Qantas slashing jobs and possibly selling FF program?

[tuapekastar]

I really do not see the issue connecting via SYD.

Easy to say when one lives there.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Easy to say when one lives there.

I think JohnK is from Brisbane?

 

[tuapekastar]

I think JohnK is from Brisbane?

Works BNE, lives SYD (I.e. weekly commute)

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Re: Qantas to cut 1,000 Jobs.

I think any knee jerk reaction is premature.Joyce may be silly But he's not stupid.
I am NOT burning anything and will wait and seewhat happens.
I suspect that press releases like this are likea hand grenade in a room, throw it bin and see who’s standing after. there isthe prickly issue of foreign ownership to consider, and a range of off shoreJobs exports to consider as well.
There will be played out on this subject beforeany decisions are taken I suspect

I tend to agree.
Why would any business sell the section that makes a profit for them ???? Sale of points to use for flights on Qantas.

sell it off and they are left with loss making enterprises with what guarantee that the flights will be redeemed on Qantas.
I don't think I'll burn mine eiter......hope I'm right !

 

[777]

Re: Qantas to cut 1,000 Jobs.

Why would any business sell the section that makes a profit for them ???? Sale of points to use for flights on Qantas.

sell it off and they are left with loss making enterprises with what guarantee that the flights will be redeemed on Qantas.
I don't think I'll burn mine eiter......hope I'm right !

I suspect the program would also be somewhat devalued when the airline folds.

 

[11sjw]

The people flying CX, TG, MH , SQ etc out of Perth etc are mostly connecting elsewhere in the world. There is very little market to support a premium carrier offering point to point services on routes like Perth-Bangkok, Perth-Hong Kong etc. This has been proven by the fact Qantas has pulled out. If there was a massive market there for them they would be flying it. They are not doing it just purely to irritate people from those cities. There is no point taking it personally and feeling disrespected.

Yet CX flights PER-HKG and return are seriously full regularly (at least that's what the CX staff were telling me two weeks ago).

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

Re: Qantas to cut 1,000 Jobs.

I suspect the program would also be somewhat devalued when the airline folds.

I hope you are wrong, they $2.8 billion in cash, I know they need $ 2 billion but it is still a pretty good position to be in

 

[Programme]

Why is that when it is a potentially limiting factor?

Qantas is really Sydney Airways...

SYD is pretty rubbish as an international hub. The problem is the other cities are only marginally better, if that. The only one that has the credentials to serve as the primary international hub would be MEL with curfew free operation and easy domestic-international transfers. However, MEL has fewer corporate headquarters and is even more geographically isolated than SYD. Transport to the city is also rubbish but that isn't so important for a connecting hub. BNE might be a contender once the runway situation is rectified, but BNE would have even less origin and destination traffic.

What would be a more ideal situation is to have a primary international hub in a geographically central location outside Australia, where flights from all Australian cities could congregate and then fan out to more distant locations around the world. The problem is that the airports that would be best for such an operation (SIN, KUL, BKK, HKG etc) have strong home carriers. QF tried for years in SIN, but even with the cooperation of the Singapore government (allowing 3K to establish etc), it didn't work - they couldn't effectively compete with SQ on its home turf. It's what they are trying to do with the EK partnership in DXB now, but that doesn't seem to be working because it doesn't make sense for locations apart from Europe, and what is the point of flying "QF", when the only real QF flights are QF1/2/9/10 - one might as well book with EK directly, because that's what you're buying...

It's not easy being at the cough end of the world. The only place that Australia has a geographical advantage is as a hub for traffic between East Asia and South America, but there isn't that much of that at present.

 

[777]

Re: Qantas to cut 1,000 Jobs.

I hope you are wrong, they $2.8 billion in cash, I know they need $ 2 billion but it is still a pretty good position to be in

I suspect the cash is somewhat illusory. They are sitting on cash but they have large liabilities. If they are losing 800m per year that's 3 years worth -- to say nothing of the rest of their obligations. Also if they are downgraded from "investment grade" to "junk" which seems likely then they can no longer count on forward bookings as cash, assets that are currently unencumbered will effectively become mortgaged and the cost of their debt will balloon overnight. A lot of that is accounting and it can change quickly.

I really believe this is an actual crisis. At the end i suspect AJ will lose his job and Qantas to sell off a whole range of assets (which ones? who knows) to stay afloat. What the consequences will be for the rest of us? Who knows.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Yet CX flights PER-HKG and return are seriously full regularly (at least that's what the CX staff were telling me two weeks ago).

yes with most passengers connecting to other cities. I'm sure Qantas runs plenty of full flights out of Perth to its hub in Sydney and onwards to other destinations too (particularly the USA)

 

[Pushka]

My memory of the Ansett debacle are still etched in my mind. I acknowledge many staff lost their jobs. I also acknowledge we lost all our Christmas flights and had to rebook at a cost of a couple of thousands of $.

yes with most passengers connecting to other cities. I'm sure Qantas runs plenty of full flights out of Perth to its hub in Sydney and onwards to other destinations too (particularly the USA)

I would do anything but book with Qantas if I lived in Perth. I'd prefer HK routing to Sydney.

 

[11sjw]

My memory of the Ansett debacle are still etched in my mind. I acknowledge many staff lost their jobs. I also acknowledge we lost all our Christmas flights and had to rebook at a cost of a couple of thousands of $.

Thank Air NZ. Many a flight left our shores with spare engines etc heading to NZ. They sucked the proverbial "guts" out of Ansett.

I would do anything but book with Qantas if I lived in Perth. I'd prefer HK routing to Sydney.

Agreed, strongly!!! Looking into flights to JFK late next year and CX is way (circa $2.5k for 3 in Y) cheaper and a stopover in HK either way can be booked. QF are a no show if this stays the same.

 

[samh004]

Qantas is really Sydney Airways...

SYD is pretty rubbish as an international hub. The problem is the other cities are only marginally better, if that. The only one that has the credentials to serve as the primary international hub would be MEL with curfew free operation and easy domestic-international transfers. However, MEL has fewer corporate headquarters and is even more geographically isolated than SYD. Transport to the city is also rubbish but that isn't so important for a connecting hub. BNE might be a contender once the runway situation is rectified, but BNE would have even less origin and destination traffic.

If they added more late flights to BNE to arrive in Asia, the US and Middle East/Europe at appropriate times I can't see how that wouldn't be a better option than SYD. Terminal transfers could be improved to probably be about the same level as SYD and at the times they'd be utilising the airport, they wouldn't need the second runway, but when it does arrive, it will help immensely.

As for lounges and the like, if you invest in a hub, that can all improve.

I saw BNE unveil a new plan for the international terminal today too, so they're clearly on track to deliver a good airport experience. I'd imagine with more flights could come late night train services too, which would bring them in line with say MEL and the Skybus services.

Aren't they already moving their maintenance to BNE?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

My memory of the Ansett debacle are still etched in my mind. I acknowledge many staff lost their jobs. I also acknowledge we lost all our Christmas flights and had to rebook at a cost of a couple of thousands of $.



I would do anything but book with Qantas if I lived in Perth. I'd prefer HK routing to Sydney.

It's amazing how you and others refuse to accept the wildly different circumstances between QF operating basically an O&D flight like PER-HKG compared to a hub flight like CX do on PER-HKG. I also wish that Qantas could fly a much bigger network but as others have pointed out we are a very big spread out country at the cough end of the world.

 

[Pushka]

It's amazing how you and others refuse to accept the wildly different circumstances between QF operating basically an O&D flight like PER-HKG compared to a hub flight like CX do on PER-HKG. I also wish that Qantas could fly a much bigger network but as others have pointed out we are a very big spread out country at the cough end of the world.

I do accept that. Completely.

But as a consumer I make the choice to fly with an airline that best matches my needs. Qantas isn't that airline on international flights. I'm just explaining my choice. That's all really.

Thank Air NZ. Many a flight left our shores with spare engines etc heading to NZ. They sucked the proverbial "guts" out of Ansett.

Yes. They did. Nothing like loading all the costs onto Ansett and making AirNZ artificially profitable.

 

[sumthinfornuthin]

It's amazing how you and others refuse to accept the wildly different circumstances between QF operating basically an O&D flight like PER-HKG compared to a hub flight like CX do on PER-HKG. I also wish that Qantas could fly a much bigger network but as others have pointed out we are a very big spread out country at the cough end of the world.

Steady on olde son....that is our home you are talking about

 

[Scarlett]

Anyone in the 'Puss' or the RAAF can tell you that the problem is always the AJ's.

 

[Supersonic Swinger]

The irony is not lost on the Wall Street Journal - What is Emirates Getting Out Of Its Partnership With Qantas? - Middle East Real Time - WSJ - "the most puzzling part of the profit warning was that Qantas seemed to blame, at least partly, its government-owned Middle East partner for the quagmire in which it is now languishing."

I know that relations with Cathay have been fraught, but why Qantas didn't ramp up the co-operation with BA, Cathay, Malaysian and Qatar under the oneworld banner is a mystery to me.

 

[samh004]

I know that relations with Cathay have been fraught, but why Qantas didn't ramp up the co-operation with BA, Cathay, Malaysian and Qatar under the oneworld banner is a mystery to me.

Would be very nice if they could somehow extract themselves from EK and mend things with Cathay, sticking to OneWorld Alliance partners for connecting flights through Asia... I'm pretty sure that'd solve all their problems, but then what do I know

 

[jetlagger]

I really feel compassionate for the QF employees involved in the job losses.
What a sad scenario.
QANTAS had become very complacent in an ever dynamic aviation environment.
The delusional QF management & board with constant whinging about every external factor apparently working against them, surely would ever someone have the guts to take a mirror into the boardroom to justify where some of the evident problems exist.
Qantas is still a great airline with a long proven successful history considering all its past & present challenges.
At this stage, at the very least a change of management & directives would be the best option, as Captain Joyce & his team inevitably concede defeat.