Sorry beerdrinker, good question. Unable to explain. Cheers.

Anna does not have any actual aviation related qualification. Yet, she was the general manager of aircrew in CX. I don't think CAD requires such qualification.

Curtain rod ,
That was a brilliant post BUT.

Sadly everything that you put in your post is so tragically spot on
It seems like the rats and crazies crawl out from the sewers when it gets dark in most US cities . I have had my entire meal stolen by a homeless bum who walked through the coffee shop where I was eating . It was so deftly done that I was too late to stop it , but considering that he appeared to be mentally challenged I probably got away lightly by not trying to stop him . Had I been shot or knifed , CX would have found some reason not to pay the insurance claim . As in this Individual voluntarily left the crew hotel
San Fran seems to be the worst for odd characters , they get very aggressive after dark.

And yes you are correct no one in CX gives a cr..p

But yet we put up with it.

Just like the assaults on our CoS, pay, housing, yada yada yada.

Look no further than the crew lounge to see the reason.

As in the Indian Mutiny of 1857 - after a certain amount of abuse, the subjects just think - "**** this for a game of soldiers"!!!

A great advert for a so called legacy airline..the crew room..(sic) is completely unfit for purpose..even for a flying club..the phones are a health hazard even if they did work and the briefing rooms are a shambolic mess..half the computers are u/s and the chairs if you can find them, are fit for the dumpster..I guess that's why we..the marginalised pilots get them..the old english word, "mimp" comes to mind as a summation...

Nice that she acknowledges the flight times are long and tiring but hay we get to see the world so that makes it all OK

Agree with beer drinker. Only in the third, (and lower), world would you find an authority, (CAD/CAA etc.), who would allow a non pilot to hold the position of DFO. Aviation is one of those professions that unless you have actually been there and done that you don't have the appropriate experience and knowledge to properly and fully fulfil the position of DFO, particularly when the chips are down and the situation isn't 'Ops Normal' any more.




The idea that you can 'back door' into a DFO position by virtue of previously held,non flying, positions in aviation is totally flawed, actual (and plenty of)flying experience as a captain is a basic essential. Under some aviation authorities a previous training management position is also required.

There was a time, up until NR became DFO that the CAD had a rule that all senior management roles were held by a pilot. The company asked the CAD kindly to amend that rule, and the proviso then was that the DFO could only be a non-pilot if all other senior post holders were pilots.... NR had to also spend some time learning the ropes as GMA before his promotion to DFO.
We now have 2 non pilot senior management post holders - at the same time!... Did the company even bother with asking CAD?

By doing it, it allows the accountants and "the board" to enforce (envisioned savings by cutting costs) "productivity gains" by being cheap. As there are less roadblocks in senior management to stop it on the basis of safety and experience.

I call this the "The Cheapness Paradox"... An almost exponential graph of cost cutting versus safety and quality...

The more accountants try and cut costs, the cheaper the product becomes, the shoddier all facets of the operation become, aeroplanes fall apart, pilots fall apart, the product falls apart - and in the long run, it costs them more money than what they saved by being cheap.

"The more accountants try and cut costs, the cheaper the product becomes, the shoddier all facets of the operation become, aeroplanes fall apart, pilots fall apart, the product falls apart - and in the long run, it costs them more money than what they saved by being cheap."

Exactly correct and the heart of the problem at CX.

Penny wise pound foolish certainly applies to this lot!

I see Swires in their infinite wisdom are applying the same tactics to Grappas restaurant in Admirality .a very popular and successful restaurant. Now Swires doesn't want to renew their lease because they want to add more restaurant diversity to the mall. You just can make this stuff up
At least all the lawyers who frequent the restaurant are leading the fight to keep it open

Anotherbusdriver, are you reading my mind??? That was a perfect response. That is exactly what is happening in all facets of this operation. It means they do not know what they are doing, don't care, as it's a front, or they are trying to sell it.

It always amazes me, when so called ' premium airlines' allow bean counters to cut costs. The first round of cost cuts results in a big bonus, those responsible leave, and new people come in looking how to cut costs more to achieve their big bonus.....and so on and so on.

The product must eventually fail. The end product, the delivery end of it must suffer, and the pax ( especially in the premium cabins), start asking, what the hell is going on?

Meanwhile, those who made the mess, have departed over the horizon with fat wallets.

Precisely SOPS.

That sums up CX in a nutshell :{

What a terrible shame for a once great airline :D

I would engage an aviation consultant who could advise me in my position of limited experience and knowledge along with a good communications officer. A Trinity of sorts. Three for one, job sharing. CX have a desperate shortage of managers and this should be seen as a sign of how progressive CX has become by implementing solution driven problems that multi manage and make mediocre individual managers marvelous. Now it's coffee time.