everyone in QE, I wish David all the very best for the future.
Thanks for all you do.
Be Safe
Tony
As part of our ongoing effort to return and generate value for the airline, a project is underway to increase utilisation of the A380 from 13 hours to 14 hours per day. The project team involved in working through the transit requirement includes people from Melbourne, Sydney, Customer Experience, London and Los Angeles. They have started their analysis and will work together with Supply Chain to create a proactive parts supply that ensures OTP is maintained and workload is managed to achieve the transit times. Our work on improving utilisation as well as the other smart things we are doing to optimise our network has enabled us to offer more services at the times and places our customers want fly, and will support the launch of A380 services to Dallas six days a week from October. This new challenge will require MEL to turn the aircraft in 2 hours every time without room for delay and for ports like SYD, LAX and London to maintain the Fleet health during its natural ground time. Knowing the folks we have in these ports I am confident Engineering will not let our customer down!
One correction to last week’s update, I failed to acknowledge the key role the A380 S21 crew played in identifying the defect, staying over shift and providing a precise handover which minimised the delay. Thanks to them for the excellent customer service and dedication.
In terms of consultation this week, we met with both the ALAEA and the Alliance unions. Both meetings were used to provide an update on the EOI and mitigation progress, appeals and remaining job opportunities. Our next ALAEA meeting will be held on Friday 15 August.
A few weeks ago now I talked in detail about overtime and the fact that it will always be a feature of a healthy staffing model in a dynamic working environment. I know there are certain views on overtime and it’s perceived connection to the integrity of our workforce modelling. I just wanted to add some further thoughts to this. Lately we’ve used overtime to help get the operation back in balance as crews have been unevenly impacted by people leaving or transferring to other roles. But as you know overtime is also used to cover things that are unexpected and infrequent such as AOG aircraft, or excessive sick calls. More importantly we do try hard to allow folks to use their leave when all slots are taken and a family matter arises, like a child’s sporting events, weddings and funerals. At these times we try hard to balance our employees’ needs, operational requirements and cost by choosing to cover these events with OT. I want to thank those that have stepped up to cover for their fellow employees or to protect the operation. These actions show the pride and brand that Qantas Engineering has in our craft and the care we have for each other. We are all working hard to secure a future for Qantas and Engineering. Working together we can achieve any anything.
Finally, I want to recognise one of our long serving employees who leaves us this week to pursue an external opportunity. David Kelly started in Qantas 1984 as a Structures engineer and has since held a variety of roles in QE including Senior Technical rep in Seattle, General Manager Fleet Planning, Head of Aircraft Commercial Projects, Group General Manager Technical Services and Program Director for Marlin. Most recently David joined my leadership team managing the safety and risk function for QE. I would like to sincerely thank David for his professional and dedicated approach throughout his many years serving the airline. On behalf of everyone in QE, I wish David all the very best for the future.
Thanks for all you do.
Be Safe
Tony
Words fail me. Just pass a bucket please.
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Bandit2, I thought the company said only quals current in eQ as of cut off date would be used to calculate matrix points.
If what you are saying is true, then every single CR at the SIT should be successfully appealed.
This whole process is a joke badly told.
If what you are saying is true, then every single CR at the SIT should be successfully appealed.
This whole process is a joke badly told.
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Why have people who still haven't completed the postponed 737-800 full B1 course been awarded the full 737 points plus the 20% bonus?
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bandit2
While you are on the subject bandit2, there are two other individuals that have
been reinstated. Namely the two pts which have zero points, have never signed for an aircraft or make log entries, sit in the corner drink cups of coffee and
eat bananas and are only capable of tow and stow ... go figure that one...
are these the type of engineers that the company wants.
been reinstated. Namely the two pts which have zero points, have never signed for an aircraft or make log entries, sit in the corner drink cups of coffee and
eat bananas and are only capable of tow and stow ... go figure that one...
are these the type of engineers that the company wants.
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We had that situation this week, the guy filling in was very pleased with himself that he was getting the extra work, when he was introduced to the guy he was replacing he did not bat an eyelid
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Then there is the guy who has been avoiding the tapper all week but just can't so no to a bit of O/T. Who is waiting for him to walk through the gate...
I'm sure in TT's latest letter it explains how somebody can be both redundant and required to work due to a lack of engineers at the same time. Unfortunately for him, he won't be working O/T again for QE.
I'm sure in TT's latest letter it explains how somebody can be both redundant and required to work due to a lack of engineers at the same time. Unfortunately for him, he won't be working O/T again for QE.
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Slightly off topic however, the next time FEDSEC or anybody else is confronted by Alan Joyce, Chris Nassenstein, or Tony Lowry with the observation that Australian maintenance standards are not superior to those off shore, could they please refer to the following....
It is a credit to the hard working people in Brisbane heavy maintenance (that also comprise within their ranks people that brought with them vast 737 experience from the now closed Melbourne heavy maintenance) that even the OEM is coming to see how we do things here.
Bean counters will never admit that quality never comes cheap though.
I have been including stories about the good things we do here in Maintenance Operations and highlighting our great People and Teams. This week I wanted to share with you something that really demonstrates the talent we have and that our vision is being realised. Our mission and vision hasn’t changed over the last four years and everything we do is aimed at us becoming a best in class maintenance organisation, where others look to us to define best practice. We have a history of defining best practice – our ETOPs procedure is something we developed and is now used by airlines around the world, and so is our NDT scribe mark process.
The team in Brisbane Base recently added to this list of engineering accolades, and again made our vision become reality. They got a call from Boeing engineering who asked whether they could bring a North American MRO into the facility to learn how they work. This came as a result of a world-wide modification that Boeing applied to the B737 Horizontal Stabiliser skin. The light weight structure of the stabiliser has seen many MROs damage the structure during the dismantling process – but not so in Brisbane. They have accomplished 28 skin replacements with little to no damage reported. This is true Service Quality in motion and a result of the skill of our people, aircraft day to day management, and Technical Support teams working so well together to complete such a complex task.
I am incredibly proud of the Brisbane Base folks. The effort they have made to improve their performance over the last 12 months is nothing short of amazing. They have increased their productivity, decreased their turn times, reduced their line slippage, have fewer injuries and fewer sick days per person. Their engagement is at an all-time high and the results are speaking for themselves. Two years ago we didn’t have Fiji airways asking us to repair their aircraft, we weren’t bidding on a multi-million dollar third party contract, and we didn’t have OEMs knocking on our door to see how we do things. We are becoming a competitive and attractive business in the eyes of our customers, and it is all thanks to the hard work and dedication of our talented BM team.
I also wanted to talk this week about the amount of emails you are having to sift through each day. It was something raised with me at a recent leadership program and it’s something I’m passionate about addressing. I’m told each day you receive - maintenance memos on all fleet types, quality bulletins, notification of local quality alerts, EQ notifications on training and qualifications as well as general corporate and engineering communication. I know you are frustrated with the time required to find the things that are actually relevant to the work you are doing, and can often delete the things you do need. I’ve asked Alex Parpaiola to help reduce this burden and do some filtering and categorisation of the volumes of information being set to your inbox. In the future I envision all you will receive from us is – mandatory read and signs that are relevant to you, required Quality Bulletins relevant to you, and communications from myself and your Leaders. I’m also told you sometimes miss my updates in the flood of other emails, and would like to access past updates to read when you have time. I’ve now set up library of my previous updates dating back to when we first started transforming the business in 2012.
Finally, I wanted to recognise two of our people in BNE Base Maintenance – Tai Johnsen and Rachel Dudok who were nominees at the recent Annual Metropolitan Region Awards for Queensland Training. Tai was one of three finalists for the apprentice of the year award, and Rachel won Vocational Student of the Year and now competes as a state finalist. Congratulations Tai and Rachel and thank you for showcasing what ‘Best in Class’ Qantas Engineering means to the rest of the industry.
Thanks for all you do.
Be Safe
Tony
The team in Brisbane Base recently added to this list of engineering accolades, and again made our vision become reality. They got a call from Boeing engineering who asked whether they could bring a North American MRO into the facility to learn how they work. This came as a result of a world-wide modification that Boeing applied to the B737 Horizontal Stabiliser skin. The light weight structure of the stabiliser has seen many MROs damage the structure during the dismantling process – but not so in Brisbane. They have accomplished 28 skin replacements with little to no damage reported. This is true Service Quality in motion and a result of the skill of our people, aircraft day to day management, and Technical Support teams working so well together to complete such a complex task.
I am incredibly proud of the Brisbane Base folks. The effort they have made to improve their performance over the last 12 months is nothing short of amazing. They have increased their productivity, decreased their turn times, reduced their line slippage, have fewer injuries and fewer sick days per person. Their engagement is at an all-time high and the results are speaking for themselves. Two years ago we didn’t have Fiji airways asking us to repair their aircraft, we weren’t bidding on a multi-million dollar third party contract, and we didn’t have OEMs knocking on our door to see how we do things. We are becoming a competitive and attractive business in the eyes of our customers, and it is all thanks to the hard work and dedication of our talented BM team.
I also wanted to talk this week about the amount of emails you are having to sift through each day. It was something raised with me at a recent leadership program and it’s something I’m passionate about addressing. I’m told each day you receive - maintenance memos on all fleet types, quality bulletins, notification of local quality alerts, EQ notifications on training and qualifications as well as general corporate and engineering communication. I know you are frustrated with the time required to find the things that are actually relevant to the work you are doing, and can often delete the things you do need. I’ve asked Alex Parpaiola to help reduce this burden and do some filtering and categorisation of the volumes of information being set to your inbox. In the future I envision all you will receive from us is – mandatory read and signs that are relevant to you, required Quality Bulletins relevant to you, and communications from myself and your Leaders. I’m also told you sometimes miss my updates in the flood of other emails, and would like to access past updates to read when you have time. I’ve now set up library of my previous updates dating back to when we first started transforming the business in 2012.
Finally, I wanted to recognise two of our people in BNE Base Maintenance – Tai Johnsen and Rachel Dudok who were nominees at the recent Annual Metropolitan Region Awards for Queensland Training. Tai was one of three finalists for the apprentice of the year award, and Rachel won Vocational Student of the Year and now competes as a state finalist. Congratulations Tai and Rachel and thank you for showcasing what ‘Best in Class’ Qantas Engineering means to the rest of the industry.
Thanks for all you do.
Be Safe
Tony
Bean counters will never admit that quality never comes cheap though.
Last edited by chockchucker; 16th Aug 2014 at 03:52.
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Their engagement is at an all-time high
How was this metric measured? Must be one of TL's KPI's. For the guys up their in Brissy, I'm happy that you are, coz the feeling elsewhere is very, very different.
Shameless spin from a very predictable mismanagement, methinks.
Remember comments from Nasty, previously and often, were 'We do not have exclusivity on quality' or words to that effect. CN wasted no opportunity to put us down and now TL has swung it the other way round by praising stuff we all having been doing for the last decade under very trying circumstances. Sigh.