Qantas lounge shoe policy - this is concerning

[Anna]

with the exception of ADL and OOL which I do not think fall under this policy

ADL does have the policy (or at least did, the last time I was there in Nov). But if someone enters the lounge in shoes and then proceeds to take off their shoes and smelly socks in full view in the lounge and put on a pair of dilapidated thongs instead, the lounge staff are not prepared to do anything about it.

 

[kyle]

Just the fact that you have brought a reference to your local pokie den into this discussion, confirms that QF is on the right track.

If pokie dens banned thong wearers, they'd lose half their revenue.

Quite the contrary. Very few people are wearing thongs. It's about giving people the choice.

 

[offshore171]

Quite the contrary. Very few people are wearing thongs. It's about giving people the choice.

Excellent, so if you want to wear thongs, you have the choice to go to your local pokie den.

 

[kyle]

A bit OT, but have a look at this article: Flip-Flops at Work: Millennials Finally Get What They Want | TIME.com

Basically, for the pro dressing down, we have to wait for the older generation to die off...

And even more OT, people ask me why it's so hard to get a job nowadays. I said, have a look at the monthly magazine put out by our professional organisation, so many newly admitted members, yet the old ones don't retire or die off...

 

[Anna]

Basically, for the pro dressing down, we have to wait for the older generation to die off

Or in QF's case, for more "millennials" to become CLs, WP1s or attain other positions influencing QF's bottom line thereby encouraging QF to take notice of their supposed footwear preferences.

I've heard QF staffers debating why QF doesn't have a larger market-share of younger pax - perhaps if QF's market-share and in particular the QP did have more younger pax/members then they wouldn't have introduced the thong rule in the first place.

 

[medhead]

A bit OT, but have a look at this article: Flip-Flops at Work: Millennials Finally Get What They Want | TIME.com

Basically, for the pro dressing down, we have to wait for the older generation to die off...

And even more OT, people ask me why it's so hard to get a job nowadays. I said, have a look at the monthly magazine put out by our professional organisation, so many newly admitted members, yet the old ones don't retire or die off...

Trouble is that would most definitely be an OHS issue, and the boss of the company is opening themselves to failure to provide a safe workplace.

I see many debating the OHS issue thing. Let me repeat, it is not an occupational issue since customers are not staff. But it is still a safety issue. That Qantas don't make customers care for their own safety, doesn't mean customers shouldn't care for their own safety.

then there is also the safety of other passengers to consider. I prefer to mow the lawn while wearing thongs. That is not an OHS/WHS issue, it is a safety issue. I make my choice, wear thongs and accept the risk that I might cut my toes off. I also take care to control the mower so that I don't cut off my toes. If I do cut off my toes, no one else will be at risk because of my wearing of thongs. Unlike on an aircraft where I have no control over the occurrence of accidents and where if I slice off my foot on a bit of metal someone else might be obstructed from get out of the aircraft, putting them at risk. Do the younger generations think about the potential consequences of their actions?

It seems a number of people are throwing around terms that they don't really understand. Not to mention that it is WHS these days - Workplace HS.

BTW I'm yet to see a pro in the darlinghurst/Kings cross area that aren't wearing footwear that is more substantial than a pair of thongs. Come to think of it they probably go commando as well - so no thongs.

 

[Katy]

<snip>That is not an OHS/WHS issue, it is a safety issue. I make my choice, wear thongs and accept the risk that I might cut my toes off. I also take care to control the mower so that I don't cut off my toes. If I do cut off my toes, no one else will be at risk because of my wearing of thongs. Unlike on an aircraft where I have no control over the occurrence of accidents and where if I slice off my foot on a bit of metal someone else might be obstructed from get out of the aircraft, putting them at risk. Do the younger generations think about the potential consequences of their actions?</snip>

But thongs aren't banned on the aircraft, just in the lounge, so isn't this a bit of a straw man?

 

[medhead]

But thongs aren't banned on the aircraft, just in the lounge, so isn't this a bit of a straw man?

Not if you read the paragraph before the bit you quoted.

I see many debating the OHS issue thing. Let me repeat, it is not an occupational issue since customers are not staff. But it is still a safety issue. That Qantas don't make customers care for their own safety, doesn't mean customers shouldn't care for their own safety.

The bit you quoted expands on the potential that a choice to wear thongs might negatively impact out people. Choice and consequence - it's not all me, me, me.

 

[opusman]

The "no thongs" rule is nothing to do with safety so I'm wondering why this argument is even going on. It's simply a dress code.

 

[Flying mermaid]

A bit OT, but have a look at this article: Flip-Flops at Work: Millennials Finally Get What They Want | TIME.com

Basically, for the pro dressing down, we have to wait for the older generation to die off....

You would get on well with my son. He works as a software engineer for Google in California (earning unbelievable amounts of money!) and they all dress down. When I did mention I thought he was a bit too casual he sneered at me and told me I should see Larry and Sergey....

He also lectured me on how things have changed and the tech people don't care about that. Had to bite my tongue - I grew up in the 60s and 70s with kaftans and flower power - hell we invented dressing down!

I think you are right though about time will bring changes. Oldest daughter is training as a medical specialist, youngest is a High School science teacher and they would both wear thongs (dressy not rubber beach ones) to the lounges if they could. They have immaculate manners though and wouldn't dream of putting feet on anything, in spite of people on here thinking there is an ultra strong correlation between the two

 

[JohnK]

Basically, for the pro dressing down, we have to wait for the older generation to die off...

Glad that modern society has determined that dress standards are the biggest hindrance to society moving forward.

We can see that over the last 40-50 years society has been in rapid decline. That's not because of the rules in place. It's because of the push to relax/remove the rules that kept society functioning efficiently for so many years.

So sad to see society crumble in front of your eyes.

 

[medhead]

The "no thongs" rule is nothing to do with safety so I'm wondering why this argument is even going on. It's simply a dress code.

true. But safety is one of the cons of wearing thongs in general while travelling. I assume it was raised as a reason against all the insistence that "it is my right to wear thongs."

Who knows? It is a pointless discussion really. the rule is the rule.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Or in QF's case, for more "millennials" to become CLs, WP1s or attain other positions influencing QF's bottom line thereby encouraging QF to take notice of their supposed footwear preferences.

I've heard QF staffers debating why QF doesn't have a larger market-share of younger pax - perhaps if QF's market-share and in particular the QP did have more younger pax/members then they wouldn't have introduced the thong rule in the first place.

My kids have flown Qantas because I have been a rusted on Qantas person in the past and they just continued with what they knew. All 3 are sitting within a few hundred status credits of Lifetime silver. However this new rule has so annoyed them (the girls particularly), that they are planning to abandon Qantas.

 

[Conrad_S]

Glad that modern society has determined that dress standards are the biggest hindrance to society moving forward.

We can see that over the last 40-50 years society has been in rapid decline. That's not because of the rules in place. It's because of the push to relax/remove the rules that kept society functioning efficiently for so many years.

So sad to see society crumble in front of your eyes.

HaHa. The thong is to blame?

 

[offshore171]

My kids have flown Qantas because I have been a rusted on Qantas person in the past and they just continued with what they knew. All 3 are sitting within a few hundred status credits of Lifetime silver. However this new rule has so annoyed them (the girls particularly), that they are planning to abandon Qantas.

Ok, so what are they going to do when faced with other environments that do not allow thongs? Eg: Some restaurants, many workplaces, stadium member's venues, golf clubs, restaurants, functions, places overseas where it is not allowed / considered disrespectful etc?

 

[opusman]

Ok, so what are they going to do when faced with other environments that do not allow thongs?

Whinge about it on twitbook presumably

 

[drron]

These should be out on grounds of:
a) safety in case of evacuation
b) sheer ugliness.

But the trouble with that argument is that high heels are forbidden on an evacuation slide so with that logic high heels should be banned from the lounges.
A very difficult subject but I am in the enclosed shoe brigade for my safety-peripheral neuropathy makes them essential.

 

[offshore171]

But the trouble with that argument is that high heels are forbidden on an evacuation slide so with that logic high heels should be banned from the lounges..

Cool! Which lounge has the evac slide?

 

[opusman]

Cool! Which lounge has the evac slide?

Sounds like something Virgin might do.

 

[JohnK]

HaHa. The thong is to blame?

LOL. Rules.