QF L/H accomodation possible changes
 

Two big rumours doing the traps at the moment is that QF L/H cabin crew will be moving out of the Millennium in LHR.Apparently the hotel has given the company 90 days notice that they are giving the contract the flick.

The other rumour is that L/H cabin crew might (and it changes with the wind) be slipping back in New York.

There are also rumblings about the hotel in LA but who knows with that one.Action Jackson has just returned from LA so we will have to wait and see….

It seems we will be operating to JFK daily come years end.

One would think that it would make sense to have cabin crew slip 2-1-1.

Also a strong rumour of another package..........

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news...971101180.html

Thanks speedbirdhouse for your info.

The rumour I have heard is that a certain cc manager is trying to make a name for himself with the accomodation contracts.Perhaps he is trying to get brownie points with the new owners however all he is doing is annoying hotels.....

LG has made a statement in regard the SMH article today on the QF cabin crew website. The VR info is also on the website.

Personally I hate the word surplus and I think it is very deceptive when the company are actively recruiting UK and NZ based crew and casuals within short haul.

The FAAA issued the following notices today.

11 April 2007

Attention all Qantas Long Haul Flight Attendants

SHAME SHAME SHAME

In what can only be described as a shameless exercise in the further destruction of full time flight attendant positions, Qantas Cabin Crew management have announced further redundancies of full time Long Haul cabin crew.

The announcement today follows on from over 1200 full time jobs being made redundant since 2000, and a redundancy of approximately 400 Long Haul cabin crew positions last year and 120 short haul positions at the same time.

This occurs at a time when there have been two Qantas profit upgrades announced since the APA bid for Qantas was announced late last year.

The continual replacement of Australian full time jobs for lesser paid overseas workers and the casualisation of the flight attendant role is a direct result of corporate greed and a total lack of respect for the flight attendant workforce in Australia by Qantas Management.

Whilst the rhetoric runs thick like syrup from management about how we are valued and how great our contribution is, the reality is in stark contrast.

The exact numbers to be made redundant at this stage are unknown. The Company has confirmed that this will be a voluntary redundancy.

The fact that the Divisional Flying Agreement was designed to manage surpluses and avoid redundancy is disregarded by the current management.

The outsourcing of Cabin Crew management jobs to Bangkok and Auckland would be a good start in any cost reduction exercise. Given the amount of time they spend with our members the jobs could just as easily be done remotely.

We will update you further when we have further information. Despite our outrage at this contempt for crew, we will continue to act responsibly to protect full time employment in Australia.

Written by Steven Reed – President International Division
and authorised by Michael Mijatov – Secretary International Division


11 April 2007

Attention all Qantas Long Haul Flight Attendants

MEDIA SPECULATION ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE LONG HAUL DIVISION

The Sydney Morning Herald today contains an article written by Scott Rochfort and Danny John. Paragraph two of that article is as follows:-

“The revised APA offer comes amid speculation the carrier is set to test the nerve of unions by preparing a massive culling of its 3000 long haul cabin crew workers.”

Rumours of further redundancies have been rife for some time. Yesterday the Company asked to meet with senior officials of the FAAA on Thursday morning 12th April 2007.

Last night the Company was not prepared to speculate on the rumours but indicated that they would be in a position to discuss the matter on Thursday morning.

Until that meeting takes place, the FAAA is not in a position to discuss the matter with members, nor in a position to speculate.

What we can clearly state is that while there is massive overseas contingent of cabin crew and casuals employed in a variety of positions, the FAAA will not stand by idly and see full time employment eroded.

We have been indicating to crew for some considerable time that the provisions of the Workplace Relations Act in terms of its operating restructuring facility are potentially very damaging for full time workers in Australia, not the least being full time Long Haul cabin Crew.

We will write to you as soon as any confirmed information comes to hand.

Written by Steven Reed – President International Division
and authorised by Michael Mijatov – Secretary International Division

Well here goes the sale of Australian jobs .Even with the company making record profits and forecasts of even more the company has decided to get rid of more Australian jobs....This is what the takeover is all about...

yes!
and they are recruiting heavily in Kiwi land and getting rid of Australian jobs, why isnt the FAAA on this !!!!!!

The time to play nicely has finished.

As the FAAA has said .......SHAME

The FAAA has to start putting out media releases about the company and the loss of Australian jobs....

If it was any other industry the media would be all over it, however due to the QF advertising budget, sadly I dont think it would get much attention unless of course you saw qantas staff marching in the street for the protection of our employment which wouldnt happen either because we are all so divided you wouldnt even get a decent turnout. Lets see what action the FAAA takes, hopefully both divisions of the union can unite on this issue if not anything else.

Luckily this has happened before the Federal elction.Johnny will not be pleased....

Now is the time to ring your friendly neighbourhood coalition member and tell him/her that they are going to get at least one less vote.

I guess it does not matter much which hotel we are staying at now because of the VR package.

Just a question... what can the unions do about redundancies ? it seems to me that qantas has offered (or forced) redundancies over the years and still they have always continued to employ new people both within australia and overseas. how do we stop them giving our jobs away ? will a march in disgust do us any good ? if not what will ? what should we be asking or demanding the faaa do for its members ?

difficult
 

i must say there are no easy fixes for the faaa. given the new industrial laws it is an uphill battle. however not all is lost. more then ever solidarity is the key.:ugh:

regionalguy...As I said there is a Federal election this year.Time to start ringing the politicians and the paper to mention the loss of Australian jobs...

The package
 

Having read this comment from a certain manager's letter regarding VR

"We are now in a position to offer a limited number of voluntary redundancies in order to ensure we have the right balance of sustainable surplus management solutions going forward"

:yuk: :yuk: :yuk: :ugh: :mad: :mad:

Enough to make you want to take the package!!

It sounds like they have the script writer from Yes Prime Minister.......

They could not have done any better.

Honestly the BS is so deep in there you need a snorkel to breathe when you sign on....

well....it just could be time to bail.

I almost took it last time.

I'm off to see the accountant on Friday. I've had an absolute gutful of this airline--------------an airline I was once very proud to call Qantas.

Now, its just a ramshackle lump of metal with no heart or soul.

The "Management" here are just a gaggle of Faceless androids more concerned with hiearchial power than any of the people that run this outfit on a daily basis and get "jack" recognition for it!!:*

I'm still nauseous from that AFR review on Captain :yuk: Qantas

Could'nt have said it better
 

Stubby Jumbo
Ditto, Ditto & Ditto.........and especially about Captain Jetstar :yuk: :mad: :yuk:

Also seeing my accountant Friday.......and I bet there'll be many others!!

Shame to see a once proud Australian company well and truly f :mad: d

Sir Hudson Fysh would be spinning in his grave at what these turkeys are doing to his company...............RIP Qantas 1920 -- 2007

I personalIy can't wait for the time when the AKL base operates it's New Zealand based cabin crew with their own on board managers, independant of Australian based crew.

QF management will be getting exactly what they deserve and they wont know what has hit them.

The chickens are already coming home to roost with reports marked "confidential, not to be copied" being shown to CSMs showing that J/C and Y/C passenger satisfaction levels are down 4% and 6%.

Interesting AND telling that P/C levels have never been higher.

One can only imagine just how bad the surveys have been of late given their historical inability to admit failures of ANY type.

I wonder what has changed of late to cause these worrying trends?:rolleyes: :E :ok:

Missed the article in the AFR anyone care to post the link..

Yes you are correct speedbird the sooner they have their own full base the better,
There are a few good ones, but the majority simply dont give a fark and are so difficult to work with, and boy oh boy do they hate QANTAS.

It's great...

An Australian company making record profits and with forecasts of perhaps double these profits within a year or two.

They want to get rid of as many Australian employees as possible and replace them with cheap foreign nationals......

These employees that they are dumping are the ones that helped achieve these profits and yet Captain Enema is not happy...

So much for the Spirit of Australia.....

It should be called the Spirit of Corporate Addiction to Bonus'S....

I'll let you work out the acronym for that....

Yet another gem in todays SMH

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/...971178971.html

trying to get one step ahead
 

as most of you aware the rules in the take over game has changed. the banks lowered their minimum 90% acceptance level to 70-75% in return for a HIGHER INTEREST RATE. as recently speculated by a financial columnist this would add another 200 MILLION DOLLARS a year in interest.:yuk: :yuk: :yuk:
AND HERE THEY KEEP ON SAYING BUSINESS AS USUAL:ugh: :ugh: :ugh:

The Party Is Over
 

I have seen the best of flying.... commraderie,pride in the company,respect as an employee are now all gone.
Time for me to go.
Spend time with my family before they all grow up.
Thanks folks.....its been a blast

Will It Be Worth Staying?
 

Qantas's executive general manager, John Borghetti, said the union was being "mischievous". "No Qantas cabin crew were being forced to take the redundancy. "If people don't want it, they don't go,"

Nice parting words, but what's next. We all know they want to play with the bidding seniority, the allowances, overtime, slip formula and of course redirect as much flying to Domestic and J*Int. as they can .

The FAAA has a big agenda on it's hands with the next EBA, let's see what they can do for LHcrew survival !

If the union is described as "mischievous" then the only possible way you could describe the company is "machiavellian"..........

It's all happening!!
 

Shorthaul are also being offered the VR package.........its all happening!! :eek:

The latest version of the dinosaur under Australian IR reforms...The full time Australian employee....

What tha??
 

Just read the latest installment from the FAAA bunker.

Since when did we support the use of Casuals in L/H??

News to me.

Please don't tell me this is where we're heading..... a la MAM.

Our union has given in on anything since they were elected so why would they change now !!!

This is not going to get any better, trust me. If you want to take VR please do all of us a favor and go. It may slow down some of the whining that most of us are sick off. Bring in some new blood any day.:D:D

To the old school that need to see their accountants, why not make a decision for yourself. When you get into the real world you may have to make a couple more each day. Give it ago, it wont bite.:eek::sad:

You first kiddy......By the way how are your mates who have never flown but seem to know what our job is like?

Thanks for the tip midsection.

I now may need to see a shrink as well as an Accountant...thanks to your hurtful ridicule form the "real world".

Oh my gosh.

Is it that bad out there ????:sad:

midsection,

you speak of senior crew as if we would be all better off without them.

Give me them as the foundation to a crew ANY day over the new breed that are replacing them out of AKL.

Senior crew are for the VERY most part organised, co-operative, professional and team orientated not to mention having both the experience, maturity AND common sense to know what to do and say and when to say and do it.

Large numbers of crew coming out of AKL these days are not only unpleasant, unco-operative, lazy and immature as to be next to useless onboard but their most vocal critics are those KIWIS preceeding them who's employment was conditional on them meeting personal AND professional standards.

Those who recruit over there are reporting that they are seeing people they rejected as being unsuitable years ago now wearing our uniforms.

As I mentioned before..........even front teeth are now optional!!!!

The pay and conditions being offered in AKL being so poor that it's reported by those who were there that 3 people turned up at the Wellington open day recently.

When I joined 20 years ago the odds were 1 in a 100 on getting the gig and these odds went a long way to ensuring that QF found suitable candidates.

Now the AKL base management are so desperate that they send text messages to existing crew asking if any of their friends want jobs as FA's.
Were was Lisa Robinson employed again......?

Business and Economy class passenger satisfaction levels are on the slide according to QF and they will continue to do so if these [and other] trends continue.

The cabin crew trip swap website is full of customer service supervisors trying to dump AKL-LA trips as they don't want the unpleasant task of flying with our [what did you call them? ] "new blood".

The sooner the base is operationally independant of Australian based crew the better AFAIK.

So far removed from the reality of actually what happens on board our aircraft that you surely must be management.

How are those surveys looking again...................:E ?

From the self absorbed employers point of view, why not replace Ozi CCs with cheaper, younger and possibly harder working, less complaining maybe even better looking, image enhancing, marketable CCs. Actually if they could just get enough of you long service veterans to take redundancy they could probably accomplish all of the above by employing young Ozi school leavers instead of having to recruit off shore. ;)

All the hard working young Ozi kids wouldn't then have to go and work for the competition overseas earning tax free money and doing wonders for their adopted airlines image and profitability.

So you see, it's not QF who is making this happen. It's all the long term employees who are so much more expensive, demanding and unionized that are at fault. If you would all just retire once you reached the age of 35 you could help keep jobs in Australia for future generations.:rolleyes:

SHOCK ....and awe
 

OK Shockwave.......can I ask whats your age?????????

If you're so into looks and image as the sole criteria for judging an airline and so keen for the "old timers-35 years" to bail then who is going to manage these people?

You're other mate- "Lower Section" also thinks its time for new blood. Well buddy let me tell you :
You try and manage a group of 6-8 ....19 year olds on a full '400 with no IFE and a few busted toilets en route from AKL-LAX.
You talk about "Veterans" well -these are the ones that put their hands up when the going gets tough. Some of your "Ozi kids" just run and hide in the toilets.

Don't get me wrong.......I've got nothing against a new breed of "young Ozi's coming thru. In fact, I was going to encourage my daughter ( a Uni graduate ) to join for a few years{she is 24 -FYI }. But not now. Under the Howard Govts pathetic IR laws and the QF policy of only recruiting MAM casuals or O/s crew......forget it!!!!:{
Why would any "young Ozi" want to join , when there is no career progression and you are staring down the barrell of CUTS in hard fought conditions.
I would still argue that the best crew we have are those that join us as FULL TIME OZI's-24-28 yrs old (young). They have lived a bit of life, can handle themselves under pressure, work in a Team, have a sense of humour, don't take crap from drunks and can deliver great OZI service that we're famous for......easy!!!

SO THINK...... before making ridiculous , broad , unsubstantiated statements. Because one day you too will reach the ripe old age of 35 and then realise that you're in a career that you love and make a difference for people.
Not all over 35 CC's are -UGLY, LAZY, TIRED , OVER PAID , LEFT WING LOONIES , as you describe.
Me thinks , you're one of those who have been looking out over too many horizons fantasizing about your next "white with one" delivered by a hostie who has the look of "I want your baby" in her eyes.

Go and find your self a mirror and take a long hard look into to the eyes that you see. Shake the sand off your self.
Then go back and read your last post Shockwave.

Ageist, Sexist, Pilot View from the Sandpit
 

Shockwave...wake up camel jockey....this is 2007 not 1907.
After years of getting rid of older employees many American Companies have realised their folly...they are now re employing these people because they are....reliable ...loyal... intelligent...better educated and have a well developed WORK ETHIC.

A little touch of sarcasm
 

Guys n gals, I'll think you'll find Shockwaves post was with a tongue firmly planted in their cheek..............at least that's the way I read it!! :ok:

Either that or Shockwaves suffering from heat exhaustion in the Sahara :E

Fancy an icy cold VB? ;)

Perhaps a little bit of sarcasm was misplaced , with such a touchy subject.

I did not intend for you all to think that my previous post was an expression of my views, but rather an insight as to how many other airlines and now perhaps your own view things differently. Despite what they will admit to in public.

Understanding how your adversary thinks and what his plans are is the only chance you will get to succeed. Burying your heads in the sand will not help.

Age has many benefits, and in this business experience is crucial in many ways. However, not all see it that way. I am way past 35 and my experience keeps me alive on a daily basis, thankfully in my job, my employer agrees.

:ugh:

Shockwave...What the...
 

I am way past 35 and my experience keeps me alive on a daily basis, thankfully in my job, my employer agrees.....

You are obviously some overpaid expat in UAE and have nothing to do with airlines or have any idea what is going on with Qantas or any other airline for that matter. So why post on a thread you have no connection to or any idea of what is going on ? No, this site is not to the exclusion of the non-airline public, but pointless sarcasm and uneducated comment is not going to further the discussion here or create any interesting exchange of viewpoint.
Apart from getting stubby jumbo and lowerlobe all worked up !!

It is pointless to say what my experience is, because it could so easily be B.S.
25 years in the airline business, 9 of those with QF if you believe it.
What I unsuccessfully tried to get you guys to do is view your situation from a different view point. Not mine. Qf is in a very difficult position, with competition coming from all over the world. From places where employees are not protected as they are in OZ, and sexism, racism and exploitation are ignored if not encouraged.

Cabin crew are in general much younger because no one can put up with the life style under those conditions for too many years. Therefore the companies salary bills are lower and they save a fortune. The turn over of crews keeps the average enthusiasm and interest level in the job higher. Or it could be that they are too inexperienced to complain and with no union they will have to work hard or leave. Either way the company wins.

Younger, newer, and cheaper!
Of course that does not necessarily make them as professional or as good at their job as a more experienced crew member, but it also does not preclude it.

If Qf can remove people from the upper levels of your pay scale and replace them with new joiners at the bottom of the pay scale they win big time. If they also happen to employ them from a different country where they will not be subject to OZ labour laws or Unions they will win again.

Your competition already does the same and for QF to survive they have to be able to compete. The alternative is to be subsidized or go out of business.

I do not advocate what is going on, I am just telling you what is.

No problemo Shock wave. I did take Slonghauls advice and downed a few VB's........worked wonders.:ok:

Its just that we're all so OVER this whole "you're OLD-YOU'RE CRAP-YOU'RE TOO EXPENSIVE" BS from Management..... compared to airline X, Y, and Z.

We are probably too sensitive. But we have had a gutful of the Goons that run this joint.
Everywhere you go, from Checkin staff, Baggage, Engineers, Res, Techies,Freight........EVERYONE thinks this place has bleak future,'cause we put in and getting treated like dog turd.

anyways.......

Time for another cold one.:O

Life's too short.;)