Live FWA rules termination
Post on: 2011-11-02 By: admin
Candice Gallimore and her girlfriend Kylie Dunn were supposed to fly home to Sydney out of Brisbane on a 7pm Sunday flight after attending a wedding.Now they have to spend at least two more nights in Brisbane, miss out on pay from their workplaces and fork out almost double what they paid Qantas to get home.Ms Gallimore said there were no available flights tomorrow on Virgin or Jetstar and on Tuesday Jetstar was charging $299 per ticket. Virgin’s tickets range from $114 for the latest Tuesday flight to $299 for the earliest flight."‘Qantas said they were going to refund us but we only paid about $100 per ticket,’’ said Ms Gallimore.‘‘The cheapest ticket we can get (to get) back is about $160. I’m missing work and unless I am able to work out of Brisbane tomorrow I won’t be getting paid.‘‘Either way this is costing us a lot of money.’’Ms Gallimore said she still had not spoken to anyone from Qantas after receiving a text message saying ‘‘Your flight QF553 has been cancelled, please call Qantas on 1300 659 116’’. She rang the number but hung up after being on hold for 20 minutes.
1.58pm: No love lost between Bob Brown and Alan Joyce, with the Greens leader describing the Qantas chief as ‘‘selfish", "arrogant’’ and "high handed".
Senator Brown called on the government to ensure there was a negotiated settlement between Qantas and the unions representing pilots, licensed engineers, and baggage, ground and catering staff.
‘‘It’s this government’s responsibility to see that there is a negotiated outcome, not a heavy-handed imposed outcome, which will see the loss of Australians out of the critical jobs that we have all come to rely on at Qantas as the airline is effectively re-based overseas,’’ he said.
Describing Mr Joyce’s decision to ground the Qantas fleet, Senator Brown said: "It’s high handed, it’s arrogant and it’s going to lead to misery for Australian workers who have been with that airline far longer than Mr Joyce."
1.48pm: A reminder that the FWA hearing into the Qantas decision to ground its fleet will recommence at 2pm. The emergency hearing of the industrial umpire followed an applicationby the federal government under section 424 of the Fair Work Act. It went until 1.30am this morning, hearing from Qantas executives, with this afternoon's instalment expected to see union representatives question management.
1.42pm: A selection of tweets from @QantasAirways today with information for travellers:
An online expense claim form is now available at http://bit.ly/uY129c.
If you're overseas and have travel plans with Qantas in the next 24 hours international contact numbers are available http://bit.ly/dqaRvB
Jetconnect-operated Qantas flights over the Tasman are unaffected by lock-out and aircraft grounding.
If you hold a flexi fare then you can cancel your booking via the 'Manage your booking' application on http://qantas.com.
1.38pm: Another sporting team caught up in the fallout: the Northern Territory ten-pin bowling team which has been visiting Rooty Hill for the Ten-Pin bowling championships.
Coaches June Voukolos and Cheryl Munson said they had managed to buy Jetstar tickets online last night when they heard about the Qantas grounding, but they were worried their baggage may exceed the limit.
Mrs Voukolos said it worked out to be $980 for two people to fly to Darwin and "we may have to pay excess baggage".
The team have been in NSW for three weeks and Mrs Voukolos was anxious to get back to see her husband, who is going into hospital for an operation tomorrow.
1.32pm: Alternative means of transport are in high demand given the clamour for flights.
Sydney’s major car hire companies have been inundated as stranded Qantas travellers attempt to get home by road.
“Our [car] yard is empty and that’s a first,” said an Avis employee when the Sydney Morning Herald called its enquiries line. "We are experiencing higher call volume than normal," said Thrifty's on-hold announcment, which kept us on hold for some time. The Hertz number was engaged and Rent-a-Bomb's number rang out.
A group of four disgruntled Qantas ticket holders keen to get home to families and jobs in Melbourne told the Herald they couldn't get on a train to the Victorian capital until Tuesday. They had been fortunate enough to nab "Budget's last car" said Bob Shephard. The group had disembarked a cruiseliner in Sydney today at 6am.
Greyhound buses is also experiencing higher call volumes than normal, particularly for its Sydney to Melbourne and Melbourne to Adelaide routes. No additional services have been added as yet but the company is on standby and monitoring demand every 15 minutes.
1.25pm: Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced Queensland will join the federal government's application to Fair Work Australia to terminate all industrial action by Qantas and its employees. Meanwhile, Queensland Rail is also adding extra services north of the border.
1.20pm: For those who missed Alan Joyce's shock announcement yesterday, here is the full video of his press conference.
Alan Joyce delivers his shock announcement that Qantas would ground its fleet on Saturday.
1.14pm: TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon has addressed media outside the Qantas domestic terminal at Sydney airport, accusing Alan Joyce of premeditated action.
‘‘This was a preconceived, pre-planned attack on the Qantas brand by Qantas management. Obviously their intention is to offshore this airline overseas... It’s not the appropriate time for (FWA) termination to be called because there is no industrial action presently being taken by the employees. This is a cynical attempt by Qantas to destroy the economy in one breath and to bludgeon the Australian workforce in the next.’’
1pm: Jetstar says it will pick up some of the slack from the grounding of the Qantas fleet.
The budget airline, a subsidiary of Qantas, has put on an extra Sydney to Melbourne service today and says it is exploring options to add more flights.
A statement from the company said unsold seats on Jetstar flights were being offered to Qantas passengers at discounted prices.
The airline admitted that limited availability meant overall prices were at the higher end of its normal fare range, but said bookings were already very high leading into this weekend, with average loads of up to 90 per cent.
12.47pm: Barnaby Joyce says tourism businesses in his home state of Queensland may face closure due to the ongoing dispute. "There is only one thought going through my mind, and that is fix it and fix it as quickly as you possibly can,’’ he told reporters on the Gold Coast. ‘‘This is putting at risk so many businesses, not only the travelling public, but the tourist strips of Cairns, of the Gold Coast .... so many areas of our nation which are reliant on a vital piece of infrastructure.’’Senator Joyce also joined joins the ranks of Opposition MPs lining up to criticise the government's inaction over the dispute. "They knew that Qantas was going to hit the deck, that they were going to ground the planes, so what did they do? They did nothing,’’ he told delegates.‘‘It was just a small fire in the curtains so let it burn for a while and it’ll go out. This is not how you run a government, this is out of control."
12.30pm: Out of protocol, the Prime Minister's press conference has focused solely on the soldier deaths in Afghanistan. We're told Julia Gillard will address the Qantas crisis in a separate media conference this afternoon, following the Fair Work Australia hearing.
On Afghanistan, Chief Political Correspondent Phillip Coorey reports that Ms Gillard said the murder of three Australian soldiers and the wounding of three others by a supposed ally was designed to erode the trust in the mission and that between Australian soldiers and the Afghan national army.
Describing the incident as "a bitter day for Australia" Ms Gillard said the mission would continue as planned. She conceded the deaths - which bring to four the number of Australians killed by Afghan allies this year - would cause Australians to ask "deep and troubling questions".
But Ms Gillard said: "This does not change our mission".
12.12pm: Julia Gillard has begun her press conference in Perth. She has started by describing today as a "bitter day for Australia" in reference to the three soldiers killed and seven injured in Afghanistan overnight. It certainly puts the Qantas strife into a bit of perspective.
Julia Gillard flanked by security in Perth. Photo: Andrew Meares
11.56am: Prime ministers visiting Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting face being stranded in Perth because of the snap grounding of the Qantas fleet. CHOGM media director Daniel Gleeson has confirmed 17 heads of delegations had been booked to fly with Qantas and and that many had already been forced to make other travel arrangements.
British Prime Minister David Cameron headed out on this morning on his own government jet. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will leave Perth on this afternoon on the government jet, ahead of parliament sitting in Canberra on Monday.
Mr Gleeson would not confirm where the stranded delegates were from but said CHOGM participants were expected to start leaving Perth this afternoon once the summit was finished.
As well as the delegates, media representatives and police officers could be affected by the cancellation of all Qantas flights. About 700 of the 1200 accredited media personnel covering the event are from interstate or overseas. Police officers from across Australia and New Zealand were flown to Perth to assist with security for the event.
11.48am: More than 46,000 votes have been lodged on our online poll: Has Qantas gone too far by grounding its entire fleet and locking out workers engaged in industrial action? So far, 56 per cent of people say "yes". Cast your vote now.
11.44am: Famous last Qantas words in Bangkok: 'Nothing to worry about'. Lindsay Murdoch reports that ClaudiaBraun was so afraid of being stranded in flood ravaged Bangkok she telephonedQantas hours before flight QF2 left London for the Thai capital, a scheduledstopover on the way to Sydney.
But almost 18 hours into the flight, shortly before QF2 was to land inBangkok on Saturday night, she and 300 other passengers were told the flight wasbeing suspended in the city that is under threat from the worst floods in half acentury.
11.41am: Julia Gillard will be holding a press conference on Qantas in Perth at 12 noon AEDT.
Meanwhile in Brisbane, German travelers Diana Maus and Annette Moosbrugger are ending their four week Australian holiday with a 13-hour wait in the airport.
A bad end to the holiday for Diana Maus and Annette Moosbrugger. Photo: Bridie Jabour
They were supposed to fly home via Singapore and London at 1.40pm (Queensland time) on Qantas but have been moved to a 11.45pm Singapore Airlines flight.
"I was on a boat yesterday and saw the news (about Qantas) but we didn't know what was going to happen until we got here," said Ms Moosbrugger. "We tried to ring the 13 13 13 number over and over but it was busy do we just came to the airport."
The pair said they were trying to decide what to do for the rest of the afternoon and night before their flight.
"This can happen anywhere in the world," said Ms Maus. "The workers have to do what they have to do for their rights."
11.28am: The federal government is livid at the Qantas grounding, with the Prime Minister and several of her cabinet colleagues hitting out at the snap decision by management over the past 24 hours.
The latest to air his wrath is Assistant Treasurer, and former union heavyweight, Bill Shorten, who has branded the grounding a "radical overreaction" to the standoff between the airline and unions.
"In industrial disputes, sure employers have views and unions have views, but what I don't support is the no-warning nature of what's happened. Sixty-eight thousand Australians and the tourism industry has been grossly inconvenienced by this high-handed ambush of the passenger.
"If the unions had locked out the passengers, I would have been equally outraged. But in this case it is the Qantas management that has done, in my opinion, the premature and wrong thing when plenty could have been done in a sensible nature."
11.25am: Qantas passengers stranded in Adelaide may have to wait until Tuesday before they can fly out on alternative flights. Jane Hooper, who is trying to get home to Sydney from Adelaide Airport told AAP she waited in a Qantas service queue for an hour today before being put on a wait list that opens at noon.
"I have to wait until 12pm (CDT), that's when they open up the wait list, if I don't get that it will probably Tuesday before I can get a flight."
11.21am: In Perth, Herald Chief Political Correspondent Phillip Coorey reports that Julia Gillard has kicked all her staff off her prime ministerial jet to get ministers back from CHOGM to Canberra for the start of Parliament. The staff have been shunted onto Virgin flights instead after the government block booked a range of seats soon after the grounding was announced.
John Lee. Photo: Dean Sewell
11.13am: Two press conferences have just concluded at Sydney Airport. Tourism and Transport forum CEO John Lee said the groundingwas having a terrible impact for Australia's tourism reputation.
"This is not only about the future of an airline, it's aboutworkers and the people who want to fly. There are over a million people involvedin the tourism industry, the tourism industry needs certainty. This is not goodfor brand Australia.
"Remember the airlines that have not adapted to change - PanAm, TWA, Eastern - there are a plethora of airlines who wouldn't adapt andchange."
AIPA vice president Capt Richard Woodward said the decision to strand thousands of Qantas passengers was clearly premeditated. He said it was "unnecessary and arrogant in the extreme" and was pre-planned to escalate the dispute at the time of the CHOGM summit and in the lead-up to Tuesday's Melbourne Cup.
He also said that Qantas's actions may be in breach of the Fair Work Australia Act. In terms of whether the pilots association would take legal action against Qantas, he said they were considering their position and that the legal team would be very busy.
11.04am: So, here's how the Qantas decision played out:
64 aircraft in the air at 5pm yesterday, 36 domestic and 28international carrying more than 7000 passengers.
They completed their sectors and then grounded.
108 aircraft will be grounded in 22 airports.
13,305 passengers booked to fly Qantas toAustralia between Saturday and Monday.
About 1310 internationalpassengers due to fly on Saturday are thought to have been immediatelyaffected.
Qantas says passengers will have their fares refunded or canchange flights.
Jetstar, QantasLink and JetConnect are notaffected.
Virgin Australia has added more flights; Greyhound have alsoput on more buses.
Flight screens at Sydney's Qantas domestic terminal. Photo: Getty Images
11.00am: The Qantas topic on Twitter is red hot. Meanwhile, the Queensland Airline Industry coordinator for the TWU Peter Paulos has just finished a phone hook up with about 20 delegates from Cairns down to the Gold Coast. Mr Paulos said the meeting was about keeping their members updated and in the loop.
"There is a lot of anger really for the damage that Alan Joyce is doing to the company and the brand and to the public," he said. "There's 80,000 people stranded worldwide, it's incredible, I really don't understand it.
"Maybe Alan Joyce is channelling Margaret Thatcher, I don't know." He said the workers were still calm and were not backing down from their "fight".
10.49am: Qantas domestic passengers are complaining on TV of not being kept informed by the airline about what is happening. But what is happening to Qantas pilots and crew who have been grounded overseas? Are they now stranded too?
One Sydneysider, who is stranded in Hong Kong, has emailed to say Qantas is asking passengers to share hotel rooms with strangers. "Qantas now has the gall to ask people who have been displaced to share accommodation with complete strangers in hotel rooms ... many people are very upset at this."
10.29am: Entrepreneur Dick Smith says he is amazed that Qantas international is still in business. He wrote in the Telegraph: "It's obvious that unless CEO Alan Joyce is allowed to make huge changes, thewhole airline will go broke. I can't understand why the unions don't get that."
10.21am: The federal government should have staged an intervention in the escalatingdispute between Qantas and its unions earlier, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrellsays. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has called on the federal government to use all ofits powers to bring the dispute to a head, and get Qantas aircraft back into thesky "as quickly (and safely) as possible".
"Obviously the longer thisdispute lasts, the worse it will be for our international reputation," he toldABC Radio today.
But Labor frontbencher Nicola Roxon told Sky TV that the industrial umpire - Fair Work Australia - should resolve the dispute, not the government.
10.19am: Sky has reported that Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti has just arrived atSydney Airport and is thanking staff for all their efforts.
Deserted ... the Qantas terminal at Melbourne. Photo: Wayne Hawkins
10.13am: Asked on ABC TV this morning if there was an "element of up yours" about executive salaries, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline was doing the right thing by employees with salary increases. He said the easiest thing for him to do would have been to give in to union demands but that would not be in the long-term interests of the company.
10.11am:Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has been asked on ABC 24 about his salary. He said in 2009 he took a 30 per cent salary cut and a 20 per cent cut last year. He said he got paid less today than he did when he ran Jetstar four years ago, adding that he was not the nation's highest paid CEO. He said his salary was not outrageous and there was a lot of misinformation about it.
10:08am: “Sixty-eight thousand Australians and the tourism industry have been grossly inconvenienced by this high-handed ambush,” Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten told the ABC today. “There is no case for this radical overreaction. In industrial disputes, sure, employers have views and unions have views, but what I don’t support though is the no-warning nature of what’s happened.”
10:07am:Flight Centre says it has called extra staff into its outlets to help Qantas passengers come up with alternative travel plans. The company's managing director, Graham Turner, also took a swipe at the federal government for not sorting out the dispute before it reached this point. "Given domestic tourism's importance to the Australian economy, the government should have acted sooner to protect this extremely valuable asset," he said.
10:06am: Mr Joyce said the airline's international business was losing $200 million a year and it was getting worse. The airline had to adapt to survive. He said Qantas was one of the strongest airlines in the world.
10.00am:Mr Joyce told ABC 24 that he felt he had to bring the dispute to a head. He said if Qantas had not taken the action now there would have a "slow roasting of Qantas" by the unions for another year.
He apologised to customers affected by the dispute but said he had been "overwhelmed" by the support the airline had received for the action it had taken.
9.45am: Virgin has announced it will offer 3000 extra seats to help passengers stranded after Qantas grounded its fleet. Virgin is offering special "stranded passenger" fares for people who hold a Qantas ticket to return home within the next five days. The fares are offered at a 20 per cent discount on available "saver" fares on Virgin and Pacific Blue flights, for travel through to Thursday.
9.43am: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce will be interviewed live on ABC 24 at 10am AEDT. Will this give any insight into the intentions of the man who has stopped more than half of Australian aviation?
9.37am: At the Brisbane Airport, Virgin is doing a booming business as Qantas customers line up to get on one of their flights. Cole and Deena Allen came to the airport and went straight to the Virgin desk to try to get the next flight to Melbourne.
"We are actually just starting holidays and want to get down to Victoria to see our grandchildren," said Mrs Allen. "We always book with Qantas because they are so reliable, or used to be."
Queues begin at the Virgin counter at Brisbane Airport.Photo: Bridie Jabour
The problem with being on holidays is you don't necessarily watch the news. While Brisbane Airport's domestic Qantas terminal is generally very quiet this morning, a number of passengers are turning up with no idea the airline has been grounded.
Passenger Jon Casson said he was shocked when he arrived for a flight to Melbourne and was told the fleet was grounded. "I don't know what the hell Qantas are playing at but this seems a bit extreme," he said. "The air hostess I spoke to seemed a bit worried too. I've never heard of such a thing."
9.34am: The airline's decision has left many flyers venting their anger.
"To resolve this at the expense of paying customers on one of the biggest flying days in Australia is quite frankly ... bizarre, unwarranted and unfair to the loyal customers that Australia has," a businessman, who only gave his name as Barry, told Sky TV at Melbourne airport after he was stranded.
Zoe Johnson, an Australian living in Switzerland, said: "I'm proudly Australian but it just leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. So many people say, 'I'm never going to fly Qantas again', and from my point of view its just feels like a kind of bullying tactic really."
Qantas is a member of the OneWorld airline alliance, which includes Cathay Pacific, American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malev, Mexicana, Royal Jordanian and S7 Air. Alliance members often use partners' routes and flights to shore up their own networks. Cathay has already warned its own passengers of potential disruptions on Qantas connections.
9.26am: Never one to miss an opportunity, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has laid the blame for today's industrial chaos at Qantas squarely at the feet of the Gillard government. He said Australia's international reputation was suffering the longer the dispute dragged on.
"When you've got tens of thousands of people stranded, who are away from home, and you have tens of thousands who can't get to work, you've obviously got a very serious situation on your hands, this is why airlines are an essential service in a modern economy. This is where the government's irresponsibility kicks in.
"The government has been asleep at the wheel for weeks, they've been informed, but not alarmed, but nothing has happened in the meantime ... it's come to a catastrophic head for Australians. This is not a policy problem. This is a competency problem on the part of the government."
9.01am: Air New Zealand says it is also considering adding extra trans-Tasman flights to help stranded travellers. The company says it will know what it can offer by this afternoon. A plan being hatched with partners Virgin would see Air NZ replace Virgin flights flying to and from New Zealand, so Virgin can reschedule the flights to fly domestically in Australia.
8.46am: "The number you have dialled is either busy or has not been answered ..."
We just tried an experiment - we were going to see how long we had to wait on hold on Qantas' 131313 number, but we couldn't even get through. Feeling for all those Australians experiencing phone rage about now.
8.40am: Virgin Australia has responded to the problems plaguing Qantas passengers this morning, offering discounted 'Stranded Passenger' fares for those stuck at a port away from home. The fares will cost 20 per cent less than available Saver fares on Virgin Australia and Pacific Blue flights, for travel through to next Thursday, November 3. The airline advises these fares may not be available on all flights. More information here.
8.37am: Amid all the serious ramifications of this industrial dispute, a bit of humour. Alan Joyce, a Californian student, responds to all the hate he's receiving on Twitter.
8.26am: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has again defended the airline's stance on Sky News this morning. He says Fair Work Australia would need to order a termination of industrial action from the airline's unions to get the Flying Kangaroo back in the air.
"A termination stops the lockout, but we have to make a decision about putting the airline back in the air. A suspension may not necessarily mean the airline gets back in the air. If it's a suspension, we cannot put the planes back in the air without having certainty. A termination gives us certainty, a suspension, depending on what the suspension looks like, does not necessarily give us certainty."
Mr Joyce denied that the strategy in grounding the airline was to push the federal government to intervene.
8.11am: Qantas last updated its advice to customers at 11.20pm last night. The full statement is here, a few highlights below:
If your flight number falls within the range QF1400-2699 you are travelling with QantasLink and your flight is not affected by the grounding so you should travel to the airport as normal.
Qantas codeshares with a number of airlines, these carriers are continuing their operations as scheduled. These flights have both Qantas and alternative carrier flight numbers eg. QF319 and BA16.
Domestic customers: If you are away from home and between flights, Qantas will arrange accommodation, meals and transfers for you. If you are away from home and beginning your journey today, you will need to source your own accommodation.
International customers: Qantas will arrange accommodation, meals and transfers for you.
8.03am: A recent tweet from @QantasAirways. Probably no surprises.
Qantas Reservations (131313) are experiencing extremely high call volumes. We're very sorry for all affected customers.
7.59am: Members of Australia's cricket team have been caught up in the Qantas imbroglio as they attempt to return home from South Africa.Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty, James Pattinson, Steve Smith and David Warner were last night having transfers arranged so they could get back to Australia as quickly as possible.
7.46am: The ABC is reporting that the Qantas grounding has caused chaos at Singapore's Changi airport, where many passengers are stuck at the terminal.
The grounding has also reportedly stranded hundreds of passengers at London's Heathrow airport and Frankfurt in Germany.
7.41am: Some figures on the grounding:
In total 108 aircraft will be grounded in 22 airports around the world.
13,305 passengers are booked to travel on Qantas planes from overseas ports to Australia between Saturday and Monday.
About 1310 international passengers due to fly on Saturday were thought to have been immediately affected.
7.30am: Good morning everyone. We'll be using this live blog today to try and keep you up-to-date with the situation surrounding Qantas grounding its entire fleet in response to industrial action from three unions: the Australian and International Pilots Association, Transport Workers Union and Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association. A wrap up of the situation from last night:
An emergency Fair Work Australia hearing went until 1.30am overnight, before being adjourned until 2pm today.
A reminder that QantasLink, Jetstar and Jet Connect are operating as normal.
Qantas says it may help with bookings on another airline, and accommodation but only those flying in the next 24 hours should call at this stage. Phone 131313.
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Just watched the special edition of 730 report on ABC. Despite Alan Joyce appearing on a number of business programs earlier today, he refused to appear on this one.The questions which were going to be put to him (and which were specifically written out in full during the program) as follows:1.Why didn't Qantas ask the Fed Govt to intervene before it got to this?2. When did planning for this event being, including notifying partner airlines?3. Did Q underestimate the potential damage to its brand by announcing this move one day after Alan Joyce cemented his massive pay rise?So, AJ was too chicken to appear on ABC to answer what are quite reasonable questions under the circumstances.To all of you who support this morally bankrupt management, what do you say about AJ's strength of character? He is clearly not prepared to go on national TV to answer questions about decisions he made which have affected passengers globally.Management sympathisers, let's have your answers regarding this.Is it because the answers are just too damaging for Qantas management and board? Unfortunately for Qantas management and board, it is a public company and these answers should be made publicly available by the person who made the decisions.PS it was a stroke of genius to do this during CHOGM - hopefully the person who advised Qantas that this is a good idea is going to get the sack, however knowing Qantas, I wouldn't be surprised if that person gets a bonus and promotion instead!!!!
- October 30, 2011, 7:34PM
Dick Smith should keep Ansett out of the conversation as he is just proving he knows nothing about the matter. It was not the unions that commited Ansett to the grave!! Like this situation it was abhorent miss-management driven by short-term growth and no long-term strategy. Having a fleet of aircraft that was so varied that the costs of running them escalated to the point where a sale was inevitable...so that the management got away with their incompetence and blamed the incoming owner. They got away with a lot of money out of that one just the same as Joyce is getting away with here. Let us not dig a little deeper to show that Dick Smith built his electronics empire on the backs of low cost wages paid in Asia to make the brands he had on his shelves...Alan Joyce should never have gotten to this position - all he knows is low cost airlines. Qantas is now a very tarnished brand thanks to him...
- October 30, 2011, 7:47PM
I have seen people on less than 1 thenth of the pay that Joyce is on negotiate succesfully far moe complex issues than this. This has nothing to do with the Unions, Joyce is intent on breaking the foriegn ownership rules and the Qantas brand itself.CHeck the annual report.Halve the salary cost of the company and you only improve the bottom live by 2 to 3 %.However teh Unions need to pull there finger out as well, the slaries may be OK, but it is the other conditions which belong in the 70s.Get real Union bosses.This is as much your fault as Qantas management.
- October 30, 2011, 7:44PM
Google the Qantas Board and read their backgrounds. A quick summary- Chairman: Leigh Clifford 37 years with mining company Rio Tinto, Peter Cosgrove - John Howards man when Australia was mislead by the Coalition to send our boys to Iraq, Patricia Cross banker, Richard Goodmanson current director Rio Tinto, Greg Hounsell Director of Orica Mining, Corinne Namblard banker, Paul Raynor was Finance director of British American Tobacco,John Schubert is a director of BHP Billiton and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank, James Strong is the everyman, and Barabara Ward Commonwealth Bank, the fabulous Allco Finance Group. I trust those interested will read their profiles indepth and make up their own minds.
- October 30, 2011, 7:36PM
Qantas' problems were evident long before Joyce and the current Union disputes and date back to Dixon taking over.Modern successful organisations value ALL stakeholders especially customers and employees.Dixon and Joyce quite frankly have never given a stuff about either and see their only duty as on to the Institutional Shareholders.These type of organisations do not do well long term and generally haemorrhage from a lack of customers and decent employees.Just look at the negative comments that Qantas and Jetstar (2 separate websites devoted to complaints) get and speak to middle management or lower and see how they tell you that they hate senior management with a passion.
Gillard could earn some brownie points (and prove her industrial laws work) by issuing an ultimatum for the Qantas senior management and board to resign and replace with fresh blood.Maybe then a decent organisational culture would develop and replace the poisonous atmosphere that is Qantas today.
- October 30, 2011, 7:48PM
Alan Joyce did not have the right to involve me and my family in his industrial relations dispute.He has behaved callously and abominally towards the travelling public and businesses.Both Australian and overseas businesses who rely on tourist dollars.Not to mention his bastardry towards his employees who are vital in keeping his airline in the air.
Is the freight arm of the company involved?If so, how many more people and businesses are going to be affected?
For all of you complaining about the unions.You may no longer have your holidays, sick leave etc.Your hours will double with less pay.Your children will have to work for minimum wage and possibly die from health complications before they reach adulthood.The unions have become corrupted, much the same as government and big business, but we shouldn't wish their demise.Without them we are left to the devil.
- October 30, 2011, 7:08PM
Alan Joyce, left Ansett in 2000, he led the Network Planning, Schedules Planning and Network Strategy functions. Prior to that, Mr Joyce spent eight years at Aer Lingus (a LCC, previous Ansett managerial skills don't count since it went into administration), where he held roles in Sales, Marketing, IT, Network Planning, Operations Research, Revenue Management and Fleet Planning.
- October 30, 2011, 7:33PM
I am yet another UNsatisfied customer. I just finished driving back to Sydney from Melbourne. My Sunday down the drain when I should have been home before lunch.However, I really feel for everyone who wasn't as lucky as me. I managed to get home. How long for some of the poor customers?
- October 30, 2011, 7:21PM
So let see. The people who are commenting here claiming that Singapore Airlines is much safer/better/best cabin service etc are justifying what AJ is saying all along. A Singapore Air A380 Piliot gets $10,700 - $16,500 per month (as per Singapore Court Arbitration Rulings) in 2007 figures. Detailed figures: http://www.askcaptainlim.com/salary-propilot-78/307-singapore-airlines-pilots-salary.htmlSo if Singapore which gets serviced in Asia, flown by lower paid counter parts and still a safe airline then the claims of doom of gloom are just smokescreen to hide the true motives of the unions.
- October 30, 2011, 7:21PM
Pilot in command, while Singapore Airlines is indeed a very good airline, to say that they have had zero problems in 10 years is just ridiculous.In July this year they had to turn a plane back because of vibration issues.In June this year an A380 had landing gear issues and had to return to Hong Kong.In February they had wiring problems with an A380 toilet.They had the same issues with oil in their A380 engines that Qantas did.The list goes on and on.There are probably many more issues that don't get reported here.
- October 30, 2011, 7:16PM
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Sixty-eight thousand Australians and the tourism industry has been grossly inconvenienced by this high-handed ambush of the passenger.
Facebook and Twitter connect Qantas passengers
Poll closed 31 Oct, 2011
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A failure of management. The seeds of this dispute can be found in the leadership of ...
Facebook and Twitter connect Qantas passengers
Unable to get information from the airline, stranded Qantas passengers on Sunday turned to social media to tell of their plight.
Did Qantas go too far by grounding its entire fleet and locking out workers?
Poll closed 31 Oct, 2011
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Article original from: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/live-fwa-rules-termination-20111030-1mq0o.html
