This is the person who Alan introduced on a webinar as having had such a hard time as she was locked up with her family due to being COVID positive over Christmas.
She then regaled the real workers of Qantas with a wonderful story of how she and her family at least got to plan all of the holidays they want to take in the future.
The real workers were wondering how they were going to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads.
The upper levels of Qantas are severely disconnected from reality.
It is time to go Alan.

Don’t fall for that line, what does a federal PM have to do with state based fires, fire services and assets?

Nothing at all. The prime minister of Australia can happily wipe his hands clean of responsibility for the well-being of citizens in certain areas. Not his problem.

Same with QANTAS management. Delays are pax fault = I don’t hold a hose mate

Have a read of this SMH article:

Qantas boss Joyce in cruise control despite Easter chaos

Yet despite some suspected missteps this week, Joyce still appears to be going strong.

He and his team are regarded in the investment market as some of the best in a business that has been marked by failure and deep stress over the past two years. Qantas is now hunting profits at a time when other airlines around the world and in Australia are still getting back on their feet. And Qantas and Jetstar dominate the travel-hungry Australian market.

The corporate world pretty much only cares about profit. As long as the key indicators remain strong (the share price has not dropped at all because of the last few weeks of negative news, in fact it rose 9% compared to the start of the week even AFTER the negative news re airport situation was reported) then the market doesn’t care. As long as the numbers look good then a few days of negative publicity is not an issue as the public have memories of a goldfish.

So the analogy “I don’t hold a hose mate” refers to the boss sitting comfortable because he’s pandering to the interests of those with money and power while the average person on the frontline suffers. The Business Council has backed management in that article too:

The Business Council of Australia even threw its support behind the industry, urging customers to be patient in a Thursday press release. “Despite national recruitment efforts, the workforce at some airports is 40 per cent lower than pre-pandemic levels and small businesses in our cities and regions are crying out for workers,” the association’s president Jennifer Westacott said

They even went further saying staff levels are 40% lower which is quite unbelievable. Just another example of those in positions of power in this country backing their peers at the top while subtly shifting the blame to lower level staff and customers.

We’ve created a society where for those at the top refusal to accept responsibility for anything bad is standard, and humility and acknowledgement of mistakes is a sackable offence. For workers on the frontlines this perplexes us as we know we need to acknowledge mistakes and show humility in order to keep the operation running safely.

Insofar as the operational management of them - stuff all, I'll grant you that. But if you are the elected leader of a country going through such a terrible period, then bloody well lead! Get Defence involved unde the DACC system by tasking a pair of Hercs to Perth to ferry WA firies to the east coast, order some FARP support from Army Aviation to assist refuelling or having their tankers doing round-robins to the fuel farm, hell even just becoming a central point on the news every morning and evening for Australian's to focus on is better than standing on a beach in America, smirking and with a schooner in hand while people are dying at home.

You don't piss off to Hawaii on a "family holiday" just because "you promised your girls that's when we'd go, so we're going" while an area of Australia bigger than England is on fire!

My recall may be wrong, but I'm fairly certain he was already in Hawaii before the fires began in earnest.

Some commentators I think would prefer our political leaders to never leave their country or state whilst in power. Personally, my State Premier is currently at Bluesfest at Byron and I'm hoping she'll stay there! :ok:

All of which can be done by a PM from anywhere in the world, even on holiday in Hawaii. He is the PM he just picks up the phone and sorts it with those that do these things.
The media were making sport.

How long has Qantas existed? Qantas knows full well how to run a decent, well respected airline, and has done so for many years. It is only the dickheads now in charge who don't have a clue. As someone said, as soon as they start coming out with inane management phrases instead of plain English, you know that they - and you - are in trouble.

We had the same in the UK. A well respected pioneering airline, with good pilot training, good standards, good routes, good customer service etc, and which had been going for 40 years. Everyone knew what to do, everyone was happy. Then a couple of new CEOs came in and 'suddenly' the airline struggled to compete, and went under only a few years after. They came out with phrases such as 'north of' instead of 'more than', and used to have meetings to decide when to have a meeting, I kid you not.

Running a good airline is not rocket science. You need 5-7 crews per aircraft, depending on what your route structure is, and you need your own ground staff and engineers. That's it.

If you contract out any part of it, you lose control and accountability, and therefore you cannot guarantee your service. During busy periods, the ground service companies - which are now run like sweat shops and with zero hours contracts - will also not have enough staff, because the staff they do have will have no loyalty to their employer or to the job, (no disrespect to those workers), so any busy times at the airport will be a total mess.

Tell the street.

"Australian blue chips edged higher on Thursday to help push the market to a gain for the week, in a day marked by the best session in more than a year for Qantas."

QANTAS shares soar

Yes, the vultures are descending and the city knows that big short term profits are to be made owing to the ridiculous cost stripping by the CEO. This however does not bode well for the long term survival of a once highly respected airline.

You can make an analogy with the recent airport failings.

Show leadership - be there in the terminal where the unfolding crisis is happening and show your presence rather than hide out at the HQ Welcome back party and yoga session. The HQ building may only be less than a kilometre from the terminal but it might as well have been across the Pacific Ocean given the disconnect between corporate staff and frontline workers putting out daily fires.

Admit your failings, even if you believe they only made a minor contribution. It humanises you and lets workers know you're like them, humans. Instead of just shifting blame to everything else.

Instead you piss off your frontline workers and any failings are covered for by friendly media coverage which sees you get "re-elected" (stay on as executive management)

However the sharemarket sees the situation in the terminals as "well at least the revenue is increasing whilst management have cut costs so profit!" so they see it as a win for those with that profit. They don't care about the human element, that those at the coalface deal with daily.

QF7 cancelled today SYD-DFW. No S/O's.

But this is their modus operandi. Now I think about it, you can see it everywhere, in many companies, past and present. They. Do not. Care. about leadership, about the company, the frontline workers, the prestige to the country, or anything.

They are not interested in the customers, or their own failings. They are not there to lead or create a World beating company, they are there to strip whatever they can get out of it. They get their man into a weakened company, and that man is busy asset stripping and cost cutting as quickly as he can. They will all make another few million each out of it and then move on to the next company.

presumably QF8 is also cancelled - for those wanting to come home, is the route daily?

If you want to rag on about PMs being away remember what dear old Gough Whitlam did in response to Cyclone Tracy,

Sorry for contributing to the thread drift but this piece throws further light on the performance of federal politicians after Cyclone Tracy:
Cyclone Tracy Relief

What that idiot awhitlam did during the 70’s was inexcusable, but what Morrison did in 2019 was worse. A leader is supposed to be seen to be leading, even if only symbolically. He could have marshalled the Commonwealth’s resources more effectively and galvanised national support. Instead he chose to be above it all. The population was left with the perception that they were beneath Morrison’s concerns, and the end result is that anything Morrison does since appears to be guided by craven political calculation.

i am surprised I had to explain this.

If you want to get political...

Thanks to Scomo, Australia has unemployment at 50-year lows of 4 per cent after the worst recession since the Great Depression. The nation’s rate of economic growth is among the highest of the G20 members, inflation sits at half that of our trading partners, and Australia has had among the lowest Covid death rates in the world and the highest vaccination rates.

Whether you like him or hate him, Scomo’s results speak volumes.

On the other hand, Albo doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Albo can’t recall what the unemployment or interest rate is and he lied about his economic credentials.

I'm surprised he had to explain that.

Thread drift
 

Yeah it does seem like we are having a bit of a thread drift. It's almost like someone is trying to get this thread shut down....

Maybe someone could start a new thread titled "Will a Liberal or Labor Federal Government be better for Enterprise Agreement staff in the Aviation Industry"
and we can cover the political stuff there?