Qantas Fleet Grounded 29/10

[clifford]

On a serious note, it is detrimental for Qantas as I have cancelled $6,300 in flights, my SQ flights will remind me that life isn't bad on other airlines and I'll have an opportunity to try the KrisFyer Gold lounge in SIN, thanks to my DJ WP status match:

Yes, I've cancelled my Qantas business class ticket to NAN also. Rebooked on FJ. Won't be any further bookings on QF for the foreseeable future.

This is my prediction. Joyce is being set up as the fall guy (he's too stupid to see this) by that nasty piece of work, Leigh Clifford, AO. Joyce will do all the bad stuff, and then, once all the bleating has subsided, the Board will cast him off as a measure of reconciliation.

I could be wrong, but one way or another, Joyce won't be there in 12 months time. Perhaps he has his eyes set on running Ryanair...

 

[thewinchester]

Well I guess it had to happen, they have now pretty much fully eroded my WP status.

First it was loosing any time lounge access.
Then I lost my Neil Perry party pies.
Now I have lost access to a plane.

Bound to happen, its like the anti Moore's law. every 18 months the loses double.....

Could be worse, I have zero QF bookings at the minute!

Hey, the Neil Perry party pies are coming back!

You can thank awilcockson for that, having the cojones to ask Neil himself a question about them at the QFF/AFF lunch.

And like the pies, those planes will be back in the air soon enough.

 

[elbarto]

Yes, I've cancelled my Qantas business class ticket to NAN also. Rebooked on FJ. Won't be any further bookings on QF for the foreseeable future.

This is my prediction. Joyce is being set up as the fall guy (he's too stupid to see this) by that nasty piece of work, Leigh Clifford, AO. Joyce will do all the bad stuff, and then, once all the bleating has subsided, the Board will cast him off as a measure of reconciliation.

I could be wrong, but one way or another, Joyce won't be there in 12 months time. Perhaps he has his eyes set on running Ryanair...

You were probably always on FJ as I don't believe QF fly their own metal to NAN anymore. In which case, you would have been unaffected by the grounding as tickets booked on codeshare flights are unaffected.


But you could be right about Clifford being behind all this and AJ, as the face of the company, is going to cop all the flack.

 

[ajw373]

Don't forget about the terrible impact on decent, hardworking people, like me, who now will not be able to enjoy their planned hours tomorrow in the F Lounge in SYD.

On a serious note, it is detrimental for Qantas as I have cancelled $6,300 in flights, my SQ flights will remind me that life isn't bad on other airlines and I'll have an opportunity to try the KrisFyer Gold lounge in SIN, thanks to my DJ WP status match:



Though, BNE to SIN arrives in, and SIN to CKG departs from, T2 - so I probably won't enjoy the flagship Gold Lounge in T3.

Qantas really has made life hard (tongue, again, firmly in cheek - I do know there are many that are truly inconvenienced by this).

Wish I had known that, though lounge access was in Silver only (even if Velocity Gold and Platinum). I flew Qantas yesterday morning from Canberra to Sydney then onwards to Singapore and Colombo on SQ so spent 5 hours in Changi airport. Didn't even think to see if my status matched Velocity Platinum card would get me into the gold lounge, must try on the return if I have time. Anyway no issue for you to try out the gold lounge in T3 even if your light leaves from T2 as they have a train every 2-4 minutes between the terminals, so just use the T3 llounge and leave an extra few minutes to get between the two.

Getting back OT I walked around Changi a bit, inlcuding wandering down to T1 to see what Qantas a/c were in attendance. Counted an A380, two A330's and a 747. Not sure how they were processing the passengers, but saw many people sitting in the departure lounges where the a/c were parked with big red stickers on and a big queue at the customer service desk. I assume the people with the stickers had been processed and were waiting to be moved to hotels. Must admit I can understand why Qantas management did what they did in grounding all flights at a given time, but do think it was a tad rough to offload passengers at an intermediate port like Singapore. Surley the risk of sabotage would have been quite minor, especially as the only Qantas staff involved would have been those getting on the a/c so are hardly going to risk themselves.

 

[amaroo]

Bill Shorten - was Secretary of the AWU.

As a Member of Parliament & Minister of the Crown.......he makes a fine union leader

 

[Moopere]

This is my prediction. Joyce is being set up as the fall guy

Its the job of a CEO to be the public face of the board. This is why he's in the position. Certainly, being the face we all get to see and the focus of both the approval and disapproval camps, its a hard job, but, thats why he's paid the big bucks.

(he's too stupid to see this)

Really unsure of this. Look at all previous CEO's of QF. They come across the same way ... hardasses who are hard to love. But they are only spitting out the will of the board of directors. Everyone going for a CEO's position with any company knows this is the case and generally speaking have to have a demonstrable record of having some serious cahones.

by that nasty piece of work, Leigh Clifford, AO. Joyce will do all the bad stuff, and then, once all the bleating has subsided, the Board will cast him off as a measure of reconciliation.
I could be wrong, but one way or another, Joyce won't be there in 12 months time. Perhaps he has his eyes set on running Ryanair...

Its part of the risk of the job for sure. By placing the CEO's in the direct firing line it protects the board from getting shot. If things go terribly terribly wrong, yes, they could let the CEO go, as a sacrifice, with doubtless full benefits and paid out contract, to appease the know-nothings.

 

[RSD]

Well I guess it had to happen, they have now pretty much fully eroded my WP status.

First it was loosing any time lounge access.
Then I lost my Neil Perry party pies.
Now I have lost access to a plane.

LOL - that's damn funny!

 

[11sjw]

Is it just me or do the Union Reps getting airtime on Sky News sound like these clowns?

[video=youtube;brj2UkUPjCI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brj2UkUPjCI[/video]

 

[codash1099]

My recent experience participating in a single Commissioner hearing at FWA (different industry) anticipated a duration of one day- it turned into 3 days, and that was only for two parties.

Much time is likely to be wasted on arguments regarding the admissibility of evidence and other incidental matters and, given the short notice nature of the hearing, it's likely that evidence in chief will have to be led, without reference to a witness statement which I understand can take longer.

I don't hold out a lot of hope for a speedy resolution through FWA, but I would dearly like to be proven wrong.

Apparently, the argument is over whether the industrial action should be halted temporarily (the union position) or permanently (the QF position).

Maybe they should meet halfway and suspend it semi-permanently

 

[opusman]

Does anyone know how to cancel/refund a booking online rather than calling? On the qantas facebook wall they said refunds must be done thru 'manage my booking' but theres nothing on there I can see that applies (actually not even the usual 'cancel' option is showing for me)

 

[el_rooto]

You just need to splice in 'straya every few words

 

[medhead]

Does anyone know how to cancel/refund a booking online rather than calling? On the qantas facebook wall they said refunds must be done thru 'manage my booking' but theres nothing on there I can see that applies (actually not even the usual 'cancel' option is showing for me)

See Here Qantas Travel Alerts | Emergencies

I'm just contemplating if I refund online or over the phone. I also need to claim for the extra cost of my Virgin flight. But that would be a separate claim and it seems to be dependent on having an existing booking, which I won't have if I refund.

Edit: for all the anti-government mobs here Sky News just reporting that Government is pushing for a terminal in line with Qantas. Not exactly pro-union

 

[QF WP]

From the QF website:

To be eligible for reimbursement, you must:
Be a Qantas customer holding a valid Qantas (081) tickets for a flight that has been cancelled as a result of the grounding of the Qantas fleet.
Hold a valid receipt for accommodation, meals and transfers.
Domestic customers
If you are away from home and between flights today, Qantas will arrange accommodation, meals and transfers for you.
If you are away from home and beginning your journey today, unfortunately you will need to source your own accommodation we will reimburse you for reasonable out of pocket expenses including accommodation, transfers, meals and incidentals up to a total value of AUD 350 per person per day. A limit of AUD 250 per night for accommodation and AUD 100 for incidentals (meals and phone calls) per person per day applies.

 

[el_rooto]

This would be the perfect time to be using anytime access....

 

[LiamR]

Sorry I've been late to the party, but I've had some funny discussions with the @AlanJoyceCEO too.

.@MarkBeretta we've put on a special plane for famous people. Tell the other @sunriseon7 crew. We'll look after you. BTW, are you a pilot?

Me: I've got my Pilots Licence, need me to work a few shifts?

@Li_Ras @MarkBeretta @sunriseon7 Done. Can you fly an A380? They aren't much different to Cessnas.

Me: Sure, when do I start? A380 is easy.

.@Li_Ras If you've got experience with Microsoft Flight Sim you should be *mostly* OK.

@iGreggsy @Li_Ras no worries, so do our engines.

 

[MarkD]

Now thats a good idea, they cant ask you to leave if you are booked on their flight

 

[Maca44]

According to Sky News, QF present three witnesses and then the Unions cross examine them, then the Unions present numerous witnesses, and QF cross examines them. It took two hours for the first QF witness to be cross examined, so get ready for a long haul tonight.

It was just on Sky News that four Qantas witnesses have given evidence thus far, and each have been cross examined. However, it would appear the witnesses for the unions will now only provide a 'statement' and this 'statement' will be delivered by their legal counsel meaning that the Lawyers for QF will not have the opportunity of cross examining the union witnesses.

I can't see the FWA agreeing to a termination, and I can't see Qantas accepting a suspension so... However, anything is possible.

 

[JohnK]

Qantas have offered to refund the fare difference if booking with another airline for travel in the same class.

I find that a little confusing especially the part about

Rebook with endorsement to another carrier where Qantas have an Interline E-ticket Agreement.*

Can I flights on Virgin and still be re-imbursed the difference?

I have a bit of a problem as I have rebooked with virgin tomorrow. I'm not sure if I should rebook my qantas flight to next year, hence locking in a cheap fare for February, say. Or to take the refund of fare and the difference for the new fare? Any comments/thoughts would be appreciated.

For me to rebook next Fridays BNE-SYD return on VA would cost me $299 for Friday BNE-SYD at 1:00pm and there are no other Saver flights afterwards and to book in Flexi costs $359 and $405. To return on Sunday SYD-BNE at 8:00pm costs $185.

So the VA flights will cost me a minimum of $484 while I could a full refund of $150. And it is not much better if I rebook the current Qantas flights for Easter these cost $234 so I will only save $84.

Wish I had known that, though lounge access was in Silver only (even if Velocity Gold and Platinum). I flew Qantas yesterday morning from Canberra to Sydney then onwards to Singapore and Colombo on SQ so spent 5 hours in Changi airport. Didn't even think to see if my status matched Velocity Platinum card would get me into the gold lounge, must try on the return if I have time.

I believe this has been answered on the VA forum. As a VA Platinum one can only access the vanilla flavoured lounge in SIN that does not even have showers.

 

[ajw373]

I believe this has been answered on the VA forum. As a VA Platinum one can only access the vanilla flavoured lounge in SIN that does not even have showers.

Will take the discussion there, however will point out the gold/platinum benifits page of Virgin Aust says access is "Singapore Airlines owned and operated SilverKris lounges worldwide plus the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge in Changi Airport, Singapore^^... You and a guest on presentation of membership card and boarding pass for same day travel on Singapore Airlines".

So seems gold is ok in Changi only for both Velociy gold and platinum card holders. Maybe something new, because I would swear I checked when my flights got booked on SQ and I did the status match thingy.

 

[richie9x]

From Qantas twitter feed just now

Qantas fleet remains grounded until at least midday tomorrow. A decision on afternoon flights will be made tomorrow morning.