Qantas priority boarding - crippled by Communists?

[JessicaTam]

I was working with the industry ... it was the start of me being wary about checking luggage ... You seriously believe things have changed?

A number of my friends are baggage handlers, so - yes.

 

[QF WP]

{Mod hat on} Okay, I think we all need to return to the subject heading, lest thread drift happen {Mod hat off}

 

[serfty]

A number of my friends are baggage handlers, so - yes.

They must be real gems ...

Perhaps things may have changed in some locations.

I am still finding it difficult to understand the action of the FA as mentioned in the first post.

Perhaps, reverse reverse, they were worried about how the PAX he would have stopped boarding briefly to attend to @juddles would react in flight?

 

[jb747]

Which flight, and when?

 

[GoldCanyon340]

BTW, priority boarding works well in the US but they board 30+ minutes before departure. People line up anywhere up to an hour before.

I would take the QF 'system' with its faults over boarding a domestic US flight in a busy terminal 99 times out of a 100. Especially at busy terminals such as ATL or CLT concourse B. That experience is much more like a Greyhound bus terminal; we have a much better experience in Australia.

 

[Pushka]

{Mod hat on} Okay, I think we all need to return to the subject heading, lest thread drift happen {Mod hat off}

Naughty mods doing the drift!

 

[QF WP]

@Pushka I know - you think they would follow my lead...have to chastise them, I will

@jb747, Sun 17/6, BNE/SYD so I'd hazard a guess one of either QF503 or QF509, QF1713, QF517, QF519 or QF521. @juddles can confirm.

 

[juddles]

...... QF1713, ....

This one.

 

[Basalt]

Whilst the behaviour witnessed by the OP is clearly at odds to efficient boarding but common sense is just not that common. Thing is this 'human element' factor that airline training and rigour is supposed to minimise seems to be increasingly more common.
Personally though I see a greater hold up with pax stuffing around with overhead bins and not getting into their seat schnappy-like as a bigger issue. I just don't get it - those pax who reach their seat as if that's their goal and stuff around holding up the 100 pax behind them - don't they get that the quicker they get out of the way the quicker they can get airborne?....

 

[opusman]

A number of my friends are baggage handlers, so - yes.

Please ask them why they ignore priority tags

 

[jb747]

This one.

Which is operated by Cobham. I don't know if our channels have any direct oversight of them. TBA.

 

[Ardentinny]

Which is operated by Cobham. I don't know if our channels have any direct oversight of them. TBA.

A deafening silence ensued.....

 

[Ansett]

Surely they would need to meet certain service KPIs and ensure a consistent level of service across the QF network so some one should be watching them.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

This one.

QF1713 is a QLink B717 with Cobham F/A's so I think only 3 F/A's in total. Two probably remain on board and one does boarding who may or may not be assisted by the QLink gate agent depending on other tasks G/A's have to do like take oversize bags down to the tarmac, reprint boarding passes, chase up fail to board pax etc.

Obviously PB works better when there are two people doing the boarding irrespective of whether they are F/A's or gate agents. Whenever I've flown VA they only seem to have a handful of elites to pre-board anyway. If they had the same volume of elites as QF the outcome may be quite different.

It could be more of a PB experience if they adopted the AA method and boarded elites prior to any general peeps - not simultaneously via two lanes. AA also have a numbered boarding group system which is clear cut but I think I may have already mentioned this on that other epic PB thread.

 

[TheInsider]

It could be more of a PB experience if they adopted the AA method and boarded elites prior to any general peeps - not simultaneously via two lanes. AA also have a numbered boarding group system which is clear cut but I think I may have already mentioned this on that other epic PB thread.

Also as previously mentioned, a lot of American carriers don't really do 30min aircraft turns and they also start boarding way before the qantas standard of 20min.

 

[andyhui01]

It could be more of a PB experience if they adopted the AA method and boarded elites prior to any general peeps - not simultaneously via two lanes. AA also have a numbered boarding group system which is clear cut but I think I may have already mentioned this on that other epic PB thread.

VA does this in Australia. During peak times, they adjust the barriers so Priority is 2 lanes with normal roped off and only when the line thins out, general boarding starts.

 

[Denali]

Please ask them why they ignore priority tags

I swear there are some baggage handlers that enjoy saying FU to priority tags. Only once have they come out reasonably fast. Once they came out absolutely dead last (international flight).

 

[juddles]

QF1713 is a QLink B717 with Cobham F/A's so I think only 3 F/A's in total. Two probably remain on board and one does boarding who may or may not be assisted by the QLink gate agent depending on other tasks G/A's have to do like take oversize bags down to the tarmac, reprint boarding passes, chase up fail to board pax etc.

Obviously PB works better when there are two people doing the boarding irrespective of whether they are F/A's or gate agents. Whenever I've flown VA they only seem to have a handful of elites to pre-board anyway. If they had the same volume of elites as QF the outcome may be quite different.

It could be more of a PB experience if they adopted the AA method and boarded elites prior to any general peeps - not simultaneously via two lanes. AA also have a numbered boarding group system which is clear cut but I think I may have already mentioned this on that other epic PB thread.

I don't fly domestic so much, but I could not distinguish this from the usual flights on QF I do BNE-SYD.

There were two persons running the boarding.

Forgive me, but as a pax travelling on a QF ticket, seeing staff in QF uniforms, and boarding a plane clearly in QF colours, the distinction between QF staff and "Cobham" (whoever they are) is lost on me, as a pax

 

[juddles]

I don't fly domestic so much, but I could not distinguish this from the usual flights on QF I do BNE-SYD.

There were two persons running the boarding.

Forgive me, but as a pax travelling on a QF ticket, seeing staff in QF uniforms, and boarding a plane clearly in QF colours, the distinction between QF staff and "Cobham" (whoever they are) is lost on me, as a pax

BTW, I am not 100% sure, but I do not think the staff at the boarding gate were the same staff as onboard.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

They just want to get everyone in the plane and shut the doors.

On a recent VA flight, I was talking to a FA and they said that any delays can cost the airline financially (through fines). So, maybe you claim is correct - get everyone on board and depart on time so as not to get a penalty/fine. If that means sacrificing PB to avoid a fine, then so be it....

Maybe someone else could shed some light on this?