Has Qantas got its "mojo" back?

[SteveJohnson]

Reading the story on AusBT about Qantas returning to the Gold Coast, apparently at the press conference there the new boss of Qantas Domestic, Lyell Strambi, said:

"I get a real sense that Qantas is getting its mojo back, and it's great to be a part of that"

That might be an interesting topic for discussion: do AFFers feel that Qantas is lifting its game and getting back into the game?

 

[TonyHancock]

That might be an interesting topic for discussion: do AFFers feel that Qantas is lifting its game and getting back into the game?

My recent experiences have been, on the whole, much improved. I have definitely seen a change in attitude on board...although there have been a couple of not so great experiences too. (QF6 FRA-SIN was pretty average.)

 

[simongr]

When I was doing primarily int'l travel I actively avoided QF - this was 2006 - 2008. This was pre-A380 days and I was AA EXP. I had some pretty poor experiences when I flew:

- Awful food
- Rude crew
- Carp IFE

I then "had" to fly them to the UK with a nine month old baby (and my wife) - I flew (I think) SYD-SIN-LHR on QF and LHR-SIN on BA and finally SIN-SYD on QF. The crew on all of the QF flights were amazing - the BA crew (and note I am originally english and thus biased towards BA) were a disgrace. This was in 2009.

Since then I have flown maybe 150 sectors on QF - mostly in DOM whY and I find the crew great, the aircraft fine ad the food still pretty awful. I have definitely felt the mood improving - especially since the grounding and the resolution of pay disputes. I also constantly see them making minor improvements - priority boarding (keep quiet TH), island dining, rolling out of refurb'd cabins, new 738s with gate to gate IFE (if you aren't in row 4).

If the pricing wasn't so awful I would default to QF now for int'l travel due to an expectation of decent service and the associated FF benefits.

 

[QF1]

In my experiences, I never had a problem flying Qantas..in fact it is an airline which provides reasonably good service with a fantastic safety record.

The major issue with Qantas is that its competitors are all big league international players. QF as an international airline is actually very small. Often , it gets compared to SQ which is known for CONSISTENT service, its compared with Emirates which has a huge network and TONS of money to buy aircrafts and even staff trained by QF etc at will...its compared to Cathay, again which provides good service and good network within Asia. But if you compare QF with a BA or UA or any north American airlines or even most European airlines...it is absolutely fantastic.

 

[yohy?!]

i would think that QF would have gotten their mojo back once a number of things have happened...

-QFi stops contracting and perhaps starts to ADD routes! (FRA still to go so some time at least for this to happen)
-767s/734s have left the fleet (good few years to go yet)
-All the industrial negotiations are completed (not likely and large number of redundancies to come)
-JQi figures out what it wants to be (either gets the chop or morphs to QF full service brand ex-SIN with the 787s)

Then I think we would be looking at a QF that is delivering a consistent product with motivated staff proud of a growing company

 

[Edge]

i've been flying qantas a fair bit recently - mostly dom Y but also int Y (Mel-LAX) and have found them on the whole to be very good. a couple of times it's come down to the service of the individual and to be honest if i hadn't been persistent (asked two separate people if i could jump on an earlier flight) then my experience probably wouldn't have been as good.

 

[11sjw]

Have had some good experiences recently but Ms Nicky on QF1101 today was sensational. +ve feedback sent to QF.

 

[jdp]

I'd say "no, but they appear to be trying".

I fly almost every week, and in the past 6 months have seen a noted improvement. The FA's now make an effort to visit and greet WP's on domestic flights, the food is improving, they try to smile now. Kids meals are better and the IFE is slowly getting upgraded.

But, it's so inconsistent. I had a trip recently LHA-SIN-ADL. On the LHA-SIN A380 the crew were lovely, going out of their way to ensure all was good. I had 5 visits from various crew "just to say Hi". This was after an extremely unpleasant experience with the BA lounge staff so we felt "at home". The flight SIN-ADL on a vintage A320 was something else completely - I am utterly convinced we didn't fly back in a plane, instead we flew back on the CSM's broomstick - she was terrifying, and nobody said a word to us the whole trip.

Same thing this week - I'm just back from a return ADL-PER-ADL tonight - the flight out was a new 737-800 with the new uncomfortable seats and individual IFE. The crew were extremely friendly, knew my name (Mr Surname) without having to check a sheet, and gave great service. On the flight back on the old 737-800 with drop-down screens only the greeting FA greeted me by my first name as he read it off my boarding pass as I boarded the plane, the crew were grumpy, they served dinner to the entire plane except us (row 13) and didn't bring us meals for another 10 minutes, pushed me when my seat wasn't completely upright (sagging seat syndrome - I didn't lower it), and the video tape kept dropping out so badly they changed movies part way through the flight and then didn't finish the second before they had to put the screens up for landing.

Qantas will have it's mojo back when it delivers consistently good service every flight and a consistent experience. I think some Qantas execs should take their lives in their hands and board an Air Niugini 767 to POM and get a grasp for what "hospitality" used to be like as their FA's are consistently excellent and excellently consistent.

 

[JohnPhelan]

i would think that QF would have gotten their mojo back once a number of things have happened...

-QFi stops contracting and perhaps starts to ADD routes! (FRA still to go so some time at least for this to happen)

DFW? SCL? DBX (soon)?

Whilst there's no doubt QF has cut a number of routes, this myth that QF is only cutting, and not adding any new destinations, is cough and needs to be recognised as simply anti-QF spin.

 

[harvyk]

I think they are improving, my LAX - MEL flight yesterday, the whole cabin crew where great, and there was an FA's who I thought deserved a special mention, so I've also sent in the +ve feedback. I mentioned to Rob the FA I was going to be sending in +ve feedback to QF and he was going to get a special mention, I get the feeling I made his day.

 

[BD1959]

DFW? SCL? DBX (soon)?

Whilst there's no doubt QF has cut a number of routes, this myth that QF is only cutting, and not adding any new destinations, is cough and needs to be recognised as simply anti-QF spin.

New destinations, they may be, but they are ALL replacement destinations. SFO -> DFW; EZE -> SCL; SIN -> DBX ... OK, maybe DBX gets a 0.5 add since it replaces SIN on the Kanga but SIN stays in it's own right (for the time being). Meanwhile, AKL -> LAX; HKG -> LHR; BKK -> LHR; SIN -> BOM; have all been cut this year alone.

Regards,

BD

 

[Platinum A332]

New destinations, they may be, but they are ALL replacement destinations. SFO -> DFW; EZE -> SCL; SIN -> DBX ... OK, maybe DBX gets a 0.5 add since it replaces SIN on the Kanga but SIN stays in it's own right (for the time being). Meanwhile, AKL -> LAX; HKG -> LHR; BKK -> LHR; SIN -> BOM; have all been cut this year alone.

Regards,

BD

Arguably though, the changes will create a more effective distribution of capacity throughout the network. Routing QF flights via DXB plus the EK partnership probably means more QF seats are available to London itself now than via SIN (given O+D demand of SIN and DXB out of Australia).

AKL-LAX was hardly ever a core market for QF. HKG-LHR was difficult when your oneworld partners/competitors have 4 and 2-3 flights per day already. BKK is not exactly the highest yielding destination either. With a dedicated A330 just to the BKK market, there probably is not much of a cappacity decline into BKK itself.

SFO was previously served 4xwk (it was sometimes 5xwk, but never daily). DFW is a daily operation now. Smart move by QF as it has increased capacity and connection opportunities in North America, while opening up extra seats into LAX.

SCL is also much better than EZE. EZE was in some week during the year downgraded to 2xwk with no connection opportunities. QF into SCL is performing much better, with more connections, and is even being operated 4xwk over the summer (the first time QF has had 4 non-stop flights per week into South America).

As for SIN-->BOM, I am sure QF will be back one day when the service is viable on a daily level. I think in the meantime QF will develop its relationship with Jet Airways to funnel Indian passengers via SIN and BKK to Indian destinations. Jet Airways is always mentioned as a partner by Alan Joyce, so I think there may be increased cooperation on the horizon.

 

[cmon0005]

As for SIN-->BOM, I am sure QF will be back one day when the service is viable on a daily level. I think in the meantime QF will develop its relationship with Jet Airways to funnel Indian passengers via SIN and BKK to Indian destinations. Jet Airways is always mentioned as a partner by Alan Joyce, so I think there may be increased cooperation on the horizon.

Only problem with this is whilst JetAirways are pretty good, the lack of status recognition whilst flying on the 9W leg is non-existent (only priority checkin is provided for QF status, no priority boarding, no seat selection, no lounge), and are basically treated like anyone else.
For this reason my next trip to BOM will be MEL-HKG(QF) & HKG-BOM(CX), so at least I get OW recognition and lounge access even if it is slightly longer and more expensive.

 

[medhead]

The SIN <-> ADL experience mentioned matches my experience. QF81/82 are 80% poor for a variety of reasons - crew, IFE or food. Maybe it's an aircraft related issue but I've taken these flights a few times recently and ever time the IFE is switched on after takeoff and off about 10 minutes before landing. A330s seem to be medium to poor condition, which just confirms my negative feelings about qantas getting the cast offs from JQ.


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[The Rok]

The whole idea of the Oneworld Alliance, or any Alliance for that matter is that QFF do not have to fly to every destination in the world.

If you can still get to BOM via HKG with Cathay them really the Alliance is working.

QF are not dropping routes that are profitable. If the dropped BOM it's because it was draining resources.,

 

[Reggie]

I was going to post to a new thread about a recent experience, but found this one which is appropriate.

On a recent family trip to, around and back from the US mostly in J, I have been absolutley stunned with the experiece of my last flight, moreso the followup SYD-PER.

We had many changes to flights due to schedule changes and cancellations from booking to actual departure. When originally booked, a childs meal had been preferenced through the whole booking, and wasn't a problem until the very last flight SYD-PER, where it was not loaded. We weren't overly concerned as my lad fell a sleep before the lunch service, and the crew kept an economy meal for him. The CSM who was also working the J cabin, came and appologised, and said he didn't have a PAX Manifest as they didn't want to delay the flight any further, and it wasn't a requirement for domestic flights, and thus he couldn't check if there should have been a childs meal loaded.

I pulled out my computer and went through all the change notifications, and there it was on the very last change, for some reason the Childs meal had dropped off on the last flight. I pointed this out to the CSM and said its all good, i should have picked it up. However he insisted that I email him a copy of the confirmations, which I did, and had since forgotten about.

Yesterday I received the most unexpected parcel in the mail from Qantas. The parcel contained a small personally handwritten card from the CSM and Qantas Crew for my flight. The card said "Mr Reggie, Please accept this gift for your son with our appologies for the childs meal not being provided in flight to Perth. Kind Regards [CSM Full Name] and Qantas Crew QF577 [XX]th September" The gift was a The Wiggles DVD.

Upon opening, reading, and still now the hair are standing up on the back of my neck. This was totally unexpected, and the most heartfelt thing I have received from Qantas. In the past I have received the mass produced standard responses with a voucher or our appologies etc, but this was personalised and handwritten.

Even during flight I could see this CSM really loved his job, loved working for QF, and was really proud of QF and wanted to ensure it could be as good as it could be.

So big thumbs up to QF, and to this CSM. RedRoo you will receive a PM about this. I will also pass through comments via the usual channels.

 

[freepyjamas]

I'd say "no, but they appear to be trying".

I fly almost every week, and in the past 6 months have seen a noted improvement. The FA's now make an effort to visit and greet WP's on domestic flights

Really? I fly SYD-MEL nearly every week and can't remember the last time I got visited by a FA. But on such a short hop, I don't really expect them to have the time to do so.

What I reckon QF could do (and I suspect it's just me here) to make their passengers feel like they're the most important people on the plane, is to stop seating their colleagues in J class on domestic flights.

This week, flying SYD-MEL on a 737, in row 5 there's TWO WP's and a P1. No shadows. 3 rows ahead, there's a QF FA in uniform sitting back and relaxing with a book, getting her pre-flight drink, getting food on a china plate... while QF's paying customers are shoulder to shoulder behind her.

In any other service industry, you wouldn't so visibly put staff ahead of paying customers. Waiters don't sit down in a restaurant at the best table, having a meal break, while paying customers are stuck on the table next to the toilets. 5 Star hotels don't operate like this either.

I have no idea why that off-duty FA couldn't have been seated in row 26, and maybe that P1 been given an upgrade. Or just leave the J seat vacant. It's kinda like Qantas is saying to that planeload of people - we put our colleagues ahead of our customers.

To me, it's not a good look.

 

[nlagalle]

Really? I fly SYD-MEL nearly every week and can't remember the last time I got visited by a FA. But on such a short hop, I don't really expect them to have the time to do so.

What I reckon QF could do (and I suspect it's just me here) to make their passengers feel like they're the most important people on the plane, is to stop seating their colleagues in J class on domestic flights.

This week, flying SYD-MEL on a 737, in row 5 there's TWO WP's and a P1. No shadows. 3 rows ahead, there's a QF FA in uniform sitting back and relaxing with a book, getting her pre-flight drink, getting food on a china plate... while QF's paying customers are shoulder to shoulder behind her.

In any other service industry, you wouldn't so visibly put staff ahead of paying customers. Waiters don't sit down in a restaurant at the best table, having a meal break, while paying customers are stuck on the table next to the toilets. 5 Star hotels don't operate like this either.

I have no idea why that off-duty FA couldn't have been seated in row 26, and maybe that P1 been given an upgrade. Or just leave the J seat vacant. It's kinda like Qantas is saying to that planeload of people - we put our colleagues ahead of our customers.

To me, it's not a good look.

I am sure this has been discussed before that that staff dead-heading will be seating in J unless it is sold out. it's part of their award agreement. so QF's hands are tied there. Mind you i've seen staff travel in J and Y before, and personally it really doesn't faze me. If their union got that as part of their conditions, good on them.

 

[eastwest101]

I'm not going to enter into the debate of crew positioning flights being in Y or J but the feeling that I get on QFd is that morale of the crew has improved a bit since the dispute/shutout. I can't tell about the ground crew as I don't have to see them a lot myself. I think the concerning thing is that despite the slight improvement in crew morale, I think that QF management are starting to believe their own "spin" - and thats always dangerous but a bit unavoidable when they are committed to their corporate story.

I suspect the competition from the direction of DJ in the J and corporate FF market has also re-energized QF a bit. They seem to be trying to get PB sorted out.

 

[medhead]

Crew deadheading or whatever is one thing that isn't worth commenting about. But I think most people could list examples where staff (I'm not talking about on/off duty crew here) have been looked after at the expense of passengers.

I'm definitely not prepared to say they are trying to fix PB. They've been trying to fix PB for the best part of a year. DJ on the other hand say we're doing PB and the next week there it is working and continuing to work.

Combined with the lack of consistency. There is no mojo IMO. They would also have more mojo, IMO, if they were at least consistently bad. At the moment it's like the unitied states of qantas (Tara), you don't know which airline you're going to get.


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