Qantas doesn't care about priority boarding

[Mattg]

I am pretty sure QF staff have a lot more on their mind than priority boarding.
I am not expecting it to work on Sunday week.

I totally understand that. It's a strange time for us all.

It was just an observation.

 

[Kangol]

I totally understand that. It's a strange time for us all.

It was just an observation.

Thankyou for posting, this is the very place to be discussing this observation.
Doesn't discount what else is occurring in the world right now, but at the same time everything else does not discount the content of this thread.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

What route and aircraft out of curiousity?

Worked fine on my SYD-OOL earlier in the week. As a weekly (well ex-weekly) dom flyer I'd say <80% of the time it works. I sincerely welcome the change and hope it continues once we are all back in the sky. Only improvement would be group boarding so emeralds can board before sapphires.

 

[p--and--t]

Quite frankly if I had been told that both myself and my other half (quite common in aviation) have been told we are both out of a job before the end of next week and the plane was 60% empty, I wouldn't be giving a dam. whether there was a priority queue or not.


Serious reality check required. Zero empathy being displayed here.

 

[Franky]

Quite frankly if I had been told that both myself and my other half (quite common in aviation) have been told we are both out of a job before the end of next week and the plane was 60% empty, I wouldn't be giving a dam. whether there was a priority queue or not.


Serious reality check required. Zero empathy being displayed here.

Well it seems to me that they haven't been giving a damn about priority boarding for some time. I believe all of us appreciate that QF staff as a whole are under pressure, just the same as many others are in the country at this time. However, if you're employed as a GA, part of your job is to direct passengers during the boarding process which includes per their stated policy, priority boarding - whether the aircraft has a 20%, 50% or 100% loading.

 

[RichardMEL]

I wonder what the mix of status pax to regular is anyway at this point in time. Given the overall loads are going to be less and less for all the reasons we're well aware of... I can see both "sides" of it. I'm more for the notion that in this situation just board the 20 pax and not worry too much about status/priority. Certainly not going to be an issue with bin space or anything.

I would think a bigger concern may be whatever lanes are being used that there's some notion or idea of social distancing? It's an odd one I know and you'd hope the few flying would be smart about it.

I'm not flying right now, but I hope that nobody involve gets into any agro or silliness given how much stress and worry *everyone* is under.

 

[TheInsider]

Quite frankly if I had been told that both myself and my other half (quite common in aviation) have been told we are both out of a job before the end of next week and the plane was 60% empty, I wouldn't be giving a dam. whether there was a priority queue or not.


Serious reality check required. Zero empathy being displayed here.

Domestic loads out of MEL for that day were under 30%, but yes zero empathy. Even if it is their 'job'. These staff after that week will now not be having a job for at at least 8 weeks and attempting to now find an income to replace their already quite minimal wage.

The fact is majority are part time workers and the company is keeping some of them on by giving them the minimum of 20 hours a week for 2 weeks then indefinite no work. The centrelink benefit is actually more than what they would be earning working those minimum 20hrs a week

 

[TheInsider]

Your'e certainly right there Justin, but they won't be pulling staff from the boarding area to work in the call centre, so things should be by the book in that regard.

They also actually have got reservation trained staff taking calls locally at some airports. The ticketing training takes at least 8 weeks to undertake.

There is only so many staff you can use. It's not an 'easy' skill to just learn.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

I honestly don't think anyone was having a go at the staff. It was a simple observation.

As a society we all respect the staff and have regret for the situation they and many others are in. This is, at the end of the day, a frequent flyer blog so observations can't be chided as aloof attacks when they simply are not. I know theres little FF content to discuss but let's keep things relevant and objective.

 

[oz_mark]

There was no attempt whatsoever to even try to implement priority boarding. Not even a token announcement. Zip, zilch, nada.

I honestly don't think anyone was having a go at the staff. It was a simple observation.

The wording was definitely having a go at Qantas staff.

 

[Franky]

The wording was definitely having a go at Qantas staff.

No more than a lot of the 510 previous posts in this thread...

 

[justinbrett]

To be honest, right now, I don't care about priority boarding. I miss flying already.

 

[nerdag]

I miss flying already.

Nah, don't miss it. Enjoy the downtime while it lasts.

I'm still flying, and it's a right royal pain with last minute cancellations across the board, no flexibility in flight times because they do one return trip a day, no lounge and quite likely, no ability to get food as takeaways in the near future as it becomes unviable to keep airport food outlets open. Sydney T3 is a ghost town at the moment, and T2 even worse.

In this day and age, everybody who turns up gets 'priority' boarding.

Was even thanked by a FA for keeping them in a job the other day. Can't blame 'em for putting PB on the backburner.

n

 

[justinbrett]

Nah, don't miss it. Enjoy the downtime while it lasts.

I'm still flying, and it's a right royal pain with last minute cancellations across the board, no flexibility in flight times because they do one return trip a day, no lounge and quite likely, no ability to get food as takeaways in the near future as it becomes unviable to keep airport food outlets open. Sydney T3 is a ghost town at the moment, and T2 even worse.

In this day and age, everybody who turns up gets 'priority' boarding.

Was even thanked by a FA for keeping them in a job the other day. Can't blame 'em for putting PB on the backburner.

n

Well, my family live interstate and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them next. I’d even fly Tiger if I could.

 

[p--and--t]

Well, my family live interstate and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them next.

You and thousands of others. You are not alone and don't expect that to change for quite a while.

 

[nerdag]

Well, my family live interstate and I don’t know when I’ll be able to see them next.

My family live 15 minutes down the road and I don't know when I'm going to see them next, assuming they or I don't die in the next six months.

 

[juddles]

If QF an get rid of the dead wood during this whole crisis, then that is a silver lining.

 

[justinbrett]

You and thousands of others. You are not alone and don't expect that to change for quite a while.

Yep, it’s a pretty dark time for everyone. Makes PB seem trivial.

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

Yep, it’s a pretty dark time for everyone. Makes PB seem trivial.

Well said. Dare I say post-COVID19 the way in which we line up for a variety of activities , such airport security and flight boarding, may not be the same again.

 

[jb747]

If priority boarding had ever been something the ivory tower wanted to work, then they might have done something about making it happen. It wasn’t and it won’t be in the future.

Serious reality check required. Zero empathy being displayed here.

Quite normal.

If QF an get rid of the dead wood during this whole crisis, then that is a silver lining.

I expect that you’ll get your wish. I doubt that Virgin or QF will survive. So, you’ll end up with something new, though I expect it will look more like Jetstar than anything else.