CEO retiring, what changes at Qantas would you like to see

[wandering_fred]

It's a very sad reflection on Australia if 50% of people are alienated by social justice, respect and equality.

Rather we are alienated by the lack of personal and corporate responsibility which is required before the latter two items can be considered fairly.
Qantas needs to recover a level of responsibility to the customer.
No wandering
Fred

 

[Roy Hessey]

Get rid of the Chairman's lounge so politicians can not be compromised. Stop over booking Business Class domestic routes. I was bumped twice on a flight Syd to Darwin and back.

 

[MikeG]

It's a very sad reflection on Australia if 50% of people are alienated by social justice, respect and equality.

In my opinion Virgin has more to lose on that front...

 

[ramboflyer]

I gather you disagree with it....but has it stopped you spending money with QF?

I have stopped spending money with Qantas in the sense I am no longer earning points, not entirely for the lecturing but other reasons such as lack of reward seats and overall service. I have been moving over to Virgin for about a year now. I still have Qantas points but am running them down on domestic flights, accommodation and hire cars.

I note the AFF editor is quoted in todays press as focusing more on Virgin and Krisflyer for his reward redemptions.

 

[Mr H]

I note the AFF editor is quoted in todays press as focusing more on Virgin and Krisflyer for his reward redemptions.

I am also concentrating on KF redemptions at the moment as I had got my balance up to 660k during Covid and they were due to start expiring.

But KF will become less of a thing as credit card redemptions switch from 2:1 to 3:1 - coupled with an increasing tendency for SQ to release only advantage awards on the most desirable routes/flights - which will make it harder to accumulate enough KF points for the best redemptions.

Velocity points may be slightly easier to acquire than QF (though I'm not totally persuaded this is really the case), but international redemptions with partner airlines are very expensive, especially since they usually price at sector by sector.

Those of us with the experience and patience to work with QF OWA itineraries are going to be hard pushed to find better value out there.

 

[MollyJones]

Give the staff at even the lowest levels the authority to make basic decisions which enhance the customer experience.
There needs to be a complete cultural reset where the emphasis changes from assigning blame and passing the buck to fixing the problem and taking responsibility.
The staff appear to have had trained out of them the ability to be empathic to customers and situations which could be handled well seem frequently to be handled badly resulting in angst all round.
Eg customer experiences an airline caused delay or inconvenience. Instead of offering to see how/if they can fix it, front line staff are routinely required to fob them off to someone else. This just makes people who are already antsy get cranky which may come across as rude and then the CSA in turn gets cranky and then, well, computers says no.
And while they are at it, get rid of the useless and poorly trained overseas call centres.

 

[Seanbm]

Bring back the MEL-KUL flight! and work better with partners with regard to coshare agreements and earning points with them - QANTAS and other one worlds dont work that well together...

 

[Quickstatus]

The staff appear to have had trained out of them

See post #113, #114

 

[Daver6]

Give the staff at even the lowest levels the authority to make basic decisions which enhance the customer experience.
There needs to be a complete cultural reset where the emphasis changes from assigning blame and passing the buck to fixing the problem and taking responsibility.
The staff appear to have had trained out of them the ability to be empathic to customers and situations which could be handled well seem frequently to be handled badly resulting in angst all round.
Eg customer experiences an airline caused delay or inconvenience. Instead of offering to see how/if they can fix it, front line staff are routinely required to fob them off to someone else. This just makes people who are already antsy get cranky which may come across as rude and then the CSA in turn gets cranky and then, well, computers says no.
And while they are at it, get rid of the useless and poorly trained overseas call centres.

I recall seeing an internal note on a wall at a Conrad hotel (in a staff area). It basically said that every staff member is empowered to do what it takes to make a situation right for a customer. It went on to say that you won't be reprimanded for doing the wrong thing. Imagine if QF staff had that authority and backing.

 

[kyle]

I recall seeing an internal note on a wall at a Conrad hotel (in a staff area). It basically said that every staff member is empowered to do what it takes to make a situation right for a customer. It went on to say that you won't be reprimanded for doing the wrong thing. Imagine if QF staff had that authority and backing.

Think that might work for a small team, but not for a big organisation like Qantas with staff and contractors in different jurisdictions.

 

[Daver6]

Think that might work for a small team, but not for a big organisation like Qantas with staff and contractors in different jurisdictions.

I don't know this for a fact, but I'd suggest Conrard worldwide employ more staff directly than QF do. I also don't see why being large an in different jurisdictions should be an insurmountable problem. I'll also add that I'm an armchair expert on this matter

 

[RichardMEL]

Give the staff at even the lowest levels the authority to make basic decisions which enhance the customer experience.
There needs to be a complete cultural reset where the emphasis changes from assigning blame and passing the buck to fixing the problem and taking responsibility.
The staff appear to have had trained out of them the ability to be empathic to customers and situations which could be handled well seem frequently to be handled badly resulting in angst all round.
Eg customer experiences an airline caused delay or inconvenience. Instead of offering to see how/if they can fix it, front line staff are routinely required to fob them off to someone else. This just makes people who are already antsy get cranky which may come across as rude and then the CSA in turn gets cranky and then, well, computers says no.
And while they are at it, get rid of the useless and poorly trained overseas call centres.

Absolutely.

re staff empowerment... they USED to have much more.. then they had the fear of Joyce put into them to be audited on any little decision or change made outside of strict rules - ie flowing forward pax proactively, or things like that. It was drilled into them that their actions would have consequences for them (this is what more than one ground staffer had told me over the years) so why would you risk it to do a good thing for a customer if some bean counter would come at you later and say "You moved that Mr MEL on a discount Y fare when you shouldn't have...." and all that kind of thing.

It is absolutely true that such authority with agents can lead to abuses at times (and I suspect this was what was being cracked down on rather than an intent to make life hard for people) but you know it goes a long way when the person you speak to at the gate or lounge(when there is one) actually can do something. Now sure there are still agents who CAN do things like flow forward at check in desks and such, but other things they can't (and of course, with no service desks for customrs, gate agents actually need to work flights not solve problems - which is likely also one of the reasons to tell pax to call res, but then wait 3 hours to be told "sorry, airport control" paradox).

Empowered employees who can fix things make things easier for customers and far less frustrating for sure.

 

[exceladdict]

Very good question. There's a lot of enhancements I could see the new CEO bringing to QF:

• Introducing Basic Economy fares (perhaps even rebranding Red e-deal as Basic Economy) so that you earn no status credits
• Increasing the number of status credits required to earn status or perhaps tying status to $$$ spent at QF
• Merging the Qantas Pub and Business Lounges to save on operating costs
• Restricting access to QF domestic lounges just to those holding Platinum or a J ticket
• Increasing the number of points required for a classic award or even scrapping the scheme in favour of dynamic pricing

Just a friendly reminder that not all change is good.

-RooFlyer88

For the love of all things good in the world why would you write down such a concise list of horror? Fortunately, I don't think anything that could generate negative press will see the light of day for a while

Number 1 would be onshore all call centres

This is low hanging fruit that I would expect to see soon.

And I hope OneWorld makes a lesson out of Qantas violating the terms of the alliance.

You've referred to this a number of times across multiple threads. What alliance terms have Qantas violated?

 

[Andy KC]

- A refurbishment of the Sydney domestic J lounge is desperately needed (even before the international one), even if it is a soft refurbishment such as new furniture and carpet.

Charging ports and power points within each group of seating in Qantas Club.
International airline clubs all seem to have them.
It is really poor business to not have them so readily available in Sydney, a major domestic and international hub.

 

[RooFlyer]

But as the national carrier they do have a part to play in promoting national culture.

Qantas, (as a private, ASX listed company) are no more a 'national carrier' than Coles (same) is the 'national grocer'.

I'd suggest they have a much larger role to play in providing a decent air transport service - once they get that right, move onto other stuff, if they wish.

 

[Mr H]

Qantas, (as a private, ASX listed company) are no more a 'national carrier' than Coles (same) is the 'national grocer'.

Good analogy. Both quintessentially Australian, both make excessive profits, both complained about, both have red/white logos and both are vital for our nation’s well-being.

 

[Daver6]

Good analogy. Both quintessentially Australian, both make excessive profits, both complained about, both have red/white logos and both are vital for our nation’s well-being,

What do you define as excessive profits though? Is QF even paying a dividend to shareholders?

 

[oz_mark]

What do you define as excessive profits though? Is QF even paying a dividend to shareholders?

They chose not to, due to lack of franking credits. Opted for a share buyback instead.

 

[Daver6]

They chose not to, due to lack of franking credits. Opted for a share buyback instead.

Where I really was going with this, is either the actual earnings per share or earring as a percentage of share price excessive large compared to other companies or other rates or return for a similar risk profile?

What I really find bizarre is when people complain about these super profits. If you think it's so good, why not get in on the action and buy some shares? You too can become rich!

 

[Mr H]

What do you define as excessive profits though? Is QF even paying a dividend to shareholders?

Abnormal profit - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org