New Qantas features to change the way you fly

[dajop]

This year

I'm only familiar with PER lounge this year, August, it was self service. From memory the VA lounge in SYD last December was plated by staff, except for some pre-packaged items, which were self-service (I could be wrong, but I do remember some prepackaged fruit cake, which I'm pretty sure we took ourselves).

A like for like comparison with lounges would be not fresh food buffets, but with pre-packaged items.

 

[jrfsp]

I'm only familiar with PER lounge this year, August, it was self service. From memory the VA lounge in SYD last December was plated by staff, except for some pre-packaged items, which were self-service (I could be wrong, but I do remember some prepackaged fruit cake, which I'm pretty sure we took ourselves).

A like for like comparison with lounges would be not fresh food buffets, but with pre-packaged items.

Lounges in WA and NT have been self service the entire time. Maybe TAS too?

In the USA and Europe many lounges have re introduced self service so they dont seem too worried about covid issues...or service enhancements there....

 

[jpp42]

The reason for eliminating self service is not so much about the touching of items (we know that Covid rarely transmits via surfaces anyway), but more about limiting people getting out of their seat and spending time in the snack bar area. Yes, you're likely to catch/transmit Covid to/from your seatmates, but the idea is to limit the "blast radius" to only those you are seated to nearby. The airline would rather have a half dozen people get Covid from their flight, rather than a super-spreading event where the Covid positive person walks all of the plane and breathes on a whole collection of new people throughout every phase of the flight. The idea is that once you sit down, you stay there, next to the same people the whole time. This is also why airlines shouldn't allow people to wait for the lav, they should wait in their seats.

 

[justinbrett]

Even every Hilton breakfast I've done in Aus this year (SP, BNE, CNS) have not been self service.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

When you’re happy to squeeze 200+ people into a metal tube for a 17hr+ flight to LHR shoulder to shoulder then the whole notion of Covid safe / social distancing / sorry no snack bar / please don’t gather around the toilet goes out the window.

 

[RichardMEL]

The reason for eliminating self service is not so much about the touching of items (we know that Covid rarely transmits via surfaces anyway), but more about limiting people getting out of their seat and spending time in the snack bar area. Yes, you're likely to catch/transmit Covid to/from your seatmates, but the idea is to limit the "blast radius" to only those you are seated to nearby. The airline would rather have a half dozen people get Covid from their flight, rather than a super-spreading event where the Covid positive person walks all of the plane and breathes on a whole collection of new people throughout every phase of the flight. The idea is that once you sit down, you stay there, next to the same people the whole time. This is also why airlines shouldn't allow people to wait for the lav, they should wait in their seats.

And the crowds around self service areas. Think party pie time in SYD

now the line for the bar? I wonder....

(of course all need to be wearing masks too which helps, but we do not know how long this will last).

 

[jpp42]

When you’re happy to squeeze 200+ people into a metal tube for a 17hr+ flight to LHR shoulder to shoulder then the whole notion of Covid safe / social distancing / sorry no snack bar / please don’t gather around the toilet goes out the window.

This isn't really true. The point is to keep people within their same seating area as much as possible. That way, a Covid-positive person only spreads it to people near them. Airplanes actually have quite good ventilation systems with frequent recirculation, and the HEPA filters they use will catch the Covid virus. So as long as you stay in one place, it's only the people in the immediately surrounding seats who are really at risk. Hence, these kinds of rules.

Keep in mind such rules aren't about stopping all Covid spread, but keeping it minimised/localised. A half dozen people in 2-3 rows getting infected isn't news as much as if they spread it to the whole plane because they were hanging out all over the place.

 

[jrfsp]

When you’re happy to squeeze 200+ people into a metal tube for a 17hr+ flight to LHR shoulder to shoulder then the whole notion of Covid safe / social distancing / sorry no snack bar / please don’t gather around the toilet goes out the window.

Indeed, had the delight of a few BNE-PERs on packed 737s this year, the toilet queue stretched half way down the aisle. What do they expect when they sell all 170 seats with 2 toilets on a 5 hour flight.

 

[dajop]

It's cost cutting pure and simple. Nothing wrong with that, but the QF spin makes politicians look like mere amateurs.

 

[ChrisMars]

Mmm, this measure in international network might save a few bucks, maybe, a couple of millions* each year. It will also increase the load on flight attendant, having to deliver the roaming movie service popcorn to the pax, answering more requests etc... which in itself has some cost: additional stress, staff complains, sick leave, turnover. Frankly, the snack self service which is also a water self service is there to help staff, and is probably less costly than the few dollar-snacks Qantas might save each year, maybe, and I would bet my two cents that Qantas knows that, and it will come back at some point.

* FY19: 9 millions pax transported on it's international network. Can't be more than 1 self serve snack per pax on average, snack can't cost more than 50 cents at this volume. So even a consumption reduction of 50% (which I think is optimistic) won't fund more than a couple of millions of AJ's bonus.

 

[codash1099]

Indeed, had the delight of a few BNE-PERs on packed 737s this year, the toilet queue stretched half way down the aisle. What do they expect when they sell all 170 seats with 2 toilets on a 5 hour flight.

They need to develop some kind of booking service if they want to keep toilet queues under control.

 

[Daver6]

They need to develop some kind of booking service if they want to keep toilet queues under control.

But what if you need to modify your booking. By the time you've called up and got through to the call centre, the plane will have landed

 

[RooFlyer]

Lounges in WA and NT have been self service the entire time. Maybe TAS too?

Yep. QF HBA lounge entirely self service The three times during the year that I was there.

 

[MrJetset]

1. The crew will say "Welcome to country"

It's an Acknowledgement of Country, not a Welcome. Only First Nations Peoples who are of particular Country can perform a Welcome.

 

[Ade]

But what if you need to modify your booking. By the time you've called up and got through to the call centre, the plane will have landed

In such a situation one can request to be upgraded to use the can before the flight lands or take a credit and get to use the can before anyone else on their next flight

 

[Mrmaxwell]

This isn't really true. The point is to keep people within their same seating area as much as possible. That way, a Covid-positive person only spreads it to people near them. Airplanes actually have quite good ventilation systems with frequent recirculation, and the HEPA filters they use will catch the Covid virus. So as long as you stay in one place, it's only the people in the immediately surrounding seats who are really at risk. Hence, these kinds of rules.

Keep in mind such rules aren't about stopping all Covid spread, but keeping it minimised/localised. A half dozen people in 2-3 rows getting infected isn't news as much as if they spread it to the whole plane because they were hanging out all over the place.

Sorry do not agree.

No passenger is going to stay in one place or "keep within their same seating area" on international long haul flights from/to AUS. QF1/2 are full for the next several weeks so that is a lot of PAX flying 17hrs+ each way, all walking around stretching their legs, all queuing for a toilet, etc

I am not a covid expert and I assume neither are you so comments like "a covid-positive person only spreads it to people near them" is hilarious - absolutely no fact whatsoever backing that up. Multiple cases have resulted from people getting infected from merely being at the opposite end of a large room with no contact with an infected person, or eating in a large restaurant in seperate dining rooms and getting infected.

By all means take as many sensible precautions as possible but when you fill every seat in economy along with people removing their masks multiple times throughout a flight to eat, drink, breathe, etc QF cutting snack bars 'as a safety measure' doesn't make any sense except saving cents.

 

[Sprucegoose]

What was wrong with Neil Perry’s green leaf salad?

Edit:

Nothing if you are happy for the same offerings for twenty years.........

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sorry do not agree.

No passenger is going to stay in one place or "keep within their same seating area" on international long haul flights from/to AUS. QF1/2 are full for the next several weeks so that is a lot of PAX flying 17hrs+ each way, all walking around stretching their legs, all queuing for a toilet, etc

I am not a covid expert and I assume neither are you so comments like "a covid-positive person only spreads it to people near them" is hilarious - absolutely no fact whatsoever backing that up. Multiple cases have resulted from people getting infected from merely being at the opposite end of a large room with no contact with an infected person, or eating in a large restaurant in seperate dining rooms and getting infected.

By all means take as many sensible precautions as possible but when you fill every seat in economy along with people removing their masks multiple times throughout a flight to eat, drink, breathe, etc QF cutting snack bars 'as a safety measure' doesn't make any sense except saving cents.

From reading the few scientific reports on the spread of covid on aircraft it does appear that those seated close to 'patient zero' are the ones more likely to be affected. Part of those reports include seat maps and the spread of infection on board. There are some 'outliers' which may be down to pax from other parts of the plane using the same WC as patient zero. But the clusters did seem to reasonably obvious.

IIRC when we had a brief period of interstate travel in Oz and an infected person was later identified as having flown, weren't those most at risk identified as being the two or three rows around the infected passener?

 

[milehighclub]

The snacks aren't going. They just won't be loaded into the bar. And they are actually introducing something in economy, a bar service again (not on supper flights) with a proper bar snack like cheese and crackers.

 

[Vic]

Hey dude...what mandate are you referring to? QF obviously didn't get the memo because when I flew within the last 12 months I self served check-in, bag drop, bag collection. In the lounges I self served myself food and drink. So dude, maybe you should get in touch with AJ about your mandate on this because he too seems to have missed it too.

Oh yeah, which airports?

check in, bag drop and collection doesn't really involve food... food has been self service for a long time. sorry if I take your replies in thread to be super anti-vax.

Clearly dude is a trigger word...