majority agree with qantas grounding, page-45

Mike_au1,

I have posted extensively in the past about how the QAN product has declined (especially in the premium cabins). Here are a few;

seats that up until recently have not turned into completely flat beds.

A very unreliable and inferior IFE (should have used Panasonic system like most other carriers instead of the cheaper Rock Collins IFE.

Lousy food "inspired" from Neil Perry (many times a piece of meat with some sloppy sauce and cold Bok Choy.

The removal of quality dishes such as hand carved (in the cabin) Prime Beef, Caviar, chilled Russian Vodka, chilled beer (was a time when the ground crew would load chilled beer and the crew would ensure they were kept it icy cold), now when you order a beer, 9 times out of ten it is luke-warm and not even cold.

Meal load scales reduced to the point where at times, you can miss your choice of meal in First Class, even though you have forked out $10,000+ for your ticket (inexcusable in my opinion, some other airlines send you the menu prior to travelling and guarantee you the meal you want).

A FF program that has very few redeemable seats so when travelling, it is often hard to upgrade seats (even though there are plenty onboard).

Old dirty aircraft with sticky floors in the toilets and dust in the air vents (and that is when you first get on, not mid flight).

Reduced crew working in the cabin, sometimes takes ages to be served as the crew are flat out.

Inferior First and Business Class amenity kits, used to be quite substantial with quality moisturisers and products, now a lot less.

Blah,blah,blah. The point being Mike, I feel QAN has taken its finger off the pulse. In years gone by everything was done right and quality, now it just seems that the crew are making apologies every second flight for QAN's failure to deliver quality and quantity. You and others may dispute this but this is just my observations of how QAN is in recent times. In the premium cabins, I feel they are coming up short compared to their opposition.

Having said all that Mike , I think the crew generally do a great job with what they have and they can certainly take the time to have a yarn and be genuinely interested in what you are doing, you do not get that on Singapore Airlines, Cathay and the like. Had a Captain telling jokes about "Mickey Mouses little hand being on the 5" when travelling to the states recently and the whole aircraft was in stitches (classic aussie humour) and certainly welcome.

With regards to the relations with the employees, well that almost goes without saying. It is clear that they are under the pump, short staffed, over worked and not happy with management. Three major unions who today as it turns out, have failed to reach agreement with QAN. Clearly it is not just one group of employees, the discontentment is widespread within QAN, growing like a cancer that will kill the company in time.

If you look up my previous posts, I have sighted the example of Southwest Airlines in the states, an LCC based in Dallas. They have one of the most interesting airline stories ever to be told and are now very successful, once they were about fold. Their management changed tact and actually invited staff to have inputs into the decision making, they listened to those who know best and have been doing their jobs for 3 or 4 decades and got advice on various work practices and operations, they now work together, share bonuses etc.
Southwest are now very successful as the staff are generally happy and it shows in their product, that is why customers keep coming back and that is why they are making profits. There is no reason why QAN could not do the same.

Another problem within QAN is the fragmented workforce (different people from different countries or different companies within QAN) working in the same job/environment (e.g. crew) and getting paid vastly different incomes. This creates disharmony and ill feeling as they work side by side (IMO) and is another area that QAN could improve things.


I could go on and on Mike but I think you get the picture. IMO the management have failed to take care of the human side of Qantas as an employer, why would you have two integral groups within your business (Pilots and Engineers) offside? Isn't it better to have agreement with them and a healthy/positive work environment rather than disgruntled employees (who can work to rule and cost the company millions$$$$$$$) if they end up with the short stick in all of this?

Surfrat.