It was the night before Christmas
 

A familiar echo is heard throughout the world as administration and management offices in airlines throughout the world fall silent.
That echo is occasionally interrupted by the footstep of the sole security guard and the hum of air conditioning quietly keeping those empty offices at an optimum temperature.

Whilst over at the terminals far away from Waterside, Cathay Pacific City or the aptly named Coward Street, life goes on.
Those staff generating the revenue, day after day continue to keep 'the show on the road' whilst bloated administration scoffs down another helping of plum pudding.
With Christmas hampers, bottles of signature wine, staff travel discounts and high priority on-load in their stockings ',management' although absent, never care to notice that without them the whole things keeps sailing along.
What little Christmas cheer is provided not by the company but the staff themselves. Clever HR (now on vacation) long ago stripping out anything resembling 'goodwill' and employees receive only a contractual entitlement never a cent nor mince pie more.


The customers don't have the comfortable whir of air conditioning, nor do they feel the largess and generosity of airline management.
They get crammed in as flights are cancelled, all in the name of yield management, and growing crew shortages, whilst dutiful pilots leave air conditioning off to save a few precious cents for management incentives.

And, A Merry Christmas to You and all who are doing `Managements' bidding.

Merry Christmas
Prosperous Healthy New Year
to all at PPrune


DK

That was the best thing to have witnessed in a long time, so many would have wanted to do that, he got his just deserts!:-)
To those rostered to work on Xmas & NY's day, thanks for taking one for the boys club:-):-)

Thanks GA driver...
By way of background the business function where Little Napoleon got his cream pie (is that a double entendre?) had a diverse audience.
Little Napoleon was rather distraught when the incident occurred.
Prior to the incident he had been happily recounting tales of wonder, among which detailed the moves he made to single handedly 'transform' Qantas.
Suffice to say he was rattled and spent a considerable time off stage.
Surrounded by minders he returned and feigned indifference. It may not have been terribly convincing on camera it was even less so if in the room.

It is rumoured the the personal protection team was told that they needed to be much closer to the asset...

It is an Irish tradition to throw money into an open grave just before it is filled. Seamus was standing graveside with a long pointy stick in his hand. He fished out a twenty pound note, pocketed it, then took out his cheque book and wrote one for a hundred quid, tossing it into the grave. (Surely he has an equally cunning and conniving cousin awaiting his come-uppance in the colonies?)

Brilliant!

What is perhaps the most disappointing part for staff of Qantas is that the CEO is simply devoid of empathy, lacks connection to his fellow human and has forgotten all that growing up in difficult times in a country and time where poverty and underprivilege was widespread would have shown him.

Airlines are a labour intensive team sport, perhaps one of the most dynamic businesses there is.
Little Napoleon has a big pile of money and has achieved unparalleled success in uniting the staff, against him. That is a spectacular achievement for somebody who ought know the value of community.

That he needs constant protection every time he sets foot out side his little insulated office is perhaps the most ironic legacy he will leave.

Well composed, he will be remembered for sure, mostly for all the wrong reasons:-)
Anyway it's Xmas, somewhere out there even the Leprechaun is loved, by someone:-)

That guy looks like the Rev Fred Nile!

Steady on there Atationair8! There are clauses in their agreement that stipulate flexible working hours so they can manage a good work life balance. Managers are people too you know :}

And those that have their company phone with them whilst holidaying. Duty travel categories are only just enough compensation for that! :cool:

Thanks Gordon, it was the point.

At the time of posting, NYE celebrations are underway in the UK, Waterside is quiet. In the antipodes Australia wakes to a new year's day, presumably with hangovers and good intention.
Meanwhile at Coward street, the sole security guard commences his rounds in the carefully temperature controlled silent offices.

Yet just a short distance away from Waterside, in Heathrow, the last of the evenings departures are scheduled, the crews brief, the fuel and freight are loaded.
Over at Sir Charles Kingsford Smith airport, the domestic network has been steadily moving people from A to B for a few hours now.

Not an airline administrator, 'manager' or executive in sight.

Has it ever crossed your mind why there is so much animosity towards air crew at airlines?
No one dreams of being 'administrator' or indeed an 'accountant'. Children wanted to be firemen, train drivers, nurses or even pilots.
Aviation was perhaps an area of mystique, there was and still is, something fascinating watching an aircraft weighing many hundreds of tonnes departing an airport and next touching land 6000 miles away.
Children still do wave at trains and they still press their faces against the fence or the glass in a terminal looking at aircraft. Have yet to see gleaming children waving at cubicle dwellers.

It depends on how one wishes to spend their lives. If it is accumulation of possessions and fiat currency then they win.
Most airline employees join airlines with at least a little fascination of aviation, be they check in, ramp, dispatch, engineering or flight crew.
For those looking longingly at their late model Mercedes or their beaches houses and have to return to the cubicle in a few short weeks, confronting another 48 weeks of sheer human misery, cold comfort can be found in another deep gulp of expensive red wine. At least for a while.

The dark arts have the ascendancy industrially, they dream up another scheme to turn person against person they too, in the quiet time actually envy those that can.
Working for airlines as front line crew is a far different way to live than endless days of cube farming in a corporate BS factory, with or without the leased Mercedes.

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/bus...02-p4zv33.html

Imagine a life like that?
It would need to be a decent beach house and a late model Mercedes.
Now convicted criminal former CFO Peter Gregg loved his bonus time at QF. He fancied his new AMG Mercedes.
Not quite sure how he will park it is his new accommodation at Her Majesty's pleasure.

Rated De,
Peter Gregg is not in Prison. His case is still before the Court. Should Peter be sentenced to a serve time it will be fairly minimal.

A convicted felon is a convicted felon.
Justice Rares mentioned a distinct possibility of a custodial sentence, but suffice to say either way Mr Gregg won't be holding any corporate high office any time soon.

Airline management and Christmas cheer.
 

It is the week before Christmas, customary emails are dispatched strangely not on Friday, but a day early.
Continued in the hollow words are vague references to enjoying time off with family and loved ones, written and vetted from an air conditioned office well away from the operational parts of the business.
The computers, monitors and electronic equipment turned off, the desks on which they sit clean and uncluttered: The desks will remain that way well into the New Year, where resplendent from a break they return.
Those offices by close of business Thursday will be vacant not to be a hive of activity for a few weeks. There will be little activity, other than random patrols of contracted security,

Forgotten in the empty words form "leaders" and "managers" , "media and communications" is that they actually contribute very little to the bottom line. Sure buried in there are functions in support of operations, but other than manufactured workflows, one might posit what do they actually do?

Conspicuous in their absence, flights still depart on time. The passengers checked in, their bags scanned, loaded and safely onboard. The passengers greeted as they board, by enthusiastic cabin crew, trying to make their travel as pleasant as the operational constraints permit, they take their seat. The fuel loads, the catering, the flight plans are devoured by flight crew and the aircraft readied for take off.
Airline management keen to save on fuel, "encourage" crew to not use the APU for cooling or heating until required, engine starts are delayed and single engine taxi the standard...All to save energy.

In the antipodes, passengers and crew swelter, trying to save a thimble full of fuel. The fuel savings translate into real dollars; dollars not shared by the flight crew who generate them, rather straight into the pockets of people in offices.
In those same now empty offices, the silence is met with the light ever present hum of the air conditioning. Buildings, largely vacant kept at a comfy 23 degrees, while paying customers and operational crew swelter or freeze.

For the check in staff, the baggage handlers, the engineers, pilots and cabin crew, Christmas is but a contractual obligation. Failure to be there a serious disciplinary breach. Of course no action will be taken for a few weeks for HR isn't there.

Imagine the last week, the week before Christmas at most major western airlines: Imagine the buzz, Christmas parties, decorations and festivity.
Contrast that to the life of the operational staff.

Lucky to see a mince pie ir at all, the one thing consistent other than empty rhetoric from "management" about relaxing and enjoying the time, is scrooge.

While not a statistically valid sample, what does your airline do?
Do operational crew get anything other than rhetoric and thinly veiled threats?

"Has it ever crossed your mind why there is so much animosity towards air crew at airlines?"

Look in the mirror De, look in the mirror............................. :}

Has the FAA grounded Santa this year due to the lack of an airworthiness certificate for the sleigh? At least the sleigh was not a variation of a 737 (not to the best of our knowledge, amyway) .....

That was the point of this thread.
Have seen staff operating on Christmas day with accompanied family FOC. (One airline)
Another understood the isolation of Christmas such that they ensured that allowances were paid in excess of minimum to facilitate the crew member (be they cabin or flight crew) being at least able to have a meal (a different airline)

And a number in our experience are simply hollow empty emails.
Long after they all depart for "festivities" the operation goes on.

Brilliant...
Il existe!

^^^ :D:D:D

Yes the six weeks leave that airline pilots of the two scheduled carriers in our data set would be the to cover the gazetted public holidays which they and other shift workers do not get.
(Of which there are between ten and fourteen)

You can put a request in? lol.

Or I could earn $24 million and I could have it all...except respect.
And you, and your 6 months of "airline" experience and your hatred towards operational staff, is worse.

It has been "amazing" how much hatred is directed toward the operational staff, yet how many requests have I had for the jumpseat this week due to most of our (QF) flights being full?? You work in what department? What does that do? And yet, you still need a red ASIC?