Building a stronger Qantas

[aussiejohn]

At the risk of being negative and Qantas bashing, I see nothing new here, just more of the same Joyce rubbish he's been spouting ever since the board had a meeting with too much fire water and appointed the wrong man to the job of CEO.

The golden days of Qantas are gone, no two ways about it. And they ain't comin' back. One thing you will get no argument from me about is the fact that Qantas has to change to meet the challenges of the 21st century. That's a given. The unions have had it all their own way for way too long, but Management also are just as much to blame for the problems. As far as I am concerned, a lot of the problems started a long time ago and of course, more recently were exacerbated by the likes of Dixon and Joyce. I don't have any answers and I don't pretend to.

I used to always enjoy my trips on Qantas, but in recent years, they have just gone to the dogs. Joyce makes the point that 82 out of 100 people now DO NOT fly with Qantas. Well, hello, why do we think that is? Joyce is so bloody thick that he doesn't understand that people vote with their feet when they are not happy.

I have not travelled on any of the Middle Eastern airlines so I don't know what they are like. My last trip to the UK in April/May was over by Singapore Airlines and Air Asia X. Came home on Qantas. Guess which was the worst flight! Singapore Airlines has been my airline of choice for some time now.

Qantas makes a lot of its money from premium passengers and I suspect a number of AFF members are in that catergory. Unfortunately I am not. Many of the changes in recent years may well have been good for F and J members. Us poor old Bronze members get nothing every time they tinker with "the world's most profitable Frequent Flyer program". They just make it harder and harder for us to get any sort of seat. And now he is announcing more changes. You can bet London to a Brick, there will be nothing for the hundreds of thousands of members who dutifully scramble to earn a few points at their local Woolies each week, in the naive knowledge they'll be off to see Aunty Mabel in London very soon. The Frequent Flyer program has just become a complete and utter farce.

Qantas has many opportunities to turn itself into an outstanding airline and differentiate itself from the pack AND to become the airline of choice for all Australians. It chooses not to. They are refitting the 747's as we speak with the A380 seats. Well that will be great for F and J passengers, but even more people will vote with their feet when they get the new ghastly, narrow uncomfortable seats they have in economy class. My trip home from London in the new A380 in May was truly awful - and I was lucky enough to have seat 80K in to the bargain. What could be a new and wonderful flying experience on the new A380's has been totally squandered by Qantas.

We have the longest flying times of any nation in the world. We should rightly expect our national airline to provide a level of comfort and service over and above anything provided by other airlines. YES, I know this costs money. But as Australians, we have always paid over the odds for our flights on Qantas. So there is little doubt people will pay a little more for extra ordinary comfort and service.

As for Jetstar, well I wouldn't even waste my time or people's intelligence discussing it. There's hardly a day goes by when it is not in the news for reasons it would rather not be. Make what you will of that.

I have strong feelings about Qantas, but I am but one person and I cannot do anything much to stop the destruction of a once great airline. You may or may not agree with my thoughts, but that's how I feel about it.

 

[QFMEL]

An interesting comment just posted on The West web site by well respected aviation reporter




Why this Qantas plan must succeed - The West Australian

Am usually loathe to quote Crikey but Sandilands (below) is a little less inclined to drink the kool aid on the only-18-out-of-100-Australians/your-flag-carrier-needs-you line.

It's flawed reasoning in the extreme. It pitches known quantity, and product consistency, against greatly increased risks of a mixed bag for pax (admittedly a risk anyway if you're flying a mixture of a dated 744 and an A388 on the one carrier, but this is clearly a multiplier).

The underlying message from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce this morning was that if you were one of the 18 out of 100 Australians who still used Qantas when flying overseas, you would have to get used to flying only part of the way on many routes using new gateways set up with, or given to, its foreign airline friends.

Which is why many Australians already fly all the way to international destinations through the single airline alternatives offered by Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Thai International and Etihad.

 

[kezsco]

Have you ever done business in mainland China? I mean, it seems you probably have from your comment, personally I would prefer to be running an airline somewhere else if I were CEO.

Chengdu would be awesome as a base though, imagine the food in the lounges!!

I have and I do. I also lived in China for a while. I think if Qantas can do business in Vietnam, then I don't think China would be very difficult for them. Sure it will be tricky and patience would be required, but nothing that would be insurmountable. Many Global Fortune 500 have significant operations in China (my employer is one of them). Much of the worry with doing business in China can be minimised for an airline (IP issues, equity issues etc...) and I am sure would be welcomed by the local govt.


If China was an option, then Chengdu is as valid a city as Kunming. I would welcome it whole heartedly.


FYI Kunming is opening a new airport soon capable of handling 38 million a year. Surely this would interest someone...

 

[Red Roo]

Dear Qantas,

If you expand your code sharing agreements, please look to ensure that when I book I can then select my seats online as normal. Please make sure Qantas systems 'talk' to the other airlines systems.

Don't make me have to ring a call centre who then give a message that they too can only select Aisle or Window but to "not worry as a WP I'll be assured a good seat". But then only to find I'm up the back somewhere next to the toilet. I also like to look for better seats as they become available. I also like to ensure the aircraft type hasn't changed at the last minute.

To me seat selection is important. I fly Qantas when Qantas fly end-to-end (or the majority of the route). Where Qantas doesn't I now use an airline that does. Failing that, I fall back to Qantas.

Personally, I hate code share. Typically I often find my WP benefits don't seem to carry across or don't carry the full "value" with the other airline.

So I have no issue with code sharing. Just make it transparent to me. Make it look like Qantas. Make it look like what I'm used to using. Don't make me have to learn something else when I just want to get somewhere.

May be I've just been unlucky.

Hi Nonpop,

We've looked into. Using BA as an example, at present you should be able to select window or aisle when you are making a booking. You should then be allocated a seat in accordance with yor preference and oneworld tier. Unfortunatly you cannot select the specific seat as you request during booking. It's tricky when QF and BA are using two different booking systems.

Nonetheless, your point is fair, so I'll ensure is sent to the relvant parts of QF for consideration.

Cheers,
Red Roo

 

[QFMEL]

thanks I feel all warm and fuzzy.

But I think I would prefer "Dear", more professional.

What can I say- I'm all about anytime access to emails from QF

 

[Red Roo]

What about every other lounge?

We are planning to implement a new wifi infrastructure platform across all our lounges (domestic and international). We are aiming to have the rollout to our key ports completed by end Nov with the smaller regional lounges implemented by Q1 2012.

In terms of other offshore lounges other than LA, we know the SIN lounges are an issue. Its actually an airport wide problem and so the airport authority has plans to increase their connectivity pipe/bandwidth. We are waiting on info as to timing, will let you know as soon as I have some more info.

Cheers,
Red Roo

 

[harvyk]

An interesting comment just posted on The West web site by well respected aviation reporter

Why this Qantas plan must succeed - The West Australian

But he said "Qantas the last major airline to put in-flight entertainment systems into economy class." - has he flown with UA lately? They are still operating B744's transpac with mainscreen only in Y...
Sure QF is falling behind, but lets at least be accurate if we're going to put the boot in.

 

[simongr]

Hi Nonpop,

We've looked into. Using BA as an example, at present you should be able to select window or aisle when you are making a booking. You should then be allocated a seat in accordance with your preference and oneworld tier. Unfortunately you cannot select the specific seat as you request during booking. It's tricky when QF and BA are using two different booking systems.

Nonetheless, your point is fair, so I'll ensure is sent to the relevant parts of QF for consideration.

Cheers,
Red Roo

That aside - can't people just log into the BA manage my booking tool and select a seat there? Or does that not work with codeshares?

 

[Princess Fiona]

That aside - can't people just log into the BA manage my booking tool and select a seat there? Or does that not work with codeshares?

It does work if you have status. No status: can't select seat. Will not allow you to even pay to select the seat as it is booked through QF.
If QF want to capture the 83 out of 100 Australians not flying with them the codeshare thing needs to be fixed up now

 

[TheInsider]

It does work if you have status. No status: can't select seat. Will not allow you to even pay to select the seat as it is booked through QF.
If QF want to capture the 83 out of 100 Australians not flying with them the codeshare thing needs to be fixed up now

Okay but alot of airlines have the same issue, it's not a just QF issue.

 

[kezsco]

Dan Warne was pretty close back in May with this article:
Qantas to launch a premium Asian airline? - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

Now he comes out with a new one today:
Qantas to launch premium Asian airline, but it's "not Qantas" - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

He speculates that it will be to compete with Singapore Airlines and may be based in KL or SIN (or other) in order to capture the growing Chinese market and intra-asia traffic.

I still think KL or SIN is smoke and mirrors and that the hub will be closer to Southern China...

 

[QFMEL]

We are planning to implement a new wifi infrastructure platform across all our lounges (domestic and international). We are aiming to have the rollout to our key ports completed by end Nov with the smaller regional lounges implemented by Q1 2012.

In terms of other offshore lounges other than LA, we know the SIN lounges are an issue. Its actually an airport wide problem and so the airport authority has plans to increase their connectivity pipe/bandwidth. We are waiting on info as to timing, will let you know as soon as I have some more info.

Cheers,
Red Roo

Fair cop at SIN, same problems apply in the SQ F lounge as at FCL/J.

 

[awilcockson]

Okay but alot of airlines have the same issue, it's not a just QF issue.

Sure, but QF are trying to relaunch themselves as a the premier premium airline by shifting their flights off on to code shares. How are they going to attract the 83% of passengers flying out of Australia who don't currently fly with them once they realise they can't even select a seat on the "long" part of the journey?

 

[simongr]

It does work if you have status. No status: can't select seat. Will not allow you to even pay to select the seat as it is booked through QF.
If QF want to capture the 83 out of 100 Australians not flying with them the codeshare thing needs to be fixed up now

OK - thanks for the clarification - I am fortunate enough to have status so have never had a problem with BA seats.

 

[serfty]

...
If QF want to capture the 82 out of 100 Australians not flying with them the codeshare thing needs to be fixed up now

Don't buy that number; AJ deliberately excluded JQ from the calculation; include them and it's 73 / 100 not flying with a Qantas airline.

 

[markis10]

Dan Warne was pretty close back in May with this article:
Qantas to launch a premium Asian airline? - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

...

He was just repeating a Reuters article published the day before which itself based on an AFR article citing Singaporean sources:

Qantas plans to establish new Singapore-based premium airline - report | Reuters

Hindsight rather than insight.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Okay but alot of airlines have the same issue, it's not a just QF issue.

Agreed it's not just a QF issue. My point is that AJ is waxing lyrical on the benefits of further / new codeshares with BA without having any idea that the average mom/ pop and 3 kids will not be able to allocate seats on them.

 

[serfty]

Sure, but QF are trying to relaunch themselves as a the premier premium airline by shifting their flights off on to code shares. How are they going to attract the 83% of passengers flying out of Australia who don't currently fly with them once they realise they can't even select a seat on the "long" part of the journey?

As I posted earlier, by May figures 27% of international PAX fly QF/JQ.

 

[harvyk]

Agreed it's not just a QF issue. My point is that AJ is waxing lyrical on the benefits of further / new codeshares with BA without having any idea that the average mom/ pop and 3 kids will not be able to allocate seats on them.

The average mum / pop and 3 kids want to fly QF allll the way from A to B. That's why they went onto the QF web site in the first place. Had they wanted to fly BA they'd have logged onto the BA website.

I'm not anti-codeshare. I can understand why they are done as it does make things easier for pax when they wanto to go A-B-C where C is not serviced by airline A. But when C is a major port, which airline A flys to, I think it's a bit rude for the airline to pretend that your flying with them where in reality your being shifted to another airline.

 

[RSD]

Dear Qantas,

If you expand your code sharing agreements, please look to ensure that when I book I can then select my seats online as normal. Please make sure Qantas systems 'talk' to the other airlines systems.

Don't make me have to ring a call centre who then give a message that they too can only select Aisle or Window but to "not worry as a WP I'll be assured a good seat". But then only to find I'm up the back somewhere next to the toilet. I also like to look for better seats as they become available. I also like to ensure the aircraft type hasn't changed at the last minute.

To me seat selection is important. I fly Qantas when Qantas fly end-to-end (or the majority of the route). Where Qantas doesn't I now use an airline that does. Failing that, I fall back to Qantas.

Personally, I hate code share. Typically I often find my WP benefits don't seem to carry across or don't carry the full "value" with the other airline.

So I have no issue with code sharing. Just make it transparent to me. Make it look like Qantas. Make it look like what I'm used to using. Don't make me have to learn something else when I just want to get somewhere.

May be I've just been unlucky.

RedRoo

Currently the whole code-share and QFF benefits thing is a mess - if Qantas is going to scale back international operations and utilise hubs and onward flights on code-share with OneWorld partners will I be able to -
a) book to all codeshare partners destinations straight from the QF website - eg to Cairo via JNB utilising SAA for the JNB - CAI leg?
b) take all of my QFF benefits with me? - it's a waste of time me having QFF status if things like baggage allowances only apply on the first half of the trip to my destination!