RSD
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2010
- Posts
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First the Good News - we've just found Qantas's new CEO - congrats TimBAny business that sets out to make money will lose money, but a business that sets out to provide good service to customers will make money.
So I would have announced two pillars for Qantas moving forward:
1. Provide good service to customers. (Where "good" should mean "on par with the best in the world".)
2. Keep the staff happy (because unhappy staff provide poor service).
To implement these pillars, starting with the second, I'd:
To improve the service, I'd announce equipment and route changes:
- Come to the table with the pilots and maintenance unions, and also the other unions that don't currently have protected industrial actions. Note that coming to the table implies the start of a conversation, not caving to every demand.
- Announce that for the past month, I'd been meeting with senior and mid-career Qantas staff from across every job role (except management) and every division, to get their ideas about the problems Qantas has and how they could be fixed. Those meetings would have helped shape all the decisions that are being announced.
- Reassure staff that they are the spirit of Qantas, that their service is cherished, and that they will be the ones who in five years' time will be proud to say that they helped restore Qantas to world-class status.
- Announce that with upcoming fleet changes, the Qantas workforce (pilots, cabin crew, maintenance, etc.) would need to increase; the increases would all be met with new Australian-based staff on comparable contracts to existing staff.
There would also be service improvements on board and in lounges:
- Due to the delays with the 787, Boeing has been nailed to the wall to provide 777-300ERs and 777-200LRs at ridiculously cheap prices, with A380-standard seats and interiors, and deliveries starting within 3 months. The 773s will replace all 747-400s and some 747-400ERs. The 772s will replace the 747-400ERs that are currently struggling to service SYD-DFW-BNE; the service will become SYD-DFW-SYD, and will be daily.
- To help pay for the 777s, the 3-class A380 orders have been deferred for 10 years.
- Inter-operation with Oneworld partners will be improved by adding flights to their hubs (much like DFW replacing SFO).
- QF will begin flying to Amman (base of Royal Jordanian) within 3 months, with flights from SYD, MEL, PER and BNE. RJ will provide much-needed one-stop flights to the Middle East and Europe.
- From June 2012, QF will fly to BER instead of FRA, to link up with new Oneworld member Air Berlin. This will provide additional destinations in Europe.
- There would be improvements in Asia as well, but I (speaking for myself, not as this hypothetical AJ-standin) don't know the region well enough to say what they'd be -- insert your pet idea here.
- Negotiations with the AU and NZ governments have led to rights for non-AU, non-NZ carriers to fly trans-Tasman being withdrawn. To make up the slack, A330s (displaced from other QFi routes by the new 777s) will be moved to the TT routes; Air NZ will also be able to increase their capacity on the routes. Jetconnect will be used to add services other than SYD/MEL-AKL/CHC.
More importantly, Jetstar would hardly be mentioned in the announcement. It would continue operating, but would be required to be self-supporting, and would not cannibalise any more routes from QF. It would be rebranded as the leisure brand, and would be replaced by QF on non-leisure routes.
- All QCs would have pancake machines, with J lounges fitted with waffle machines in addition.
- All lounge wifi (domestic and internationally) would be immediately replaced with something faster than carrier pigeons.
- All CSMs would be retrained. They would greet each WP before departure, and supply a feedback card to be returned at the end of the flight, or on the first occasion when service was not up to standard. CSMs would have the responsibility (and power) to address any poor service, and report flight attendants for retraining if not up to standard.
- All flight attendants would subject to 6-monthly performance reviews, with seniority increases for good performance. (This would be possible through new contracts, negotiated as mentioned above.)
- A new "inconsistency" hotline would be set up; any substandard service could be reported there, with weekly summary reports of improvements made posted on the Qantas website.
(I'm sure there's plenty more I could have added, but compiling that list has exhausted me. Imagine how tired AJ must be, poor chap! :shock
The bottom line would be that Qantas would invest significantly in the immediate future, taking advantage of the $500m forecast profit. Shareholders would not see dividends for at least three more years, but once Qantas is re-established as a quality airline providing real service on routes it can claim as its own, profitability will naturally return.
Oh, and AJ would be never be seen uttering the word "Qantas" again.
(All of these ideas are of course culled from various posts on AFF and elsewhere -- sorry not to credit individuals, but if you see your idea here, "thanks", and if I've mangled it in some way, sorry.)
Now for the Bad News - we still need to figure out how to get rid of AJ first - and the sooner the better. Any ideas anyone?
