Needed to be said….Mentour Pilot discusses the fall of QF

[CaptJCool]

Focussing on maximising profit for shareholder dividends but more importantly boosting the share price and thus the (tax discounted) capital gain creates risks that were inadequately handled

You are running an airline It’s your primary operation. It trumps lining your own pockets or those of the shareholders. But that’s not how it was seen
Sure one can argue the point of employment or outsourcing ostensibly to force unions and their members to “tidy up their act” or

Airfare pricing
QF $1000 J one way v VA $550
What can justify this steep difference ?
QF discounted J of August 2023 proves they can go lower
The sports event algorithms that make fares inaccessible to lower income supporters
Instead They argue “maximise profit” and make fares inaccessible even to the well heeled
Yet unconcerned passengers still fly with them

If you’re a critical thinker you would walk away from flying QF internationally and adjust your mix of purchased fares to low priced travel with the opposition or further down the plane past Row 4 unless the tic has a 5 in front of it

 

[drron]

I think that many of the QF defenders in this thread have forgotten that the OP of this thread was a senior employee of QF. Someone at the coal face and amongst a group of employees who have had a significant impact on QF's reputation especially when it comes to safety. That alone makes this thread much more significant on this than my opinion as well as others who have found greener pastures elsewhere.

 

[justinbrett]

I think that many of the QF defenders in this thread have forgotten that the OP of this thread was a senior employee of QF.

It’s actually this binary view that I have a problem with. Even OP has defended QF in some instances (not AJ, but QF). I don’t think a single person has defended AJ in this thread.

It’s those that think everything is one way and completely shut down and ridicule any suggestion to the contrary, especially when just dismissing them as a “QF defender” or “QF apologist” rather than debate the content of their posts. Or worse, just cowardly ridicule them via the reaction feature.

Not really in the spirit of the AFF Terms of Service if you ask me.

• Be courteous and respect your fellow members. To be clear, personal attacks, aggressive messages, and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable. If you take particular issue with another member and are unable to reply in a civilised and constructive way to their posts, you should ignore that member.
• Posts should always be constructive and on topic. If you disagree with a post and feel the need to reply as such, it’s important that you explain why. Off topic posts may be moved or deleted as required.
• The excessive use of emojis or other symbols in a manner that constitutes harassment, bullying, or disrupts the community’s harmony is strictly prohibited.

 

[Forg]

It’s actually this binary view that I have a problem with.

Such polarisation has become a real problem.

There are some new misinformation laws which’re somewhat … far-reaching.
X and One Nation are fighting them.
They’re probably not that great, in their current form.
But due to polarisation, nobody else is game to fight them when One Nation & X are doing so, for fear of being labelled the same as X & One Nation. Because you can only be ONE or the OTHER.

 

[Gold Member]

Such polarisation has become a real problem.

What’s not helping are the supposed Aviation Experts and Commentators on here that manipulate the facts and pedal their political and commercial interests down the throats of everyone on here to suit their agenda. Worse still, there is a cowardly attempt to disguise the ruse as Independent, Objective and Verifiable while conveniently operating under the cover of Anonymity.

Not really in the spirit of the AFF Terms of Service if you ask me.

• Be courteous and respect your fellow members. To be clear, personal attacks, aggressive messages, and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable. If you take particular issue with another member and are unable to reply in a civilised and constructive way to their posts, you should ignore that member.
• Posts should always be constructive and on topic. If you disagree with a post and feel the need to reply as such, it’s important that you explain why. Off topic posts may be moved or deleted as required.
• The excessive use of emojis or other symbols in a manner that constitutes harassment, bullying, or disrupts the community’s harmony is strictly prohibited.

 

[OATEK]

What’s not helping are the supposed Aviation Experts and Commentators on here that manipulate the facts and pedal their political and commercial interests down the throats of everyone on here to suit their agenda. Worse still, there is a cowardly attempt to disguise the ruse as Independent, Objective and Verifiable while conveniently operating under the cover of Anonymity.

Not really in the spirit of the AFF Terms of Service if you ask me.

• Be courteous and respect your fellow members. To be clear, personal attacks, aggressive messages, and passive-aggressive behaviour is unacceptable. If you take particular issue with another member and are unable to reply in a civilised and constructive way to their posts, you should ignore that member.
• Posts should always be constructive and on topic. If you disagree with a post and feel the need to reply as such, it’s important that you explain why. Off topic posts may be moved or deleted as required.
• The excessive use of emojis or other symbols in a manner that constitutes harassment, bullying, or disrupts the community’s harmony is strictly prohibited.

You have your view and express it forcefully, but for someone who is observing from somewhere along the axis between all in for QF and all out, some views appear to us as clearly polar opposites as @Forg argued. QF is nether all good or all bad. It is an international airline and has no peers on that front that are Australian - all the opposition comes from foreign carriers. It also has few peers in terms of the price it charges for a seat up front.

The VA and QF domestic arguments are clearly one of often huge differences in cost, and sensible pax will make decisions that reflect their ability to pay. However using VA in any direct comparisons against an international airline using A380/A333/332 and B787 just doesn't work for me. I use either QF or VA domestically based on cost, schedule and aircraft. And in 2023/2024 my bookings have been split down the middle as an outcome.

 

[CaptJCool]

Much of QF business fares are paid by employers not the actual employee doing the travel

Other people’s money at its finest

 

[NM]

Much of QF business fares are paid by employers not the actual employee doing the travel

Other people’s money at its finest

I think that is not necessarily uniquely a Qantas situation

 

[odysseus]

Not at all.

Improvement is needed, but that applies to all carriers to varying extents. None of them are faultless.

Not sure why a technical delayed departure in QF requires a bold headline starting with Qantas in caps and multiple runs and commentary but a similar incident with VA or Rex (or some other int carriers) either is not reported or the name of the carrier is not in the headline and only mentioned further down the article. There is a definite bias in reporting in some media.

Bias - or just doing their job?

The media are not publishing research papers for academia. They are reporting 'news'. And they have an interest to attract attention, as well as the natural bias towards what's recently heard or already in focus that applies to all humans e.g. politicians, and the public.

So if they know something attracts more public attention, that will be played up. It's not their job to play it down, or display balance to all to ensure a level playing field.

As distinct from not reporting anything negative about one side, while just doing smears on the other side. They don't get any benefit from being biased, as such. But they have a commercial interest to sell news, just as any other business has its own commercial interests, and often doesn't play fair when pursuing those.

 

[p--and--t]

display balance to all to ensure a level playing field.

Actually I though balance in reporting is what ethical reporters were supposed to do. Not sure the duty statement says maximise clickbait.

 

[Lynda2475]

The sports event algorithms that make fares inaccessible to lower income supporters
Instead They argue “maximise profit” and make fares inaccessible even to the well heeled

As has been posted elsewhere Virgin have equally high airfares for late bookings around big sporting events or concerts.

Smart supporters simply plan further ahead and dont have this issue.

I loathe almost all forms of sportsball and have zero interest in AFL yet I typically am in Melbourne on AFL GF weekend simply because it is the labor day long weekend in NSW and allows me to schedule multiple catch ups with Melbourne based friends on the Sat & Sun (the non AFL fans on Sat, the AFL fans on the Sun) and then schedule back to back breaky, coffee, lunch, coffee meetings on the Monday with colleagues and ex-colleagues on the Monday (which is not a PH in Melbourne).

I booked my flights during the red tail sale (also DSC) in Feb when you could get SYD-MEL RTN for $260 in Y or $900 in J and there were multiple classic rewards (in Y and J) on almost every flight on the Fri/Sat/Sun. Someone who may want to go to the GF depending on whether their team made the final could have wisely booked classic award seats in Jan for 16k points RTN and cancelled later if their team bombed out or worn the change fee on a red tail fare for another time.

Same with hotel, I was able to get a nice room at the Voco on IHG points (zero $ outlay) again booking back in Feb. Remaining rooms now are double to triple the normal price. But that is how supply and demand works in travel industry.

There are many things QF have done which were wrong, but charging what the market will bare for a last minute fare isnt newsworthy imo - it happens the world over with all airlines. And the GF is a known date so an individuals failure to plan ahead is something they need to own.

 

[Quickstatus]

I think there's always a fine balance between keeping your shareholders happy, keeping your customers happy and keeping your employees hapoy.

Its a very tough business and there are easier places to park your capital.

However it is not the difficulty of juggling those expectations that is the issue.

Its the issues that are not related to juggling expectations that have marred its reputation.

 

[elanshin]

As has been posted elsewhere Virgin have equally high airfares for late bookings around big sporting events or concerts.

Smart supporters simply plan further ahead and dont have this issue.

I loathe almost all forms of sportsball and have zero interest in AFL yet I typically am in Melbourne on AFL GF weekend simply because it is the labor day long weekend in NSW and allows me to schedule multiple catch ups with Melbourne based friends on the Sat & Sun (the non AFL fans on Sat, the AFL fans on the Sun) and then schedule back to back breaky, coffee, lunch, coffee meetings on the Monday with colleagues and ex-colleagues on the Monday (which is not a PH in Melbourne).

I booked my flights during the red tail sale (also DSC) in Feb when you could get SYD-MEL RTN for $260 in Y or $900 in J and there were multiple classic rewards (in Y and J) on almost every flight on the Fri/Sat/Sun. Someone who may want to go to the GF depending on whether their team made the final could have wisely booked classic award seats in Jan for 16k points RTN and cancelled later if their team bombed out or worn the change fee on a red tail fare for another time.

Same with hotel, I was able to get a nice room at the Voco on IHG points (zero $ outlay) again booking back in Feb. Remaining rooms now are double to triple the normal price. But that is how supply and demand works in travel industry.

There are many things QF have done which were wrong, but charging what the market will bare for a last minute fare isnt newsworthy imo - it happens the world over with all airlines. And the GF is a known date so an individuals failure to plan ahead is something they need to own.

You know funnily QF ran a Flash sale at the start of September for travel TO MEL with a promo code that was something to do with footy. I got 30% off Y fares on exactly the days you'd fly in and out for the AFL GF. I was very confused by the sale and how late it was.

Maybe QF loads aren't as crazy as we think?

 

[Lynda2475]

Maybe QF loads aren't as crazy as we think?

Possibly not, but those who failed to plan are likely out of luck now.

IME they also sometimes upgrade aircraft depending on demand. Last 2 years id booked 737 but due to demand they became 330s

 

[moa999]

they also sometimes upgrade aircraft depending on demand

We will see what happens if the Swans win on Friday night.
At the moment it's $1000+ return on the day for flights that work for QF. Half that on JQ.

 

[Lynda2475]

We will see what happens if the Swans win on Friday night.
At the moment it's $1000+ return on the day for flights that work for QF. Half that on JQ.

A bit misleading given when I posted earlier tonight there were still early Sat morning QF flights Syd-Mel for $270 that would have you at mcg well before kick off; now up to $320.

Although Fri morning flights still $270.