Qantas~ A Business in Decline
 

Qantas' International Wreckage
Stephen Bartholomeusz

Alan Joyce has sounded an alarm about the position of Qantas’ international business and by implication foreshadowed major changes to his group’s network and strategies.

In an address to the Melbourne Press Club today the Qantas chief executive made the point that while Qantas’ twin-brand domestic business was very strong and profitable and there was a tremendous opportunity for the Jetstar brand in particular in Asia – Jetstar is the biggest low-cost carrier by revenue in the region already and is growing rapidly – Qantas International was, financially, falling ‘significantly short’’ of where it should be.

While he didn’t say it, it is probable that the international business is losing money despite the rebound in international aviation last year.

Joyce said capacity had flooded into Australia from China, the Middle East and elsewhere with the total growth in direct aviation capacity to Australia rising 39 per cent between 2003 and 2009 despite an increase in total inbound passenger growth of only 10 per cent.

"So that tells us these carriers are not growing the market but simply taking existing demand," he said. As a consequence, Qantas International’s market share had fallen from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.

"As an end-of-the-line carrier serving a market of 22 million people, in a market flooded with so much capacity that our competitors aren’t even using their full quota, we face severe limits to growth," he said.

With the majority of the group’s assets and capital expenditures devoted to its international business that’s not a sustainable position and Joyce said that if Qantas International continued on its current path there would be a real question mark over its viability. He has established a task force headed by one of its most senior executives, Lesley Grant, to explore the options for the business.

One of those options would obviously be a continuation of the existing strategy of using the lower cost Jetstar to displace the Qantas brand and product on unprofitable routes.

Another is to exploit the ability to push more volume through its network, and reduce costs, through the virtual joint ventures it has established or is seeking to establish with its OneWorld allies, particularly British Airways/Iberia and American Airlines.

Joyce also sees an opportunity for his premium brand and Qantas’ freight business in Asia.

Qantas will get a significant reduction in operating and maintenance costs, and a big improvement in fuel efficiency, once it has its full fleet of A380s and the much-delayed B787 Dreamliners in place. The 787s are now scheduled to start arriving towards the end of next year.

It is apparent from the stark nature of Joyce’s warnings about the outlook for Qantas International under the status quo, however, that he is contemplating the prospect of radical changes to create more sustainable foundations for a business that is operating in an inherently uncommercial environment.

It was a convenient illustration of the challenges Qantas faces, albeit a coincidental one, that earlier in the day the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave Virgin Blue its final five-year authorisation of its proposed alliance with Etihad Airways, clearing the way for the crucial plank in John Borghetti’s vision of a virtual international network.

While the deal doesn’t give Virgin Blue access to Qantas’ heartland – the key European ports of London and to a lesser extent Frankfurt – it will divert volume at the margin because the alliance will give Virgin Blue passengers direct access to lesser European destinations. There will also be a domestic market impact as Etihad directs its volume onto Virgin Blue’s domestic network.

Virgin Blue has another alliance with Air New Zealand on the trans-Tasman and is trying to obtain US regulatory clearance for a similar alliance with Delta Air Lines on the trans-Pacific, where the entry of Virgin Blue’s V Australia and Delta have decimated the profitability of what was once one of Qantas International’s most profitable routes. Competition from Asian and Middle East carriers has also undermined the profitability of the key Kangaroo route between Australia and the UK.

Faced with the 360 degree attack on its international business, Qantas at least has Jetstar with which to respond. Jetstar Asia is expanding from its Singapore hub at a frenetic pace as it sees to emerge from the "land grab" that is occurring as the dominant player.

The experience with low cost carriers elsewhere is that first movers have a major advantage that can be turned and cemented into dominance if they are able to create and maintain the biggest network.

That aids the group but doesn’t tackle the problems faced by the core premium brand. Given the structural deficiencies in the global industry and the barriers to the consolidation and capacity rationalisation that would address them, it is going to be a challenging exercise to devise a strategy that enables Qantas to maintain a meaningful international business capable of generating sustainable returns.

I wonder why they are losing to the middle eastern carriers? Could it be they don't have the right equipment?

No-one to blame but themselves.

They put it in a loss making position, and now they are saying it's the groups fault and will punish it by pushing in Jetstar???

Bloody hell.....

You've got to spend money fellas to get back your market share.

Actually when you read Joyce's comments about the Qantas Intl operation he mentions they have set up a group who are looking at investing more money, and growing the intl network into new markets.

Interesting to see if it happens.....

Premium price for an ordinary service. Who would blame the business international market or even the economy passengers in choosing something that has a better service with a lessor ticket price (eg. Cathay, singapore, emirates...etc)

Joyce doesn't have a choice here, he has to be seen as doing something as he is looking like he is increasingly out of his depth.

I think the board are getting worried about the direction at Qantas, and what is being done to the airline and brand. Whether it is justified or not there has been a lot of damage done to the airline in the eyes of the travelling public. The lack of direction in the airline at the moment is monumental. They are stumbling from one disaster to another, and it is making the board look like fools. A declining leisure market hurting Jetstar and increased buisness and international competition hurting Qantas.......whats a CEO to do? Isn't AJ's 3 year contract up soon? ;)

Upcoming EBAs
 

Qantas management knows only one thing and that is cutting costs by reducing wages.It is not and has not been a business run to generate profit for years.By cutting costs it has compromised the product,pissed off the customers,disengaged the employees,deprived shareholders of a dividend and allowed competitors open slather.It took ten years to almost destroy the business.It will take 20 years to resuscitate it.
Upcoming EBAs are going to be tough and if Unions aren't compliant there will be more outsourcing,offshoring and Jetstaring.
Unfortunately for Joyce he needs to re engage his staff.He needs to look closely at how an American Carrier has done exactly that.He also needs a management cleanout.Many of the middle and senior execs have been there since Dixon took over.
Fresh blood.Fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasim.The employees have an enormous pent up loyalty and good will for the icon.Someone smart needs to tap into to it.
Remove the punitive culture and replace it with an inclusive professional contemporary service oriented culture and then wait.
It wont happen overnight but it will happen

read: foreshadowed major changes to his group's pay and conditions, along the line of Jetstar. :E

Is this a severe case of a bad carpenter blaming his tools! The previous goose didnt purchase the 777 and Joyce has been there just over 2 years and nothing has changed. Two ports in Europe , not a hope there against many other carriers who offer not only 15/25 destinations but also 2/3 services a day from Syd/Mlb/Bne and also have full flat business class seats. 747-400s that should have been refurb 3 years ago but dont start until August this year. The business class seat is the only one to Lax direct that doesnt go flat and an IFE thats awful. 737s across to New Zealand the customers hate them but hey who cares , this is Qantas, take it or leave it. And leave it they are, in droves. The 330 an improvement on the poor old 767 internationally but again the incorrect business class seat and trying to do sectors its not built for (Lax/Akl with 30 odd seat blocked out). All in all Mr Joyce, like your predecessor a total failure, the only difference is that you havnt been paid $47 million plus had $100 million odd in fines on your watch.

Dixon's Legacy
 

Old Scrotum Face turned a great airline into a poor business and walked away with a small fortune.
How does a company employee manage to do that and escape accountability?
Something is very very wrong here

The first 15 are going to Jet Star!

Of course.

Must continue to "hobble" Qantas at every opportunity until it's finally dead. :yuk:

Well at last the greatest management team in the world have now acknowledged what has been on this site for a very long time.

The question is whether it is all real or pre EBA so they can maximise their bonuses this year or they are planning a Crapstar expansion.

This lot have done nothing strategic in two years other than spin, so why do you think it is that ME carriers are attacking.

If the rat was strong, renamed Borghetti Int or had a vision for the future they wouldn't get a leg in.

Only themselves and the Board to blame. They had a chance post the raping and pillaging era and they blew it and now it is all our fault for not supporting them, I can see it coming now.

I want them to be strong, I want them to succeed and I want them to run all other players out of town but I wont fly what they are offering even with some great CC.

This is not a staff problem it is a management one and they don't seem to get it that we are talking about THEM.

I live in hope!!!

Ben Sandilands thoughts on the comic tragedy that is Qantas Mismanagement.
 

Just what bad news is Qantas preparing us for?
February 3, 2011 – 8:41 pm, by Ben Sandilands

Only 14 days before the Qantas half year to December 31 results are released its CEO Alan Joyce has raised a few eyebrows concerning ‘what we are about to receive’ in an address to the Melbourne Press Club today.

Stephen Bartholomeusz at Business Spectator (part of the portfolio of on line publications that hosts Plane Talking) went directly to the point in his report today.

Alan Joyce has sounded an alarm about the position of Qantas’ international business and by implication foreshadowed major changes to his group’s network and strategies.In an address to the Melbourne Press Club today the Qantas chief executive made the point that while Qantas’ twin-brand domestic business was very strong and profitable and there was a tremendous opportunity for the Jetstar brand in particular in Asia – Jetstar is the biggest low-cost carrier by revenue in the region already and is growing rapidly – Qantas International was, financially, falling ‘significantly short’’ of where it should be.

While he didn’t say it, it is probable that the international business is losing money despite the rebound in international aviation last year.

When the CEO of a major brand, and a stock followed by many institutional investors, says, as Bartholomeusz points out, that a major part of its business isn’t looking viable, the timing of that guidance cannot fail to be significant.

Joyce said that if Qantas International continued on its current path there would be a real question mark over its viability.

He has also embraced Qantas CEO tradition by blaming geography and the competition from the likes of Singapore Airlines and Emirates, yet made in the delivered speech only passing reference to some of the core problems for which he and his immediate predecessors are responsible.

There is no doubt Qantas was right to select the Boeing 787 Dreamliner as the principal change driver in its network, product and operational efficiencies on the deal presented to it at the end of 2005.

But the neglect of its fleet strategy when it became really painfully obvious in 2008 that the project was in trouble is unforgivable. Qantas is stuck with 747s that are less reliable and more costly to maintain as they age well behind their scrap date, and this is true for its 767s too.

There were good accounting arguments for getting rid of its engine shop that looked after the Rolls-Royce engines on most of those 747s in favor of a Rolls-Royce centre of ‘excellence’ in Hong Kong. But the arguments were never informed by the ability of the Qantas Rolls-Royce RB211 shop to make those engines work superbly well under the service conditions required by the long range operations that characterise its Qantas 747 services more than those of any other carrier.

Qantas failed to test its cost cutting solutions against the needs of preserving its brand reputation and operational excellence. It is questionable what net benefits it has achieved when other carriers have managed to achieve efficiencies with strategies that were more fleet and product focused. And which did not appear to be tied to an annual bonus centric management culture.

What Qantas has done with the outsourcing of the heavy maintenance of the RB-211s amounts to self harm, and thanks to the continued delays to the 787, they are going to be a risk to the brand for some time to come, as are the ancient Cityflyer 767s.

Qantas has also been reluctant to improve its network to provide one stop flights to a wide range of European cities, clinging to a policy of expecting customers to backtrack to continental cities via London Heathrow. Which is downright nasty.

Later this month Virgin Blue’s V Australia long haul operation leaps over Qantas in this regard by sending 777s to Abu Dhabi to connect to continental and other middle eastern and central Asian cities on Etihad flights.

Jetstar has recently announced that it will offer full service meals and baggage allowances for no extra charge to passengers making connections to many of its flights in Singapore and through oneworld alliance codeshares in general. This is capable of being interpreted as a strategy to upgrade its low cost unit to a competitive standard, which would be a very popular outcome.

But that leaves even the more loyal Qantas customers to ponder just what the role of the parent airline is really going to be in a few years time.

It is quite apparent that Joyce is looking for a change of trajectory for Qantas, notwithstanding the success claimed for a cross subsidised Jetstar that is eating the guts out of the parent carrier.

Where will this end?

Iceland volcano
Heathrow snow
A380 engine explosion

Hasn't been a good financial year.

Yes and what will that be used as justification to do ?

AJ gives the game away in these few words.. it's all positive about J* and all Brand Qs fault. It's obvious that J* is still his baby and it's all he knows.

Yep agree, I remember when Q announced QF 5/6 SYD/FRA will be moved from BKK to SIN (when I was based in Thailand) and a good friend who was a station manager for a large EU carrier said "Das is crazy, QF have shot themselves in the foot." He went on to say, QF are crazy to put all their eggs in the Singapore basket for the Qantas brand, and they will let the ME carriers pick up the slack via BKK to Oz. (now daily EK 418/19 to give one example.) Qantas had a great name in Thailand and he saw BKK as a growth center for Q mainline. He knew many of his airlines pax preferred Qantas from BKK to FRA, he was grateful for the free business gift. He felt at the time BKK was geographically better placed for QF one stops to Europe for Australian and European premium passengers. His reason, pax prefer the shorter flying time from say LHR to BKK rather than the extra time on to SIN. From the day QF 5/6 moved to SIN, BKK was served by QF1/2 only, hard to get a seat either direction, and nobody enjoyed the scrum at the check in shared by BA at Bangkok. EK had a walk up dream run.

As time went by with the advent of J* Asia, my friend glad of the extra business provided by Qantas on the FRA sector suggested that it would be good if J* serviced Chiang Mai direct from Australia and moved some QF mainline flights back via BKK from SIN. His reason, Some major European airlines once served BKK and SIN using the same aircraft. The BKK SIN sectors became unprofitable and were dropped. Also his data suggested Singapore as a tourist destination has lost its shine in preference to Thailand Cambodia and Vietnam. BKK had became a better transit point for these growing markets. I asked "why J* to Chiang Mai?" The answer, J* looks good in SIN with the setup it has, he simply believed if J* was already serving SIN BKK why not connect with CNX and have the best of both worlds, the premium and the leisure markets operating via two of SE Asia's major hubs, SIN and BKK. J* could expand one stops from CNX & SIN.

I think we all agree, QF International is an icon airline in the aviation world, built up over the years by some "proud old builders," sure it has been through some bad patches over its long history, but not like we have had to endure over the past seven or eight years (imho; directionless me me me management) leading to the market share it has today, a smidgen under 20%.
QF & J * are totally different products and should be treated as such.

that's my two cents worth. cheers :)

Qantas Exodus
 

Why have all the smart QF managers left?.
Roger Lindeman being possibly the smartest.
The smart managerial talent has left and gone primarily to Virgin.
They left because they have seen the writing on the wall.
Go back over the qantas threads on PPrune over the last few years.
Most of these threads were initiated by Qantas employees who could see from their grass roots vantage point that things were detiorating.
No one really listended
They are bloody well listening now
Its too bloody late

Stating The Far King Obvious
 

Joyce said the Qantas Group had set up a task force to explore options that would invigorate the business, generate new and profitable markets, and protect jobs and assets. "Qantas is a great international airline. It is time we looked at opportunities to become a great global airline."

This guy has a PHd in pure maths and he spits out crap like that!!
No wonder the joint is in trouble
The guys in transport could have told him that five years ago

This is where serious moves will be made to start winding Q international up and, at the same time, expanding Jstar.

And sometime soon, Jstar will start flying a premium international service under the Qantas livery.

That is the only conclusion I can draw from that speech.

...still single,

Is this the way the present Management see the way around the Sale of Qantas Act which restricts Qantas but apparently not Jetstar in terms of Foreign Ownership levels?


Mike

QANTAS boss Alan Joyce wants a moratorium on new international flights into Australia, claiming the flood of new airlines has crippled Qantas International.

Joyce told a Melbourne Press Club luncheon yesterday: "If we continue on our current path there will be a real question mark over the viability of Qantas International."


So it's ok to set up brands in other countries and undermine Australian working conditions by having foreign labour operate through australia,"to remain competitive," but cry fowl when the going gets tough. Take your bat and ball and go home AJ and BB.

The cannibilzation of Qantas by J* was something the arrogant management said would never happen. The gifting of routes services and infrastructure to the orange plague is proving to be the obvious implosion of Qantas. There has been some bad luck but its our direction and leadership void that is the problem. Thanks to Dixon the biggest single blunder, not buying 777s, then followed by the morale busting APA bid which has to go down in history as a corporate disgrace worthy of ACCC investigation. The continual transfer of costs out of J* and onto Qantas is obvious. Who will pay when the A330s start returning after being flogged to death with minimal maintenance? There are lots of people that for some reason hate Qantas and would love to see it fail or fall from grace. In spite of the idiotic management I will play my part to try and keep it alive. I despise the management's direction of our airline but love its history and the people I work with. When you constantly threaten people's livelihood with an infantile overbearing management culture why would the wankers at the top be surprised like they are. Because they have no idea. The board. chaiman and ceo must go.

Joyce the New Godfrey????
 

What seems to be becoming more and more obvious to the business commentators/community and possibly even the Qantas board is that Joyce has delivered nothing to the mainline brand to stop its decline. He has disengaged his staff and just looks completely out of his depth. One would say almost Godfrey like. :{
JB knows exactly the cost of everything Qantas. He knows their Achilles heal and he is setting up his chess board. It has been said before and I will say it again. The Q board picking Joyce over Borghetti will come back to haunt them. All the qantas staff who know and dealt with JB knew this. I think the board are starting to see it also.

Dixon & now Joyce constantly complain about QF's lack of competitive edge due to Australia being an end of the line destination. This may well be true but also true is the positive aspect of Australia's geography & financial stability.
Australia's geography means it has a large advantage due to the domestic market (which after 2001 they had the whole country on a platter & failed to capitalize). Also Australia's economy has been shielded like no other on the planet over the last 10 years.
Time for new CEO, chairman & a complete change of culture is required.
Can someone please give a sound financial reason why Jetstar is receiving the first 15 B787's. Average fleet age of 747's & 767's must be close to 20 years. No wonder premium passengers are leaving in droves.
Why is Qantas so Sydney centric? Isn't Melbourne's population meant to exceed Sydney's over the coming decade?

Sydney Centric
 

438 Are you "Sunfish's" love child ? :p

It's unbelievable that AJ is now scratching his head about where Qantas is going!
Milking the brand, allowing the business to slide and now wondering whats going wrong is laughable.
But hang on, giving LG the job to find a miracle answer is positively hysterical!
The problem with Qantas is that Commercial have been running it for years. The company was built by Operations. The brand, reputation..everything and still they think the answer is more self check in kiosks.
AJ, save the money with LG and simply buy the right aircraft for the right route, get the staff on side and you'll have a good starting point. Good Lord, engaged staff would lift productivity by 20/30% easy. Numbers that AJ can't imagine.
You know, a simplistic post like this seems well...simple. However the monumental and basic mistakes this lot have made make any suggestion seem plausible.

Although I agree the long haul product to be well below the mark of many of the other foreign carriers
Surely all the doom and gloom has nothing at all to do with the long haul EA negotiations?
This will make the pilot group seem like a selfish bunch if they want any improvements in T&C!

Roo Boy,

Maybe a company going well is under more pressure to share the wealth than one facing uncertain future.Ask any of the union reps here.

Well worn tactic of management (not just in the rat) to justify low/no increases and releasing this now may just be a lead up play.

Who knows with this lot as I have long given up trying to understand what they are doing.

From the Australian
 

Isn't that just another way of describing Jetstar?

Geeeze, does AJ know he's upsetting people here by talking down Qantas? What a "Qantas basher"!!!!!

Joyce: A cliche under Pressure
 

Joyce could be reading from a Dixon script.Same woe is me.Same lament about costs and geography and the lack of a level playing field.
EBAs on the way.
This is a man who promised so much and has delivered so little.The guy is under pressure.If he leaves QF with no runs on the board,where does he go?He has no idea how to generate profit or compete.He wants a moratorium on new entrants into Australia.C'mon on Al get with the programme.Be innovative.Be smarter than your competitors and re invigorate the brand.
What's that you say? You dont know how?
Oops! Old Chesty Bond wont be happy.This was supposed to be the dream run before retirement

You have a board chairman and ceo who simply don't believe in what qantas is or can be. They have no answers or ideas in how to use hard working staff for the betterment of the company.
Their solution is an attempt to smash the corporate culture and terms and conditions of every front line staff member. Not so long ago, during the dixon reign, markets said what a great result the $1 billion dollar profit was. The two brand strategy was in its infancy. Progress through to present day, qantas competitiors are all suggesting a big rebound in corporate traffic, better yields and greatly improved profits. Look at cathays recent annnouncements as an example.
Compare this to qantas now. The two brand strategy has delivered a number of things. A reduction in international market share, an mainline fleet that is old and dysfunctional in types for markets, a dangerous heamorrhaging of higher yield passengers to true premium airlines, complete disinterest in providing a good product for families and the average punter, ie. economy passengers and overall a dramatic reduction in profits in comparison to other peer airlines in the region.
One has to wonder when corporate share holders will start asking bigger questions of the board and ceo's performance. Certainly the greater market has no real faith in the board performance if share price is any indication.
The next 6 months will probably be a watershed when it comes to the direction qantas corporate wants to go.
EBA negotiations with a number of professional bodies who have signalled their displeasure with the direction and views of those who lead, by delivering to them the worst engagement survey results in australian corporate history should make it interesting to say the least.
Messers Joyce and Clifford will no doubt roll out the 1960's industial rleations rhetoric in the up coming stoushes but this just shows how misaligned they are with the people who truly believe in where qantas should be at, at this time.

Plenty of feeback here, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says airline needs to rebuild its brand and whilst plenty of QANTAS bashing, they might just be genuine flyers who have had a bad experience and can say what some of the issues are. Example, Neil Perry, FF and lack of seats, JetStar, the Board, Joyce etc.

Maybe he could save some money and just read some forums to understand what the issues are?

Good post hotnhigh. Its time for the combinded Qantas unions to get together publicly and put out a motion of no confidence in the board and senior management, then follow that up with visits to the major share holders and explain to them that on the current trajectory there probably wont be much left for them in 5 years.

Plain PlaneTalking
 

Qantas, Joyce and the bleeding obvious
It is astonishing and disappointing to read this morning’s reports of Alan Joyce’s pre-half yearly results softening up speech in Melbourne yesterday.
After two years of very hard and earnest work as CEO of Qantas Joyce is still talking about working parties to work out how to fix the airline’s long haul business and rebuild its brand and the evils of open competition with wicked foreign carriers stealing its lunch, to paraphrase.
Surely it isn’t necessary to have a working party to fix the airline’s image or product. Properly cleaning the cabins of the sort of filth that filled the gap between the floor and wall of the last Qantas 767 I flew in would be a start. People do look at the muck under their feet.
And they would like to fly in something that isn’t approaching a moment when it is either flown to the Qantas Museum in Longreach or a scrap yard. The assumption that if a Qantas service isn’t available Jetstar is an acceptable alternative is surely an error. Jetstar is probably the major source of new business for Virgin Blue.
The evidence that Jetstar might be about to move upmarket, by feeding the occasional interlined backpacker, is a mixed signal, but on balance, probably a positive.
One is entitled to hope that Joyce has some good news concerning the airline’s fleet renewal strategies at the half yearly results conference on February 17. Another nine years or so of its once wonderful but now dysfunctional 747-400 fleet is just not on, and the removal of the old 767s and 737-400s is even more pressing.
The recent and apparently soon to be reversed jamming of tiny seven across seats in its A330 domestic business class cabins (and for the second time) is as clear a sign as any that somewhere near the top of Qantas there is product planning with a deep contempt for quality, or a belief that the brand can blind. The rationale for the change was that the jets would be interchangeable with Jetstar in terms of configuration, which is a damning admission.
But the weirdest message to come out of yesterday’s preliminary softening up exercise was the implication that Australia should curb competition so that Qantas could catch up with a whole series of initiatives taken by its evil competitors.
Qantas doesn’t even fly non-stop to Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the centres of darkness yet also the only hub airports in the world growing as fast as those of China. In the very near future there will, on current trends, be more premium passengers passing through the upper level of the Emirates terminal in Dubai than there are passengers flying Qantas in aggregate. If Qantas isn’t prepared to see and recognise the major new markets, and the convenience they bring to flying to secondary cities in Europe and the growth centres of China, what exactly is the Qantas message?
Apparently it wants to stop competitors running in a race it isn’t prepared to enter.
But what is good for Qantas is not good for Australia. The country needs non-stop flights to ‘minor’ Chinese cities that are larger than Sydney and Melbourne, and sometimes both combined, and it needs one stop Middle East connections to North Africa, Russia and the eastern European nations that do not involve absurd connections in London on British Airways flights.
The old thinking that grips the Qantas corporate mind continues to frustrate and baffle those who fly.
The new non-stop services to Dallas Fort Worth are very promising. But they come with the sacrifice of what were full flights to San Francisco in the process, which were claimed to be carrying insufficient business passengers. Really. Try multiplying 300 economy fares to San Francisco and putting them beside 50 premium fares and the maths seem to suggest that it doesn’t matter because the main cabin is cross subsidising the business class seats anyhow.
To suggest to business travellers going to Silicon Valley that they should now change planes in Los Angeles for the thrill of a second encounter with US airport security, and spend an extra three or four hours getting to their destination is really insulting. Most of them will be lost to Qantas and gained by United, Hawaiian, Delta, V Australia and Air New Zealand. How can this possibly be of benefit to Qantas?
The Qantas departure from San Francisco is the perfect opportunity for Singapore Airlines to offer a daily 777-300ER non-stop from Sydney or Melbourne, to fill the gap, and also restore some credibility to Australian government policy that in effect, reneged on an agreement to let the Singaporeans fly the non-stop Australia-US routes.
If Qantas is waiting for a non-stop capable 787 to operate to San Francisco under the Jetstar brand we are all going to be much older when it happens. There may be 787s by the end of 2013, please God that’s only five years later than promised, but there is no sign they will be capable of the performance required for 313 passengers non-stop each way and ETOPS 180 ready by then.
There are alarming signs that Qantas actually believed the marketing and did not inquire as to the reality of the 787. And as far as being unhappy with Rolls-Royce over the non-disclosure of what was or wasn’t happening to those engines on the wings of Qantas A380s, what did it expect from signing away the necessary levels of control over these engines in a forget-everything-and-buy-power-by-the-hour deal?
Surely the answer to Qantas problems isn’t bleating about more successful competitors, or the misfortunes of geography, but investing in the right equipment and the right people.

Just heard on ABC News that apparently Jetstar is doing 9%, therefore, total market share for the Qantas "group" is 29% including Jetstar.

Meaning they have given away 9% to Jetstar and only lost 6%.

They have given away 25% of their international flying to Jetstar !

Qantas~ The Flying Circus
 

Dixon and Joyce have succeeded in turning Qantas into a circus.If this wasnt so serious it would be entertaining
Maybe we should give Monty Python a shot at running Qantas.He certainly couldnt do any worse than this lot and he would probably be a lot cheaper and morale would improve instantly

Defcon,

Agree but that depends on pending and exit bonus payments and we all know the rats history on that score for the elite group.

Maybe by stepping up scrutiny now, those negotiations if and when they occur can be held with a similar background to what this lot are trying to do now with eba.

Guess I am dreaming again and need to step up my medication.

i don't need to comment on this thread. I spelled it out before. Qantas alienated everyone not living in Sydney, then screwed its brand further by inventing Jetstar, then alienated everyone further by outsourcing maintenance overseas with the normal consequences. Then compounded that by acting as if the part of the brand that built its reputation is a "legacy airline". Then tried to take the company private in the most stupid way possible. Then it did everything possible to find cheaper foreign staff and sever its connections with an Australian workforce.

And now complains that life is tough? Please explain why protecting an airline that is contemptuous of its Australian roots and never met a cheap foreign worker it didn't like is in Australias interest?

Hang On!!! Nobody has even mentioned the disastrous A380 purchase. This is the biggest single factor in my opinion that has led to the demise of this once great airline. Half full , half reliable, half of what was promised !!!
There is No great world airline traffic recovery forecast that will substantiate the continued use of the A380 in my book. The longer these are held by the company the more they will suffer financially. Sell 'em & buy 777 sized twins , & preferably , get back to "Going Boeing" .

Dragon man, I agree with the idea of a combined employee group stategy to deliver the message to institutional shareholders but they also need to be aware of alternatives.
What alternatives? Well, simply they either want qantas in the future or they want it dead. The replacement of course is jetstar. Unfortunately for the board, their plans to make jetstar australia, big enough to simply bring the red paint out after a period and call everthing the remodelled qantas, has struck a few major roadblocks over the last 18 months. This in turn has forced the change in position to overseas basings, and as a result, a reduction in long term growth factors for aussie based jetstar crews.
This now leaves their game plan for remodelling qantas up the creek, because they no longer have the vehicle to use in australia due to few changes to the fair work choices legislation and also the qantas sales act.
As a result, the destruction of the qantas international product/yield/morale of staff and all else that qantas employees are fully aware of, has been exaserbated by the lack of conviction to work with the current operation to evolve, invest and improve.
The idea of a no confidence vote may create a headline for one day but the board and ceo will simply dismiss it with their usual arrogance and contempt for front line qantas employees.
Sadly I think we are looking into the precipice of something really nasty. Qantas is in a very bad position at the moment and the ceo and board don't have the answers.
Message to the ceo, get over the fact that an A380 costs "x" dollars compared to a jetstar 320. You are either in the business of long haul or you are not. Come to grips with the fact that the lack of investment since the geoff dixon reign, has all but destroyed your premium market. Passengers are pissed off with the crap aircraft, poor schedules and the excuses. The higher yielding punters in qantas, in all classes don't believe in the jetstar revolution. That is why they are now leaving in droves. And finall your state of the art bag check in does nothing more than provide an insight into the whole corporate startegy. The passenger does everything. There are limited staff to assist. Where is the customer service in that?
And finally, there must be something extremely wrong with your surveys because you keep trumpeting on about customer satisfaction ratings and yet you preside over a train wreck when it comes to falling premium traffic.

Rant over. Saturday is another tattslotto draw. Please, oh please.