I think we all know who the sciolist is here.

Hcmcmclown:

Who is the sciolist here?

{sci·o·lism (s-lzm) = A pretentious attitude of scholarship; superficial knowledgeability.}

Anyway in Australia we would just call you a smart@rse. Now fcuk off and drink your pretentious coffee and leave us in peace.

heh heh, you've obviously never had cafe sua da :)

HMASassclown, isnt 'Cafe Sua Da' the coffee that men with small weiner's drink, hoping it will increase the length and girth of their undersized member ?
Would explain why you like it so much.

'Cafe Sua Spoonter' anyone ?

Getting back on topic, the Board and Management of Qantas that have gotten it into its current situation are, by definition, not the people that will get it out of this mess.

I note for example, the arrival of the 747 - 800 at the Paris airshow.

Why ferchrissake did QF go for the A380 instead of the B777 followed by a migration to the - 800 and 787?

Boeing used to be really good at packaging up a comprehensive fleet renewal plan that started with B737's and progressed through the whole fleet - all for one low price ;) I assume Airbus would do exactly the same thing....

Why then does QF have such a mixed fleet? Is it possible that QF execs like visiting Europe more than Seattle or now St Louis?

What would the QF A380 production line slots be worth today? Is it too late? Alternatively, so as not to start an Airbus vs Boeing session, what are the QF 787 slots worth?

Yes Sunfish thanks to google, I just looked at when QANTAS announced the 787 order and the board members at the time.

The order:
On Dec. 13, 2005, Qantas decided to purchase up to 115 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, valued at roughly $10 billion at list prices.

The Board:
Margaret Jackson was appointed to the Board in Aug 2000,
(I also found this piece at the same time )http://theferalchook.com.au/news_detail.php?id=317
Geoff Dixon was appointed to the Board in August 2000,
Peter Gregg was appointed to the Board in Sept 2000,
John Schubert was appointed to the Board in October 2000,
Paul Anderson was appointed to the Board in Sept 2002 ,
Patricia Cross was appointed to the Board in January 2004,
James Packer was appointed to the Board in March 2004,
Garry Hounsell was appointed to the Qantas Board in January 2005,
Peter Cosgrove was appointed to the Qantas Board in July 2005,
Mike Codd was appointed to the Board in Jan 1992,
Jim Kennedy was appointed to the Board in October 1995,

Only Cross, Hounsell and Cosgrove are still on it and yet the current group have done nothing (it appears) to address the 787 or 777 issues.

Maybe they are looking at Paris Air show | Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet touches down

Sunfish wrote

That, Sunfish, is what many think when you start and harp irrationally about QF's route structure etc. :E:E

What goes around goes around!!

Ken B:

Kenny baby; I have news for you; it's not just me harping about your route structure.

My concerns were and are grounded in the economic fact that direct international air links are a critical consideration in attracting international business investment into cities and states, and that Qantas, both before and after privatization was hopelessly biased towards a Sydney - centric network paradigm, to the detriment of Brisbane and Melbourne.

As for ASK's, fuel loads, revenue and yield etc, etc. I know not, and you won't hear me carping about those issues.

Sunfish , pontificating again , Yawwwwnnnnnn1

I am pretty sure that Ken B and onanist1974 are married, and if they aren't I am sure they will be soon as they certainly come from the same redneck bloodline and have several chromosones missing.

Ben Sandilands to be on 2ue 954 in Sydney in the next few minutes.

For those that missed it, nothing new.

Interviewer:

* No positive Qantas stories in years.
* Qantas brand & name use to be everywhere, now it's not.
* No positive Qantas presence in Australia.
* Projects the Qantas brand won't carry the weight it use to.
* Qantas will only be a name in the future, not a brand or Icon.
* Qantas will be nothing to be proud of.

Ben S:

* Will probably see a Qantas branded airline in Asia.
* Expanded alliances with foreign carriers
* Cutting unprofitable International routes, to focus on trunk routes only.
* Feels that Qantas doesn't value the QF brand as much as that of J*
* Stated AJ didn't take any questions at the national Press club regarding the transfer of assets from Qantas to Jetstar.
* The Qantas group has a "fixation" on Jetstar.

MC

Read more: Skytrax airline awards 2011 | Qatar world's best airline

So, no doubt AJ will state that the 8th placing as a positive and ignore that

Quote:

---

The airline has dropped every year since 2008

---

No doubt AJ will talk up that

Quote:

---

Jetstar was rated third-best for the region

---

3rd best for what? AJ must have filled in plenty of voting cards whilst he was in hospital.


No doubt AJ will talk up the fact that

Quote:

---

Jetstar was named the best low-cost carrier for Australia-Pacific

---

and there is how many in the region?

I think this is a good clue as to where he's heading

http://malaysiaairlines.listedcompan...-Alliance1.jpg

My loyal subjects….

Back on track, how to improve the place?

1 - Bring back a staff suggestion scheme with REAL incentives…not the insipid and degrading Excel Awards…..restaurant vouchers, percentage of the saving…etc
2 - Get the LAME's and AME's doing tasks such as warranty and OH&S out of the office and back on the tools. Create permanent, full-time, REAL, positions and if those people want them they can apply for them and get the appropriate salary.
3 - When engineers go overseas for work…pay them their overtime ASAP. Don't sit on the form and quibble about 50c like certain Ops managers are inclined to do.
4 - Get rid of Ops managers and give the D.E.'s their power back. We really don't need both.
5 - Give promotional control back to a peer group like it 'used' to be…well, kinda!! These HR driven interviews tend to promote the best ones at talking the required dribble. The HR driven process has it's place but it sure isn't the be all and end all. If you are to give DMM's their power back you need one's with lots of experience to make the big calls.
6 - Merge Team380 into base ASAP….both sides need it for their own good.
7 - If you want to do heavy maintenance in Sydney then re-open Heavy, don't expect Base to do it on nightshift…you're asking for trouble.
8 - Cut down on the ancillary paperwork. If we didn't have to do endless SIN's, tool to task, memos, read about Fred in accounting getting a new job, etc etc we might actually have time to do our work….and partsmart….don't get me started on how we do the accountant's job to justify our own redundancies…..

there are many more….I just need caffeine to trigger them!!

Yours in Orangeness,

William of Orange :eek:

Australian Aviation
 

Great interview with Borghetti in current edition of AA.What a professional,not too big for his boots to value views of employees,answers straight to the point & is not scared to admit what being 'AUSTRALIAN' means.
Not hard to see why negotiations with this guy produce a result!!
Any thoughts Steve??

Qantas offers free Sydney-Dallas business class upgrade (and yes, there's a catch)

In brief: Heading to Dallas in August or September this year or December to March 2012? Want to book a premium economy fare on Qantas' 747-400 and get a free bump into business class?
That's the deal on offer from Qantas and American Express. Book a premium economy return ticket in July for the QF7-QF8 services between Sydney and Dallas/Forth Worth, with travel from August 1 to September 30 or December 2 to March 31 2012, and for one of those two legs you'll be upgraded to business class.
You'll find all the details at https://enroll.amexnetwork.com/US/QAN07-001.

Now here's the bad news: according to the fine print, this promotion is limited to American Express cards issued in the USA.

Well, it's good news if you happen to have a US-issued Amex card. But we'd much rather see this great deal offered to Qantas' Australian customers... you know, the ones that Alan Joyce complains are not flying in sufficient numbers on the Red Roo?

:ugh:

Qantas offers free Sydney-Dallas business class upgrade (and yes, there's a catch...) - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

Sorry, I can't resist:

Qantas offers free Noumea stop-over on Dallas-Brisbane route :}

Yes I know, I'll show myself out, thanks...

How the hell can the Dallas route be profitable operating a 747 ER at max range with a maximum of only 280 pax allowed. Have not checked the fares yet but it can't be cheap if it's to make a profit. Maybe an honest and ruthless eye should be cast at the genius who thought of this route.

To the Qantas Board, institutional investors and management
 

I strongly recommend you pick up the July Australian Aviation Magazine. You, the Board, lost the opportunity to select the right candidate for CEO. You failed to reward a man with 30 years of loyal service, a man committed to improving Qantas Mainline. Instead, you chose the protégé of a man who would’ve helped dismember QF, a man who spoke of Qantas mainline as “legacy” instead of “premium”; a man who did not believe in the word “morale”; a man who left his workforce disengaged. You chose a man who talked the talk on re-engaging with staff, but is not walking the walk and has instead fallen back on the methods of his mentor. You chose a man on whose watch the share price has retreated below issue price. You have a responsibility to the shareholder: pay a dividend and/or provide capital growth, sustainably and consistently. On this man’s watch the shareholder has received neither.

Here are a few quotes from the man you cast aside. Contrast this with the man you chose: a foreigner whose CV contains the word “Ansett” – a word synonymous with “senior management failure”; a man who ran an airline not satisfied with sucking at the teat of it’s mother but ate of it’s flesh, and continues to do so. You, the investor, must start asking questions about your investment: accounting methods, IR strategy, staff engagement, fleet decisions, route decisions, cabin config decisions, short-sighted management remuneration methods.

You, the senior management, need to get out of your office and follow Borghetti’s example: talk to the people on the front line. Don’t listen to the filtered, massaged and glossed versions of the corrupted, narcissistic, self-serving, incompetent and nepotistic among the mostly honest and hard-working lower and middle management. You, the vast majority of lower and middle management must disown the dishonest, short-sighted, and strategically flawed policies, methods and practices rammed down your throats by those above you: that includes the internationally discredited short-term KPI remuneration policy. There are better ways to be remunerated, ways that encourage the long-term survival of the airline without foregoing financial reward.

The following posts are extracts from an interview with Mr John Borghetti, the man who has sworn to rip a 20% hole in the most significant part of one half of the two remaining profitable arms of the Qantas Group: domestic business class.

On recognising staff:
 

“So whilst we had to cope with all these events [floods, cyclones, computer shutdowns, downgrading, fuel, currency] we didn’t let them get in the way of doing what we did [ the Game Change Strategy] and the only reason we have been able to do it is frankly we have a great team, and by a team of people I don’t mean in management, but we have a great team of employees and staff and that make the job a little bit easier. To be honest I’m staggered at what we have achieved given the hurdles that have been thrown at us, and I’m immensely proud of what we have done.”

“These guys are fantastic. I’ve said it a hundred times but I really mean it, these cabin crew are brilliant…. And if you look at the pilots… they are a very professional bunch of guys and girls, and you just let them do it…”

By contrast AJ makes cabin crew redundant, calls Qantas engineers “rogues” and pilots “kamikazes”.

On leading, and making sure your people follow you:
 

“…the first month of my role was really getting to know who is who and all the rest of it… then you had to formulate a strategy and bring everyone along with it.”


“I’m sure there has been [resistance] in quarters, but it’s my job and my management team’s to bring people along.”

On engagement and leadership:
 

“If you said to me what are the two things that you think you are blessed with…, I have to say the brand… And the second thing is… the engagement of the staff. These guys are hungry for the changes that we are making, almost as much as I am, if not more. And any CEO that walks into a company and has got… great staff who are totally engaged and want to make the changes, you are there. The rest you should be able to manage.”

On listening to your people before embarking on change strategies:
 

“I was very fortunate because whilst I had a strategy in mind, when I walked in I also spent two months from the day of appointment to the day of strting travelling around the network talking with staff and learning the business. And what I found was the feedback that I was getting from the cabin crew, pilots, ground handling staff, some of their recommendations, some of their thoughts on what the airline should do, are identical to what I was doing… By the time I started almost half of my strategy had already been validated by the staff, so then it was just a question of continuing to talk with staff and keeping them in the loop as to what we were doing as much as possible.”

On dealing with resistance to change and differing opinions:
 

“With 7,000 people you will always get somebody who doesn’t agree with you, and that is a good thing, because you want to hear why they don’t agree with you because they might actually have a better idea and you should listen.”

On consistency:
 

“…if you say ‘what is running a good airline all about?’ [the answer is], obviously safety is number one, that’s a given, but it is all about consistency and it’s all about detail. You have to be consistent with whatever you do and you have to look at the detail, because your customer does…”

That doesn’t mean having a gazillion aircraft types in your fleet with a gazillion and ten different interiors and IFE systems.

I am an engineer. It is company policy to provide a thorough handover at shift change. Yet managers can walk away. Promises are forgotten or broken. Strategies are changed for no good reason. etc etc.

On giving people autonomy, the ability to think for themselves
 

“We are wanting people to feel like they are individuals, whether they are working for us or as customers. So that requires a number of things… a change to the training process, changes to the management process, and communication and everything else… We don’t have to be black or white like most airlines, we can be grey. I keep saying, we can walk and chew gum at the same time, and you do that by not giving a narrow definition to staff, you give them parameters by which they can flex to a certain degree, and that’s what we are doing.”

On the “Australia” on the side of your aircraft actually meaning something:
 

“The second part of the brand is ‘Australia’, and I think we are Australian, we employ Australians, and it is therefore our duty… to ensure that we do as much work onshore as possible in Australia.”

“I know a lot of people are thinking that offshoring is the way to go for the future – I don’t believe that. How can you have the word ‘Australia’ on the fuselage and do that? It just doesn’t make sense, so what have we done to prove that? Well we have just made a big commitment in building a hangar in Sydney so we can do maintenance here – some of that work was going overseas.”

“So with brand I think it is important that the words you use you have to live by, because if you don’t people will see through it.”

On the effect of deals on customer relations:
 

“I always say that you forget the customer at your peril in any deal that you do, doesn’t matter what the deal is, whether it’s an alliance deal or a union deal… if you don’t think about the customer while you are doing that deal, you will regret it at some time.”

Contrast that with QF IR policy: inconvenience the customer instead of taking up the ALAEA offer of minimising disruptions with overtime; or hurt the shareholder by paying scabs at rates much higher than the LAMEs on overtime.

Quick Random Sample

QF Syd-Sin today, 4 seats available between a 744 and an A380, Mel-sin 1 seat spare on the 380, 1 seat on the 744 to LAX tomorrow.

International not making money?!

Give me a break...

New management please.....NOW :(

Common Reg, Just because the metal is full doesn't mena there is enough to pay all the fines, fund the consultants, fight the unions, piss off the staff, fund Jstar, fund former CEO tax equalisation schemes, set up new offshore venture to save money and oh yes pay the bonuses AND yes we have another one...recapitalise JV.

Makes the wages seem irrelevant really doesnt it.

Please someone put this lot out of their misery and let us hear some good news.

I see Skytrax now say QF is not a quality approved airline. No doubt this is due to the Joyce cutbacks on cabin service service generally and no hot breakfasts on International.

I understand meat sandwiches a week out of date were served yesterday on a Domestic flight.

Lots of meals are pre prepared and frozen. Sangers... no idea but the attendants have reported problems with frozen meals.

B772
 

"I see Skytrax now say QF is not a quality approved airline. No doubt this is due to the Joyce cutbacks on cabin service service generally and no hot breakfasts on International"
QF has refused to be audited by Skytrax for a number of years now:yuk:

the picture tells it all
 

Would love to know more about his this guy was 'bumped' from J class onto Jetstar?

Love the logo...

Qantas bumps the wrong person, an ad man who drew this | Plane Talking

can Crikey allow the logo to be used within certain locations?
would love to see it around the traps!

Was it BS ?

See below:

I notice that there are NO speakers from Qantas. Surprise surprise.

Will any Qantas management be attending? :ugh:

Australian Financial Review presents:

Leadership Conference 2011:

Making Good Management Stick

Tue 16 Aug 2011

Sofitel Sydney Wentworth

Effective leaders know that good management makes for a profitable enterprise. With new Australian research providing a compelling financial argument for sustaining good management practices, there is no excuse not to know and implement what these practices are.

Key Topics:

- The successful management practises that lead to profitability
- Talent management and leadership within multi-generational workforces
- The power of the unconscious bias on decision making
- Cultural IQ and understanding values for international trading
- Critical success factors for engaging with emerging markets

Hosted by:

John Eales
Director
Mettle Group
and former Captain
Australian Rugby Team

Narelle Hooper
Editor
Financial Review BOSS Magazine


Speakers include:

Jenny McGregor
Chief Executive Officer
AsiaLink

Alex Malley
Chief Executive Officer
CPA Australia

Susie Babani
General Managing Director
Human Resources
ANZ

Rachel Slade
Head of Group Diversity and Flexibility
Westpac

Geoff Aigner
Senior Manager; Development
Social Leadership Australia
The Benevolent Society

Chris Beer
Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, Greater China & South Africa
Luxottica Group

Philip Cronin
General Manager
Intel Australia

Rhonda Brighton - Hall
General Manager, Human Resources
CBA Retail Services

Ross McEwan
Group Executive - Retail Banking
CBA

Melanie Laing
Executive General Director -
People & Culture
Origin Energy

Karynne Courts
Director
Values Connection

All caused by the Sustainable Future Program that ensures those at the top keep their pockets full of cash.
Compare other airlines,big airlines and you will find none receive the pay and perks that QF execs give themselves.
Lets cap off what these execs have done and feel free to add to the list.
Outsource apprentice training,outsource stores,outsource all engine overhaul,close workshops,close 747 syd maint facility,give away customer work,add layers of useless management levels,emply leadership on attitude and not ability,outsource heavy checks to o/seas facilities with little or no quality control.Employ management from failed airlines.Employ a HR/IR team that lives in the stone age,buy unproven inflight entertainment systems.contract out work that previously had been done inhouse,buy long range A330 with light weight flooring and insufficient galleys for long hall ops,
GREED