Virgin changing us to an EARLIER flight with only 90 minutes notice
Slats11 is almost a 100% correct. His error was in narrowing it down to just Virgin when really it’s the entire industry which makes it their mission to piss off as many passengers as possible.
Must just be the new bully boy Aussie way of customer service, who can forget the QF CEO berating his customers for not being “match fit” because his check in/baggage handling operation was incompetent. Blame the customer and keep beating them up. North Korea has a lot to learn from Australia when it comes to the mistreating of customers.
Must just be the new bully boy Aussie way of customer service, who can forget the QF CEO berating his customers for not being “match fit” because his check in/baggage handling operation was incompetent. Blame the customer and keep beating them up. North Korea has a lot to learn from Australia when it comes to the mistreating of customers.
Thread Starter
Some of the unhinged vitriol here reaffirms my suspicion that many in the community are not doing particularly well. I can not recall society's resilience being this low. This is an international phenomenon - friends and professional colleagues around the world assure me it is the same everywhere..
If it was a routine business meeting that got screwed around at the end of the day, yeah OK. That happens. Deal with it.
Family members had come up to Sydney for a funeral that Monday. We had decided to have an early dinner together in Sydney before I dropped them to the airport for a flight back home. Something more pleasant after a pretty ordinary day. They all had work commitments in Melbourne on Tuesday morning. Instead of catching up for dinner, we spent the time trying to get through to VA and then rebooking flights on QF.
Perhaps it was unrealistic to plan on them catching last flight back and being able to work the next day. But we have long all taken air travel for granted, and so had hoped things were getting back to normal.
The unilateral nature of the communication was infuriating - an email from an unmonitored address, and an hour on hold.
I suspect what happened is that Wx during the day meant the 2200 wasn't able to operate. Both the 2000 and the 2200 were significantly light that they could get all pax onto one flight. If they could contact all the 2200 pax and get them there early, then the flight could leave earlier than 2200 - which would be a shorter delay for those on the 2000 flight.
That sort of makes sense.
I presume not all the 2200 pax saw the email, turned uo for the 2200 flight, and all they noted was a change in flight number. Pays not to read email.
Anyway, I'm working all 3 days this weekend.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...03-p5aqtj.html
So don't get sick or injured.
The problem now isn't C19. Its all the latent problems that have been exposed by C19. The workforce is now burnt out and disillusioned after 30 months of this. And they are starting to walk away.
Meanwhile, many office workers in both the corporate and government sector are enjoying their work:life balance and WFH and saying "we should have done this years ago." Customer service is at an all time low, as exemplified by VA here.
We are not all in this together, and that is a key reason society is splintering.
And things are just getting started. More supply chain disruptions, stagflation, rising interest rates, wages falling behind, increasing geopolitical uncertainty, and a polarised fragmented angry society. Good luck Albo - you are going to need it. In spades.
If it was a routine business meeting that got screwed around at the end of the day, yeah OK. That happens. Deal with it.
Family members had come up to Sydney for a funeral that Monday. We had decided to have an early dinner together in Sydney before I dropped them to the airport for a flight back home. Something more pleasant after a pretty ordinary day. They all had work commitments in Melbourne on Tuesday morning. Instead of catching up for dinner, we spent the time trying to get through to VA and then rebooking flights on QF.
Perhaps it was unrealistic to plan on them catching last flight back and being able to work the next day. But we have long all taken air travel for granted, and so had hoped things were getting back to normal.
The unilateral nature of the communication was infuriating - an email from an unmonitored address, and an hour on hold.
I suspect what happened is that Wx during the day meant the 2200 wasn't able to operate. Both the 2000 and the 2200 were significantly light that they could get all pax onto one flight. If they could contact all the 2200 pax and get them there early, then the flight could leave earlier than 2200 - which would be a shorter delay for those on the 2000 flight.
That sort of makes sense.
I presume not all the 2200 pax saw the email, turned uo for the 2200 flight, and all they noted was a change in flight number. Pays not to read email.
Anyway, I'm working all 3 days this weekend.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/...03-p5aqtj.html
So don't get sick or injured.
The problem now isn't C19. Its all the latent problems that have been exposed by C19. The workforce is now burnt out and disillusioned after 30 months of this. And they are starting to walk away.
Meanwhile, many office workers in both the corporate and government sector are enjoying their work:life balance and WFH and saying "we should have done this years ago." Customer service is at an all time low, as exemplified by VA here.
We are not all in this together, and that is a key reason society is splintering.
And things are just getting started. More supply chain disruptions, stagflation, rising interest rates, wages falling behind, increasing geopolitical uncertainty, and a polarised fragmented angry society. Good luck Albo - you are going to need it. In spades.
Nice measured response Slats; shame some of earlier responding egos couldn’t get over themselves. Trevor and a few others summed it up nicely though - the industry is pretty stuffed but there are some awesome individuals still plugging away with total professionalism.
The regulators are planning on looking at airlines and customer protections later this year, is much that needs to come from that, management will be jumping up and down claiming business will be unviable as they now need to actually look after passengers. We probably need to go down the path like the EU, customer receives significant compensation should they be inconvenienced. At that point they generally see how much they have underinvested in scheduling and rostering software, many scheduling problems arise from poor planning.
All are equally as bad. My own employer has screwed me over on one occasion so much I emailed the said boss who then apologized and offered me a cash compensation. To Virgin’s credit, on the one occasion they cancelled and offered very few options, I asked for them to send me half way across the country to then reconnect to the destination, they happily did that.
All are equally as bad. My own employer has screwed me over on one occasion so much I emailed the said boss who then apologized and offered me a cash compensation. To Virgin’s credit, on the one occasion they cancelled and offered very few options, I asked for them to send me half way across the country to then reconnect to the destination, they happily did that.
Thread Starter
Anyone from VA able to confirm this story? Surely not.
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/no-h...0220425-p5afzk
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/no-h...0220425-p5afzk
Anyone from VA able to confirm this story? Surely not.
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/no-h...0220425-p5afzk
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/no-h...0220425-p5afzk
Also true was that last prize was two lunches with that Woman.
Qantas is no better promising flights every 1/2 hour to Sydney then cancelling with up to 2 hours or more disruption . Not to mention changing terminals when Jetstar cancel and you're shuffled to Qantas or vise versa.
My boss always reminded his pilots that their paymaster was the passenger and not the boss, maybe that should be kept in mind when criticizing customers who have less that satisfactory customer service. On reading some of the comments on this forum over the years I suspect that " professional pilot" in some cases describes a personal who is paid for their work and nothing beyond that.
Hi Slats.
I’ve no doubt the childish responses here have affirmed that you made the right decision by working in medicine rather than aviation
Regrettably, I chose the opposite to you and have lifelong regret.
Your situation with VA sounds sh*t. But it’s not abnormal, or isolated to Virgin. All Australian airlines have these problems, and Qantas seem the worst of the lot atm. All Australian airlines are a sh*t show.
No baggage handlers, understaffed engineering, crap communication, joke call centres - and most importantly management who ignore these issues and just walk away with their bonuses.
They really are ignorant to how pissed off people are - but as tech crew, we can’t change it. We don’t control culture, or honesty, or customer service. And most of us who are professional pilots are very embarrassed by it all.
I have a friend who called me last week. She’s had her Japan flights cancelled 5 times in the last 3 years. Each time, she has spent 8 hours on hold trying to rebook with her credit as they refused a refund. Last week, despite saying she desperately wanted to support an Australian carrier, she booked with Air Japan and says she will never travel with an Australian airline again. I asked what would need for her to change that opinion and she said “when I don’t have to spend 40 hours on hold while simultaneously watching a news article on the airline’s CEO buying a new $19m property in Sydney, I’ll think about it.”
Yes it’s bad. And yes it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Most of my colleagues think Australia is closer to a big airline hull loss than its ever been before. The Swiss cheese is lining up. Loading errors. Baggage carts driven into fuselages. Pilots running 2-3 hours late and fatigued every single day because there’s a 20 knot westerly in Sydney or no tug drivers in Melbourne.
If nothing else, I’m glad you were able to attend the funeral and spend time with your family.
I’ve no doubt the childish responses here have affirmed that you made the right decision by working in medicine rather than aviation
Regrettably, I chose the opposite to you and have lifelong regret.
Your situation with VA sounds sh*t. But it’s not abnormal, or isolated to Virgin. All Australian airlines have these problems, and Qantas seem the worst of the lot atm. All Australian airlines are a sh*t show.
No baggage handlers, understaffed engineering, crap communication, joke call centres - and most importantly management who ignore these issues and just walk away with their bonuses.
They really are ignorant to how pissed off people are - but as tech crew, we can’t change it. We don’t control culture, or honesty, or customer service. And most of us who are professional pilots are very embarrassed by it all.
I have a friend who called me last week. She’s had her Japan flights cancelled 5 times in the last 3 years. Each time, she has spent 8 hours on hold trying to rebook with her credit as they refused a refund. Last week, despite saying she desperately wanted to support an Australian carrier, she booked with Air Japan and says she will never travel with an Australian airline again. I asked what would need for her to change that opinion and she said “when I don’t have to spend 40 hours on hold while simultaneously watching a news article on the airline’s CEO buying a new $19m property in Sydney, I’ll think about it.”
Yes it’s bad. And yes it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Most of my colleagues think Australia is closer to a big airline hull loss than its ever been before. The Swiss cheese is lining up. Loading errors. Baggage carts driven into fuselages. Pilots running 2-3 hours late and fatigued every single day because there’s a 20 knot westerly in Sydney or no tug drivers in Melbourne.
If nothing else, I’m glad you were able to attend the funeral and spend time with your family.
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As a pilot who has been flying for >50 years I don't understand why I'm able to handle a 30-35 knot crosswind in Canberra and Brisbane, but due to ATC requirements, I'm considered unable to handle anything greater than 20 knots in Sydney and Melbourne.
Time for Airservices Australia (Service, now there's an oxymoron) to stop this ridiculous situation that leads to major delays throughout the entire airline network, that's all airlines.
Give me 25-30 knots of crosswind on runway 34L&R any day rather than the mechanical turbulence that is generated on approach to runway 25 in those conditions.
Time for Airservices Australia (Service, now there's an oxymoron) to stop this ridiculous situation that leads to major delays throughout the entire airline network, that's all airlines.
Give me 25-30 knots of crosswind on runway 34L&R any day rather than the mechanical turbulence that is generated on approach to runway 25 in those conditions.
Last edited by VC9; 12th Jun 2022 at 03:35.
The regulators are planning on looking at airlines and customer protections later this year, is much that needs to come from that, management will be jumping up and down claiming business will be unviable as they now need to actually look after passengers. We probably need to go down the path like the EU, customer receives significant compensation should they be inconvenienced. At that point they generally see how much they have underinvested in scheduling and rostering software, many scheduling problems arise from poor planning..
Oi VC9, the galahs would only offer you the 30kt crosswind if you were OEI.
I asked what would need for her to change that opinion and she said “when I don’t have to spend 40 hours on hold while simultaneously watching a news article on the airline’s CEO buying a new $19m property in Sydney, I’ll think about it.”
Wow. I am genuinely gobsmacked at some of the responses on here to what is a perfectly reasonable complaint. Sounds like some of you legends forget who pays your wages.