AFR's Joe Aston goes BAM!

[RooFlyer]

So I think this raises the question, what is the purpose of this joint effort by Qantas and Uncle Alan to spin what will undoubtedly be an unflattering biography on the man and the legacy he has saddled Qantas with:

No problem with the company and the person doing this. It’s more down to the journalists to not be influenced and the hospitality declared next time they write on aviation or the company.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Might be worth buying one and absentmindedly leave one in the QF Lounge....

Sort of how ticked off Air Canada elites absentmindedly forgot leaflets they were carrying whilst visiting their lounges and onboard aircraft (for those wondering Errorplan is a play on words as Air Canada's loyalty program is called Aeroplan):

Errorplan, the Air Canada customer group that attracted national media attention early this year by distributing tens of thousands of leaflets in airport lounges and aircraft in January, has introduced a new way for disgruntled passengers to send a message to Air Canada - the "I flew someone else" campaign.

 

[Saab34]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I don’t think anything inside the book will be unknown. Essentially I assume it’s just all his work combined into a book.

I read his articles, and do agree with most of what he writes, but I don’t really see the need to read a book about Alan again. The guy isn’t liked by many, corporate Australia love the bloke, it’s the standard executive stuff really.

 

[RooFlyer]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I don't believe so. I understand it'll go deeper than his 'entertaining' columns, talking to past players and observers in retrospect and all that. But in any event it'll be a rollicking good read!

 

[p--and--t]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I don’t think anything inside the book will be unknown. Essentially I assume it’s just all his work combined into a book.

I read his articles, and do agree with most of what he writes, but I don’t really see the need to read a book about Alan again. The guy isn’t liked by many, corporate Australia love the bloke, it’s the standard executive stuff really.

..and statements with the accuracy circa to news.com reports that QF shows X rated movies in flight

 

[Melburnian1]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I don’t think anything inside the book will be unknown. Essentially I assume it’s just all his work combined into a book.

I read his articles, and do agree with most of what he writes, but I don’t really see the need to read a book about Alan again. The guy isn’t liked by many, corporate Australia love the bloke, it’s the standard executive stuff really.

Joe Aston was an outstanding columnist/journalist so if we assume past history is a fairly reliable guide, the book will contain new material.

That's why the target has hired PR flacks.

I'll buy a copy.

 

[MooTime]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I don’t think anything inside the book will be unknown. Essentially I assume it’s just all his work combined into a book.

I read his articles, and do agree with most of what he writes, but I don’t really see the need to read a book about Alan again. The guy isn’t liked by many, corporate Australia love the bloke, it’s the standard executive stuff really.

Not everyone has read every column of Joe's.

This will be a nice one stop shop for his columns + new tid bits.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Isn’t this book just going to be a re hash of the last year or two from Joe Aston’s columns?

I fail to see how you can make a book out of two columns from a newspaper. Most books and biographies are in the hundreds of pages so definitely expect a lot of content. At the same time, realize that a columnist cannot write an entire chapter as a column in a newspaper like the AFR. If that was the case, every issue of the AFR would weigh several kilos.

What I am hoping to see in the book is more of an in depth look at how the Qantas org worked under the reign of Uncle Alan, including the many controversial decisions made by the then CEO. For instance, I suspect you could write a whole chapter of the standoff Uncle Alan had in 2011 which forced him to shutdown the airline to get his way. At the same time the close ties with government vis-a-vis perks like the Chairperson’s lounge and other junkets for our honourable policy makers will likely be discussed if I was a gambling man.

-RooFlyer88

 

[Saab34]

I found it here, $21.60 if you have everyday extra. I can’t seem to pre order it however, will check next week, delivery is only $4 (too lazy to go into the store)

Most other retailers are high $30s. I assume Kmart and Target will have it.

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/the-chairman-s-lounge-by-joe-aston/p/103796?srsltid=AfmBOooPxRwcf1HOlaKESpGJICBW0PO270R2-UItIjsI1dG8MaL13guL

 

[SYD]

I fail to see how you can make a book out of two columns from a newspaper.

Make sh$t up like a many journos do is a good start.

Then just summarise a whole bunch of stuff from the public domain and add some personal views. Voila!

What I am hoping to see in the book is more of an in depth look at how the Qantas org worked under the reign of Uncle Alan, including the many controversial decisions made by the then CEO.

Don’t hold your breath.

For instance, I suspect you could write a whole chapter of the standoff Uncle Alan had in 2011 which forced him to shutdown the airline to get his way.

People have.

At the same time the close ties with government vis-a-vis perks like the Chairperson’s lounge and other junkets for our honourable policy makers will likely be discussed if I was a gambling man.

Concluding with why JA didn’t get a CL invite from AJ…. Now that’s what I want to see!

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I found it here, $21.60 if you have everyday extra. I can’t seem to pre order it however, will check next week, delivery is only $4 (too lazy to go into the store)

Most other retailers are high $30s. I assume Kmart and Target will have it.

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/the-chairman-s-lounge-by-joe-aston/p/103796?srsltid=AfmBOooPxRwcf1HOlaKESpGJICBW0PO270R2-UItIjsI1dG8MaL13guL

Pity you only earn 12 QF points on the purchase of this book. Then again I’m surprised such transactions attract any QF points. The only thing I reckon this book attracts from QF is their lawyers!

-RooFlyer88

 

[Gold Member]

I found it here, $21.60 if you have everyday extra. I can’t seem to pre order it however, will check next week, delivery is only $4 (too lazy to go into the store)

Most other retailers are high $30s. I assume Kmart and Target will have it.

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/the-chairman-s-lounge-by-joe-aston/p/103796?srsltid=AfmBOooPxRwcf1HOlaKESpGJICBW0PO270R2-UItIjsI1dG8MaL13guL

Hold out, it’ll be listed in the Qantas Store soon. Best points redemption value ever.

 

[Happy Dude]

I fail to see how you can make a book out of two columns from a newspaper.

That is why the Good Lord invented Chat GPT.

 

[marcojim]

Preview of Joe Aston’s book available in today’s papers:

The gravy plane: How Alan Joyce cultivated a PM and ruled the skies

Alan Joyce, Anthony Albanese and the opaque politics of schmooze.

www.theage.com.au

 

[kpc]

Preview of Joe Aston’s book available in today’s papers:

The gravy plane: How Alan Joyce cultivated a PM and ruled the skies

Alan Joyce, Anthony Albanese and the opaque politics of schmooze.

www.theage.com.au

If anywhere near the truth, bad look for AJ and QF but even worse for Airbus Albo & CK with an election year coming up....

 

[levelnine]

The Chairman’s Lounge is a speakeasy for Australia’s ruling class, yet it is so much more than that. Possessing its membership means passing the mystical velvet rope of high social status – something Western consumer culture conditions us all to strive for. It is confirmation that you’ve made it, entitling you quite literally to breathe different air to regular people. Of course, it is a classic chimera, because if you’d really made it, you’d be at the ExecuJet terminal boarding your own Global Express. Most Chairman’s Lounge members are only there in return for spending a tremendous amount of other people’s money.

What a paragraph!

 

[p--and--t]

Pardon my yawn

 

[SYD]

What a paragraph!

Another hint that JA never got an invite.

 

[Kerrodt]

Preview of Joe Aston’s book available in today’s papers:

The gravy plane: How Alan Joyce cultivated a PM and ruled the skies

Alan Joyce, Anthony Albanese and the opaque politics of schmooze.

www.theage.com.au

I started to read this and it just went on and on. Joe must have been paid by the word. He does not know how to use brevity to convey a message or deliver knockout punches.

The TL/DR of the excerpt is “The QF CL is an exclusive invitation only club that has members who are too poor to own a private jet and too influential for QF to use to its own advantage when necessary “.

 

[p--and--t]

Another hint that JA never got an invite.

The author, the book precis and much of the thread immediately bring to mind a famour Russian physiologist who's name starts with P.