Qantas drops its bundle on the eve of Ansett II
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Qantas drops its bundle on the eve of Ansett II
Tues "Sydney Morning Herald"
Qantas drops its bundle on the eve of Ansett II
By Darren Goodsir, Transport Writer
Qantas staff at one of Australia's top airports have a "couldn't care less" attitude that means many passengers wait longer for their baggage than they spend in the air.
In a candid assessment of "unacceptable" failures, the acting ramp services manager for Qantas at Melbourne airport, Paul Pearson, last week told staff that he hoped these passengers would not defect to Ansett.
Qantas has already strongly capitalised on its rival's troubles to grab 85 per cent of the total domestic market.
advertisement . . . . advertisement . .Despite the airline's recent axing of 400 staff to counter the global aviation downturn, Mr Pearson said there were not enough employees, belt-loaders or equipment to cope with the surge in passengers.
Some days were "chaos" and "a debacle" at the baggage collection ramps, and customers were regularly getting poor service.
Just days before Ansett is set to get new owners, and a restoration of in-flight service and a frequent flyer program, Mr Pearson said he feared the worst.
"Ansett Mark II will [soon] be vigorously competing for our business and the way we have been treating our customers lately, I am hopeful they won't see this revamped competitor as a better option than us," he said in the memo, dated January 23, and obtained by Channel 9.
"That will depend on how many of them have to wait an hour for their bags or how many of them sat on a plane for 20 minutes waiting to be pushed off.
"Our operation is currently experiencing unacceptable service delivery failures and I acknowledge that this probably isn't news to many of you.
"Our customers, on too many occasions, are waiting for their bags for up to an hour after their flight has arrived. Sometimes it takes longer to collect their baggage than it took to fly here."
Mr Pearson, who is in charge of baggage delivery and retrieval and aircraft "push-backs", indicated that rostering relied on overtime.
At weekends, if staff rejected offers to work extra hours, the system virtually collapsed.
"Last Sunday, for instance, Melbourne's accountable delayed departures reported 59.6 per cent of all accountable ramp delays for the entire network," Mr Pearson wrote.
"On this particular Sunday, approximately 20 of the required 30 shift extensions were knocked back and we were left in a terrible operational mess from which we did not recover.
"I acknowledge that with staff having worked their quota of overtime, working extensions aren't that attractive and that is why we had the chaos we had last week ...
"Pride in work performance in terms of on-time departures, baggage delivery to the arrivals belts and maximising freight uplift appears to have been put aside and has been replaced with a 'couldn't care less' attitude."
Last night, Qantas's executive general manager of sales and marketing, John Borghetti, conceded that the domestic network was having problems.
"Quite clearly, some of the areas identified in Melbourne have not been performing as we might have hoped," he said.
"But Qantas really has moved very quickly to accommodate the high domestic increase in passengers that we have had.
"With Ansett relaunching, and Virgin Blue expanding, it is absolutely paramount that Qantas keeps its service standards excellent right across the network."
Qantas drops its bundle on the eve of Ansett II
By Darren Goodsir, Transport Writer
Qantas staff at one of Australia's top airports have a "couldn't care less" attitude that means many passengers wait longer for their baggage than they spend in the air.
In a candid assessment of "unacceptable" failures, the acting ramp services manager for Qantas at Melbourne airport, Paul Pearson, last week told staff that he hoped these passengers would not defect to Ansett.
Qantas has already strongly capitalised on its rival's troubles to grab 85 per cent of the total domestic market.
advertisement . . . . advertisement . .Despite the airline's recent axing of 400 staff to counter the global aviation downturn, Mr Pearson said there were not enough employees, belt-loaders or equipment to cope with the surge in passengers.
Some days were "chaos" and "a debacle" at the baggage collection ramps, and customers were regularly getting poor service.
Just days before Ansett is set to get new owners, and a restoration of in-flight service and a frequent flyer program, Mr Pearson said he feared the worst.
"Ansett Mark II will [soon] be vigorously competing for our business and the way we have been treating our customers lately, I am hopeful they won't see this revamped competitor as a better option than us," he said in the memo, dated January 23, and obtained by Channel 9.
"That will depend on how many of them have to wait an hour for their bags or how many of them sat on a plane for 20 minutes waiting to be pushed off.
"Our operation is currently experiencing unacceptable service delivery failures and I acknowledge that this probably isn't news to many of you.
"Our customers, on too many occasions, are waiting for their bags for up to an hour after their flight has arrived. Sometimes it takes longer to collect their baggage than it took to fly here."
Mr Pearson, who is in charge of baggage delivery and retrieval and aircraft "push-backs", indicated that rostering relied on overtime.
At weekends, if staff rejected offers to work extra hours, the system virtually collapsed.
"Last Sunday, for instance, Melbourne's accountable delayed departures reported 59.6 per cent of all accountable ramp delays for the entire network," Mr Pearson wrote.
"On this particular Sunday, approximately 20 of the required 30 shift extensions were knocked back and we were left in a terrible operational mess from which we did not recover.
"I acknowledge that with staff having worked their quota of overtime, working extensions aren't that attractive and that is why we had the chaos we had last week ...
"Pride in work performance in terms of on-time departures, baggage delivery to the arrivals belts and maximising freight uplift appears to have been put aside and has been replaced with a 'couldn't care less' attitude."
Last night, Qantas's executive general manager of sales and marketing, John Borghetti, conceded that the domestic network was having problems.
"Quite clearly, some of the areas identified in Melbourne have not been performing as we might have hoped," he said.
"But Qantas really has moved very quickly to accommodate the high domestic increase in passengers that we have had.
"With Ansett relaunching, and Virgin Blue expanding, it is absolutely paramount that Qantas keeps its service standards excellent right across the network."
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I traveled with QF recently, in and out of Melbourne.. .My observations and opinion, I found that at the check in counter, regardless of a never-ending line, which extended outside onto the street that the staff did a magnificent job. All appeared happy and the line was certainly moving along quite nicely which kept the masses of the great unwashed happy as well. Great job.
On arrival the baggage took the usual 15 minutes and that was travelling business class with the priority label!! Mind you that hasn't changed in years.
The flight itself was OK I traveled J class into Melbourne and the Y class out of Melbourne.. .J class was great service, friendly smile nothing is a problem. "May I take that for you, would you like a drink sir blah blah blah". .However Y class was as usual very poor. On the first sector the PA says breaky will be served. When it did arrive it was a box with a Le snack inside with a small orange juice, thrown at us from a distance. I realise the quality of the catering is not the staffs fault, however I hand it back untouched and wonder whether many comments are passed on. . .Next to me was a young couple who appeared not to travel very often. The young lady pressed the flight attendant call button. I was nervous, did she realise she had just released a fire-breathing dragon who in the next hour or so may come roaring into the cabin and determine who not only wanted service, but was brave enough to ask for it.
The pilots PA was the usual dribble that most of us don't listen to except arrival time, however it came over with total disinterest. Not suggesting they should ramble on, just sound interested. . .I traveled with Virgin a while back and one of the pilots waffled on for what seemed like an eternity, as every one obviously liked the sound of his voice as much as he did, American accent and all! . .Ordered a meat pie. Without a word of a lie 2 hours later. Barely finished before we landed. . .Disneyland is for kids!!
All that being said I preferred my QF flight considerably more than Virgin, at least while I was in J class, not about to change airlines. Ansett may be a different story. I hope they do well and I will definitely try them out. Given a little time though I suggest they will return to the AN mark 1 we all know. Good luck to them though.
Initially of course every one will appear happy enthusiastic etc as you do when you start a new job, the trick of course is to maintain the enthusiasm.
At least QF are addressing their problems.
[ 28 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
On arrival the baggage took the usual 15 minutes and that was travelling business class with the priority label!! Mind you that hasn't changed in years.
The flight itself was OK I traveled J class into Melbourne and the Y class out of Melbourne.. .J class was great service, friendly smile nothing is a problem. "May I take that for you, would you like a drink sir blah blah blah". .However Y class was as usual very poor. On the first sector the PA says breaky will be served. When it did arrive it was a box with a Le snack inside with a small orange juice, thrown at us from a distance. I realise the quality of the catering is not the staffs fault, however I hand it back untouched and wonder whether many comments are passed on. . .Next to me was a young couple who appeared not to travel very often. The young lady pressed the flight attendant call button. I was nervous, did she realise she had just released a fire-breathing dragon who in the next hour or so may come roaring into the cabin and determine who not only wanted service, but was brave enough to ask for it.
The pilots PA was the usual dribble that most of us don't listen to except arrival time, however it came over with total disinterest. Not suggesting they should ramble on, just sound interested. . .I traveled with Virgin a while back and one of the pilots waffled on for what seemed like an eternity, as every one obviously liked the sound of his voice as much as he did, American accent and all! . .Ordered a meat pie. Without a word of a lie 2 hours later. Barely finished before we landed. . .Disneyland is for kids!!
All that being said I preferred my QF flight considerably more than Virgin, at least while I was in J class, not about to change airlines. Ansett may be a different story. I hope they do well and I will definitely try them out. Given a little time though I suggest they will return to the AN mark 1 we all know. Good luck to them though.
Initially of course every one will appear happy enthusiastic etc as you do when you start a new job, the trick of course is to maintain the enthusiasm.
At least QF are addressing their problems.
[ 28 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
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God, I'm glad someone finally arced about my PA's. I was getting a bit tired of all the praise and letters of appreciation over the last seven years or so. And here I thought nobody could find fault with my schpeel. Better adopt a more mellow Qf style of disinterested dribble.. .Thanks for the feed back Steve!
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Just had a look at MEL dep, 2 flights on. .time out of 31.
MEL Departures:
<a href="http://www.melair.com.au/fids/fidsResults.asp?SearchTerm=*&DomSearch=Go&SearchType=Domesti c+Departures&whichSP=OnlineDep" target="_blank">web page</a>
MEL Departures:
<a href="http://www.melair.com.au/fids/fidsResults.asp?SearchTerm=*&DomSearch=Go&SearchType=Domesti c+Departures&whichSP=OnlineDep" target="_blank">web page</a>
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Don't mean to be too offensive but Goose you are half way there it was uninteresting drible.. .It was like a bad headache it just wouldn't go away.
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
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Well Steve at least he was at the pointy end(what row were you in??) sittin in row 15 DREAMING of doing what it is that Spruce does? Or were you reading your latest edition of Private Pilot magazine <img src="redface.gif" border="0">
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Steve, write a letter to VB and voice the complaint. There may dozens like you out there. I'll add my copy of the comlaint to the collection of good letters I have. By all means come on up and give me a line check one day, you may learn something. The boys read this and I have a line check on Thursday so hopefully for the sake of your sanity I will be nipped in the bud.
Incidently for those of you who don't know me or haven't had to put up with my uninteresting dribble I welcome all passengers aboard which is pretty standard. I introduce the Frist officer because that is polite and I draw attention to the safety role of our cabin crew on board the aircraft. I always make a point to remind folks that walking in an aisle way with service carts out is a hazard to other passengers if having to squeeze past during unexpected turbulence. Got that one from an old Delta Airlines captain and thought it was a good point. A quick "route of flight" synopsis and a further welcome on board. at the end I always thank all of our guests for flyig with us and I do so on behalf of all VB employees! What my accent has to do with it is beyond me altogether. What any of this has to do with the Qantas press release at the top of the forum is probably beyond everyone on earth except Steve.
I would think that in this day and age sensitive issues such as those related to the leaked memo at QF would be kept under raps. Always someone out there looking for a quick buck from the press. Theres no doubt Qf have pushed the troops hard since Sept. and in light of the market share they would like to keep I would think a bit of gratitude would be worth its weight in gold at this point.Instead of murmuring among themselves in the board room perhaps the "leaders" at Qf should be rolling up their sleeves and getting out in the trenches and telling everyone how much the hard work is appreciated and needed to maintain the current market position. We see it time and again, a little good house keeping translates into a more vibrant company for all! Thats one of the reasons Virgin such a great place to work.
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: sprucegoose ]</p>
Incidently for those of you who don't know me or haven't had to put up with my uninteresting dribble I welcome all passengers aboard which is pretty standard. I introduce the Frist officer because that is polite and I draw attention to the safety role of our cabin crew on board the aircraft. I always make a point to remind folks that walking in an aisle way with service carts out is a hazard to other passengers if having to squeeze past during unexpected turbulence. Got that one from an old Delta Airlines captain and thought it was a good point. A quick "route of flight" synopsis and a further welcome on board. at the end I always thank all of our guests for flyig with us and I do so on behalf of all VB employees! What my accent has to do with it is beyond me altogether. What any of this has to do with the Qantas press release at the top of the forum is probably beyond everyone on earth except Steve.
I would think that in this day and age sensitive issues such as those related to the leaked memo at QF would be kept under raps. Always someone out there looking for a quick buck from the press. Theres no doubt Qf have pushed the troops hard since Sept. and in light of the market share they would like to keep I would think a bit of gratitude would be worth its weight in gold at this point.Instead of murmuring among themselves in the board room perhaps the "leaders" at Qf should be rolling up their sleeves and getting out in the trenches and telling everyone how much the hard work is appreciated and needed to maintain the current market position. We see it time and again, a little good house keeping translates into a more vibrant company for all! Thats one of the reasons Virgin such a great place to work.
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: sprucegoose ]</p>
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An American accent on Virgin!!??. .Can't help observing that an American accent on QF or AN would be referred to as "blow in hero" otherwise. No disrespect to the individual concerned. 
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Geeez talk about an ego problem!!!. .My post was referring to what I consider generally great service provided by QF with a few areas that I, myself, me, in my own oppinion as a customer feel could be improved. A side comment regarding PA's and compared it to a long winded PA from a Virgin pilot and he spits the dummy.. .I would suggest calling the doctor buddy. Take your lovely little letters that mummy wrote with you if it makes you feel better.
Good luck with your check.
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
Good luck with your check.
[ 29 January 2002: Message edited by: Steve Martin ]</p>
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Grow up Steve, Goose's post was probably in response to . . [quote] Don't mean to be too offensive but Goose you are half way there it was uninteresting drible.. .It was like a bad headache it just wouldn't go away.<hr></blockquote>
Grandpa Aerotart
Flat side up,
Before this gets into an out of control hero bashing exercise Sprucegoose is a friend of mine and most definately not as you suggest.
He has been here since he was a teenager at school and followed the same 'hard yard' school of aviation that most of us have.
So take your vitriol elsewhere.
Chuck.
Before this gets into an out of control hero bashing exercise Sprucegoose is a friend of mine and most definately not as you suggest.
He has been here since he was a teenager at school and followed the same 'hard yard' school of aviation that most of us have.
So take your vitriol elsewhere.
Chuck.
Evertonian
Okay, so the media can't bag Ansett anymore, because they are now generally accepted as the underdog. Virgin is still perceived as "fledgling" which leaves us with Qantas. If you are at QF & need a quick buck, keep those memos handy!
A gutter press story with no need to be aired in public. Of course they will be having problems, they just got an extra 30% of the market overnight! What company wouldn't have problems?
A gutter press story with no need to be aired in public. Of course they will be having problems, they just got an extra 30% of the market overnight! What company wouldn't have problems?
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I've heard anecdotes from QF staff (airport, cabin) for 3 or 4 years that all finished with the opinion that numbers were being cut to below the bone surface.
Sure they've had problems coping with demand since Sep 14, but why are they still relying on overtime to make up a roster - and not even managing coverage by doing that? There must be a pool of already unionised labour available in MEL for casual work.... or would that be beyond the pale?
This is not a gutter press story; rather an internally documented failure of customer service. And QF have set the current rules for all that is fair.
Sure they've had problems coping with demand since Sep 14, but why are they still relying on overtime to make up a roster - and not even managing coverage by doing that? There must be a pool of already unionised labour available in MEL for casual work.... or would that be beyond the pale?
This is not a gutter press story; rather an internally documented failure of customer service. And QF have set the current rules for all that is fair.
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After 30 years travelling with QF it comes as somewhat of a suprise to finally hear concern for: . ."Pride in work performance in terms of on-time departures, baggage delivery to the arrivals belts and maximising freight uplift appears to have been put aside and has been replaced with a 'couldn't care less' attitude."
One would think that baggage handlers on over 100k plus could do a touch better than keeping pax waiting in excess of 20 minutes ( in itself a meagre example).
And I dare not draw attention to the extent of the woeful cabin service!
Since when did anyone at QF give a toss about passengers?
One would think that baggage handlers on over 100k plus could do a touch better than keeping pax waiting in excess of 20 minutes ( in itself a meagre example).
And I dare not draw attention to the extent of the woeful cabin service!
Since when did anyone at QF give a toss about passengers?
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Flew recently with QF mainline and then a regional just before Xmas by necessity, for the first times in some years. I expected complacent service but was surprised, that after flying on the Blue Tail side, QF appeared to have 'stepped up' a rung or two in service. Yes, we did wait 45 mins to get away (can't help that with 85% of the market), but what struck me was the awareness of ALL the staff that an extremely competitive airline market was just around the corner, and the INCREASED levels of service around. Ansett is not going to just 'swan in' and acquire 20% of the market- they will have to fight tooth and nail for it