What's wrong with Qantas?

[oz_mark]

Both Airbus and Boeing provide relability data to aircraft owners online at portals like myboeing.com, it is also a requirement of CAR1988 for operators to track maintenance and reliability for each airframe and report to CASA on this.

I meant they weren't helping in the context of the delays in providing new aircraft

 

[markis10]

I meant they weren't helping in the context of the delays in providing new aircraft

True Mind you I am not sure QF are glad they put back the other A380 deliveries, the extra dleays could have meant more A330s on the cheap!

 

[harvyk]

I don't know how wrong it is to revive a new thread, but I found this link whilst reviewing the twitter comments on the recent article about QF's check-in woes.

Qantas Sucks World - Customer complaints

Probably not new for some of the stalwarts here, but an....interesting....read.

I can't find one for the Virgin group. So we must be the bad guys.

Your right it is an interesting read :shock:. Very biased language, but that said it's not surprising that a "haters" side wouldn't provide a fair and un-bias view of the topic at hand.

Just in-regards to the Air France crash not being reported. I could just see it now, a nervious first time flyer just been given breakfast, the TV's with the new have just switched on and they are then reminded that plane crashes can and do happen...

Is it any surprise that they did not show the Air France crash on the QF edition news?

 

[drewbles]

Is it any surprise that they did not show the Air France crash on the QF edition news?

They also didn't show the AA flight that over-ran the runway on the in-flight news the other day. They do not want to scare passengers (think flying high/airline! as the inflight movie, and apparently one airline did actually buy the film to screen). Passengers don't want airline disasters whilst flying as a general rule

 

[harvyk]

Passengers don't want airline disasters whilst flying as a general rule

Ah, so that's the reason why I couldn't find "Lost" as an option on the AVOD for my last trans-pac flight...

 

[anat0l]

Ah, so that's the reason why I couldn't find "Lost" as an option on the AVOD for my last trans-pac flight...

Or Air Crash Investigation

 

[drewbles]

Or Air Crash Investigation

I've occasionally watched air crash investigations whilst flying (on laptop or phone). I only watch it when no one is seated next to me or within view of my screen, and only if i've not had the time to watch it on the ground and a new one is out (I love the show)

As for lost, yes well that's right too I guess

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Just flew today;
SYD - ADL QF 741
ADL - PER QF 587

+
QF crew/staff; SPOT ON! My last few flights with QF have been great and lMO, l think that there is change in the air after Dixon left and some of his cronies in Senior Management have been given the flick. My last 4 flights in the last 2 weeks have been great! ADL QP is also my pick of QP's at the moment. Lots of room, feels fresh (because it's new) and l love the layout. Plus, a decent food offering. More selection that Sydney (they had Tandoori Chicken in the cold meats!)

-
The planes are really starting to show their age. The J Class ADL-PER, are you serious QF? It resembled DJ Premium whY, not QF J! The first 4 rows (l think) were J and only the middle seat was blocked out, like DJ Premium whY. There wasn't a certain either. QF587 was very noisy too, compared to my earlier flight.
Check in this morning @SYD, 1 posted earlier. Took me 45 minutes from printing my boarding pass to get to bad drop. I missed a very good friend of mine who was on a earlier flight, SYD-PER, even though l turned up at SYD 2.5 hours before my flight and 1 hour before his. Sydney, Monday morning, peak hour and the queue was literally out the door. Definitely more staff need for the "morning rush", especially for the QP/SG/WP lines. I understand that there was a computer “glitch” yesterday, but that should have been well and truly been sorted by now and if the problem still wasn’t 100% fixed, put more staff on to deal with the next day hick-up!

 

[drewbles]

Just flew today;

-
The planes are really starting to show their age. The J Class ADL-PER, are you serious QF? It resembled DJ Premium whY, not QF J! The first 4 rows (l think) were J and only the middle seat was blocked out, like DJ Premium whY.

Not quite. You would have been on a 737-400 with the convertible J seats. The seats actually wind in/out to make a J seat. They are wider than a normal Y seat and the arm rests and a separate part become the middle drink table. They're cough, but they are at least wider than the Y seat with more leg room (was fortunate for an opup on ADL-MEL the other day, alas it was meant to be a 738 and was sub'd for a 734).

Check in this morning @SYD, 1 posted earlier. Took me 45 minutes from printing my boarding pass to get to bad drop. I missed a very good friend of mine who was on a earlier flight, SYD-PER, even though l turned up at SYD 2.5 hours before my flight and 1 hour before his. Sydney, Monday morning, peak hour and the queue was literally out the door. Definitely more staff need for the "morning rush", especially for the QP/SG/WP lines. I understand that there was a computer “glitch” yesterday, but that should have been well and truly been sorted by now and if the problem still wasn’t 100% fixed, put more staff on to deal with the next day hick-up!

QF can't always expect the unexpected. When the GDS died, they were left hands tied. Unfortunately it's not possible to rope in people who are off-duty in large volumes, and with only so many check-in desks, it's not likely to have made much of a difference. The knock-on effect of even the smallest problem can be horrific. This is certainly not isolated to QF, and i've seen QF staff be much better in these situations that other airlines (globally).

I've generally only had pretty decent service on QF. There are the few flights and lounges where staff have 'shone' through and i've advised QF via their excel program with names/dates/flight numbers etc and always had a response thanking me and acknowledging my kudos (and advised it would be passed onto the staff directly).

That said, the 737-400's need to go. Mind you, they've only just got rid of the 737-300's. The 767's are old and clunky too but they're going to hang around for a while (until the 787's come online).

 

[anat0l]

-
The planes are really starting to show their age. The J Class ADL-PER, are you serious QF? It resembled DJ Premium whY, not QF J! The first 4 rows (l think) were J and only the middle seat was blocked out, like DJ Premium whY. There wasn't a certain either. QF587 was very noisy too, compared to my earlier flight.

You must have got a 734, which not only is some of the oldest aircraft QF have, but they only have convertible J seating - pretty much exactly the same way DJ PE works. They can configure the plane so it has anywhere between 0 and 5 rows of J seats. It's not quite centre block, but just like DJ, they basically give you a little bit more elbow room and a table in the centre. Definitely not as good as the other domestic product, i.e. Millennium. (Yes, I also know that there are Skybeds and the new Silverwing coming out, and we all know the former is much superior to the others and the latter I have no idea yet).

And I'm guessing you don't mean certain but rather curtain. And you're right - on the domestic 734s, there isn't one.

I also wish QF would stop using these, especially on PER flights. Although, if you're sitting in Y and they don't configure the full first 5 rows into J, getting a seat in any of those first 5 rows gives you better leg room than the rest of Y (just don't sit in a middle seat!).

I don't know why I don't mind the 767s - despite being the oldest of QF's aircraft - although the ZX series leave something to be desired. I'd rather fly them to PER rather than a 734. In saying that, can't wait to see both of those replaced.

QF probably looks really dated because they still have the loopback IFE on almost all of their domestic services cf. DJ which have live2air or JQ which have a form of AVOD. Not to mention some of the seat covers and cabin walls look dull, washed out or "aged".

 

[Oneworldplus2]

You would have been on a 737-400 with the convertible J seats. The seats actually wind in/out to make a J seat. They are wider than a normal Y seat and the arm rests and a separate part become the middle drink table. They're cough, but they are at least wider than the Y seat with more leg room

QF can't always expect the unexpected. When the GDS died, they were left hands tied. Unfortunately it's not possible to rope in people who are off-duty in large volumes, and with only so many check-in desks, it's not likely to have made much of a difference. The knock-on effect of even the smallest problem can be horrific. This is certainly not isolated to QF, and i've seen QF staff be much better in these situations that other airlines (globally).

1) If paying for a J seat on the ADL-PER sector (around $1500 one way, that's a lot of money) and if l got that, l wouldn't be happy. Suppose it was on par with BA Club Europe, seat wise?

2) The problem today wasn't the computer system, there were not enough QF staff at check. The queue was moving so slowly, QF were even making announcements to be patient. In the QC/SG/WG side of the terminal, there were 3 empty counters.

 

[thewinchester]

ADL QP is also my pick of QP's at the moment. Lots of room, feels fresh (because it's new) and l love the layout. Plus, a decent food offering. More selection that Sydney (they had Tandoori Chicken in the cold meats!)

Couldn't agree more. Was in Adelaide March last year picking up some extra SC's for nix, and I must say that after finally having experienced most of the capital city QP's, ADL is streets ahead of the rest.

I still remember the bartender at ADL, who while another was making me a customary LLB, accidentally poured HP sauce into the drink. Rest of the bar staff cacked themselves and nearly made him drink it.

 

[oz_mark]

That said, the 737-400's need to go. Mind you, they've only just got rid of the 737-300's. The 767's are old and clunky too but they're going to hang around for a while (until the 787's come online).

The oldest of the 737-400's are spring chickens compared to some of the 767's. Outside the dodgy config, is there much wrong with the 734's?

 

[anat0l]

1) If paying for a J seat on the ADL-PER sector (around $1500 one way, that's a lot of money) and if l got that, l wouldn't be happy. Suppose it was on par with BA Club Europe, seat wise?

According to SeatGuru, BA CE is 1" less in both pitch and width. I'm basing this on the A319-100 planes they use for intra-Europe, not domestic, which is the one I flew when I went LHR-FRA in CE. I was in 1A and they do squeeze in seat 1B just like convertible J on QF 734s, but there is no table that goes in 1B. (Either there is none, not on this equipment or it wasn't lowered). On the right side of the aircraft, the E seat isn't squeezed at all, it's just blocked. So CE D and F seats are regular width seats (just like Euro Traveller)

As well, BA CE are leather seats compared to QF which have fabric seats.

In saying all that, that's only for one of the equipments which BA CE operates on. Other equipment may vary. In addition, for my flight LHR-FRA on the 319, there was no entertainment at all (IIRC). I'm not sure about other flights.

BA CE is probably a lot more palatable to purchase in cash than any QF domestic J sector.

 

[markis10]

The oldest of the 737-400's are spring chickens compared to some of the 767's. Outside the dodgy config, is there much wrong with the 734's?

The oldest 734's are about to hit 20 in Feb (TJE), there is 7 that will hit 20 within 12 months, OGB and OGC are the only 767's that are older, in fact the 767 fleet including the BA birds are younger than the 734 fleet by .6 year, with an average of 17 years for the 767 while its 17.6 for the 734, so its a fair comment, they are getting on. Some sights may show them younger than they are as that was the date they were transferred to QF - 31/10/93.

 

[oz_mark]

The oldest 734's are about to hit 20 in Feb (TJE), there is 7 that will hit 20 within 12 months, OGB and OGC are the only 767's that are older, in fact the 767 fleet including the BA birds are younger than the 734 fleet by .6 year, with an average of 17 years for the 767 while its 17.6 for the 734, so its a fair comment, they are getting on. Some sights may show them younger than they are as that was the date they were transferred to QF - 31/10/93.

Fair enough, for some reason I thought the 767's were older. Maybe OGB and OGC misled me (they are 22 or so I think), they just look more tired (and in my experience are less reliable from an on-time perspective than the 734's)

 

[markis10]

The BA birds are 18/19 years old but have had about 2x the cycles of the QF fleet on average, that probably giving the other 767s a bad name, I hate them and wish QF would just give them back. Some of the 767s are under 15 years old - OGP-OGV, with OGV only 9 years old.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

You guys know your stuff, that’s for sure.

SYD - ADL; good, no problems.

ADL - PER; good, but; a lot noisier in the cabin than the previous flight. I noticed straight away.

 

[drewbles]

1) If paying for a J seat on the ADL-PER sector (around $1500 one way, that's a lot of money) and if l got that, l wouldn't be happy. Suppose it was on par with BA Club Europe, seat wise?

2) The problem today wasn't the computer system, there were not enough QF staff at check. The queue was moving so slowly, QF were even making announcements to be patient. In the QC/SG/WG side of the terminal, there were 3 empty counters.

1) Yes. Totally Agree. They're shocking if you're paying and i'd be very very upset if I was. They're about the same as the CE seats on BA though yes.

2) Sounds like PER now. They've changed things around there (god knows why they didn't just put JQ on the far left and expand down that way rather than moving check-in around so much).

 

[drewbles]

Couldn't agree more. Was in Adelaide March last year picking up some extra SC's for nix, and I must say that after finally having experienced most of the capital city QP's, ADL is streets ahead of the rest.

I still remember the bartender at ADL, who while another was making me a customary LLB, accidentally poured HP sauce into the drink. Rest of the bar staff cacked themselves and nearly made him drink it.

The ADL QP is massive. Every time i've been in there it's actually been what it used to be like, a quasi-oasis. Compare it to PER and it's night and day. I really do like the ADL QP (although I found the food to be no different to any other QP, perhaps I tend to be there at the wrong time of the day for nice tandoori chicken )