Do people REALLY want to save Qantas or is it just talk?

[The Rok]

I have listened to so much cough from Tony Abbott about Qantas being a national icon, how it needs to be saved from the big bad boys over seas and how Australians love Qantas, yet now he is off to the UK............. but not on Qantas.....

Good to see the true loyalty mate.. ..... What an example to set................

But it begs the question. If the Govt, or opposition, or Unions or other interested parties are hell bent on "Saving" Qantas, should they not first "Support" Qantas by actually "Flying" Qantas.....

 

[munitalP]

I agree....

Talk the talk and so on...

 

[casanovawa]

Don't they say "Patriotism is the last resort of scoundrels"???

If that's all Qantas was offering as a reason, then no people probably wouldn't be interested in saving them...

If they offer the right hard and soft product, to the right destinations, at the right price on the right schedules to be competitive, or close to it, with other alternatives then yes people probably are interesting in considering them and possibly using them and having them survive to offer competition to the few other local products...

 

[The Rok]

Well, my guess is that Abbott is not flying Economy. So how are Qantas supposed to actually offer a better product without the $10,000 for Abbotts flight. And other Govt Ministers... etc. It is BECAUSE of things like this that Qantas has to cut back and devalue the product. They need the income to offer it. If Australia wants to call Qantas its national airline or call it an Australian Icon, how does it look to foreign dignitaries or business of an Elected Australian MP rocks up to Heathrow on a non-Australian carrier.... looks kind of hypocritical don’t you think?

 

[casanovawa]

I don't know enough about his trip to make a final judgement...

Where was he going and ending up and could Qantas get him there and then on to his other destinations (if he is travelling further afield) or did it make sense to book all though one airline??? Was there a seat available on the dates he (and perhaps his party of travellers) needed to travel??? How long ago was the trip booked and was it prior to the industrial action being solved and the uncertainity of whether you would get to your destination being removed??? What was the cost of the Qantas ticket over whatever airline he chose and if it was several thousand dollars difference are you happy with the Government subsidising Qantas to that tune times dozens/hundred of trips a year with your money or are you interested in the Government spending your money wisely and/or trying to get best value?

If all of those boxes were ticked in the positive toward using Qantas or were close, then yes he should probably be walking his talk...

PS i don't think it works that way that business says pay us first and eventually we will give you what you prefer/deserve... The business has to invest in building the product first and then customers will come...

 

[medhead]

PS i don't think it works that way that business says pay us first and eventually we will give you what you prefer/deserve... The business has to invest in building the product first and then customers will come...

Exactly. They need to provide a premium product if they want to command a premium price. ATM they are just demanding the price price, without providing premium service. If anything qantas needs to walk the walk on the talk of being the world's leading premium airline.

 

[straitman]

Exactly. They need to provide a premium product if they want to command a premium price. ATM they are just demanding the price price, without providing premium service. If anything qantas needs to walk the walk on the talk of being the world's leading premium airline.

Until now Qantas has been able to charge the premium price because people would pay the price irrespective.

It has to be seen whether that is still the case or whether I'll have to agree with medhead :!:

 

[Princess Fiona]

Which airline is he flying on ?

 

[JohnK]

I don't know about all the political spin but as far as I am concerned travel in Australia without Qantas would not be the same.

Are they worth saving? Yes

Are the morons running Qantas right now the right people going forward? No.

What Qantas needs is someone who wants the Qantas premium brand to be around in 20-30 years and competitive not someone who wants to rip it apart, strip of it cash and float it back full of debt....

 

[simongr]

Not sure from available google searches with who he is actually flying.

 

[casanovawa]

I don't know who Kevin 747 flies with but i reckon his annual travel bill would be as much or more than the whole opposition front bench...

He's the guy Qantas should really be looking at securing but he probably finds it easier to ball out Air Force stewardesses/FAs...

Anyway, I don't think Qantas is likely to disappear from domestic Australian routes anytime soon as the relative lack of competition/closed market is keeping them pretty profitable... Its the Long haul stuff which is danger and which they have to be relatively price/product competitive... Other businesses are not there to subsidise Qantas if they have inflated fares, nor National and State Governmetns who are spending our money at the end of the day...

 

[Meggsy]

Surely he is only complying with the governments BFOD policy:mrgreen:

 

[Moody]

The first question I have is - why does an airline that earned half a billion dollars last year need "saving"?

Anyway, to answer the question in the terms it was couched in :- Yes, I want to save/keep Qantas in in current form. I also want to save/keep Virgin Australia. Competition is good. Choice is good.

But it would be a pity if the only way Qantas can run a competitive airline was by outsourcing to entities outside Australia. If that's what it takes to make the shareholders happy then maybe our priorities as a nation need re-examining.

 

[medhead]

Until now Qantas has been able to charge the premium price because people would pay the price irrespective.

Given all the bagging of QFi financial performance over an extended period I'm not sure that idea is supported, even if I also think people have been prepared to pay a premium as you say.

I really think there is a fundamental discrepancy in all this, hence I have difficulty believing management.


Sent from my iPhone using Aust Freq Fly app so please excuse the lack of links.

 

[casanovawa]

Whether QFi makes a profit is also wrapped up in their previous and ongoing decisions on efficient/suitable aircraft purchased, routes commenced or stopped, alliances entered into, fuel purchasing/hedging and a bunch of other things including negotiating contracts with workforce and payments to companies they use for any number of services, its not just based on how much they need to gouge out of the Australian flying public...

The people of Australia could have been more than supportive and generous with them and management and the work force can still screw it up...

 

[Isochronous]

What's the source for this story?

 

[Alanslegal]

I have been to a few market research/focus groups in relation to Qantas and they should really be listening to those groups who attend. What comes out of those sessions is generally that being an 'Australian' icon is not enough for people to spend their money on. Deep down those folks, myself included, want to support 'Australian' where possible but then factors such as price, better routes, better carriers etc then impact that decision.

The bigger issue that I gather from these groups, is that there is a perception that QF is an ageing carrier. I do not mean fleet age or average age of crew but rather that QF has been around for ages (second oldest carrier ever?) and that their competitors eg. SQ, EK are much younger, much more appealing, more vibrant than QF.

I don't know how QF are going to change that perception but when their competitors 'seem' more fresh, more appealing .... its an uphill battle. QF can release all these frequent flyer benefits eg. WP1 status but that means nothing / no benefit to the average Joe and Jane out there who wants to spend there hard earned money on their once a year holiday. Statistically, ~81% do not fly QF when departing Australia and there were, what, over 6 - 7 million passenger departures in the last 12 months. Let's say if QF could somehow reduce that 81% to 75%, this would mean QF would have an additional 360,000 BIS (on 6 million passenger departures). To me, that is alot of potential revenue.

Anyway its a very complex business and I don't have the solutions.

 

[The Rok]

What's the source for this story?

Abbott heading to the UK

 

[The Rok]

But does this whole dillema not all come back to QF's cost base? People are adamant that they want QF in the Australian market, but then there are those who are also adamant that the union are in the right and QF should cough up.... where is the balance...

Can QF be be profitable to the satisfaction of its shareholders, while also paying the unions what they want, keeping all the jobs in Australia and at the same time offer a level of service over and above its competitors for a similar price.....

I am no mathimatician but I don't think that is possible....... So where does QF go....

Press ahead with its off shoring activities and then offer a better hard/soft product as a result.... This will ultimately make the airline more profitable therby appeasing the shareholders....

There seem to be folk on this form who believe that the shareholders do not really count as they are all greedy so and so's who do not deserve blab blab blab...

But without them QF does not exist..... Can there be a union comprimise in all this? Can there be an employee comprimise, can there be a shareholder/management comprimise... can there be a passenger comprimise..... It is starting to look like there will have to be.... but at what cost... who will ultimately lose... Joe Blogs flying public, the Unions..... or kabooooom....Qantas?

 

[Justchecking]

I think the perception that QF is an aging airline is fully justified on the grounds of it's marketing and product. SQ is hardly a spring chicken with it's 1970's uniforms and livery but they keep it fresh with relevant marketing and refreshing the onboard product (not talking about FAs). Being fresh and vibrant is about being relevant. SQ don't market solely to singaporeans and you'll see non-Asian people featured in their advertising because they know their major customers live outside of Singapore.

QF is still rolling out pictures of golden haired surf lifesaving kids to a population that isn't predominantly Caucasian anymore and has moved on in terms of values. They seem like the fuddy duddy airline because just like my grandmother they got stuck in their heyday and dressed like that forever more while the world moved on.

So much is made of QFs cost base, when in actual fact they only have a cost base 20% higher than their domestic competitor and a lot of that is because they are full service, not because of employee costs. Despite that they still manage a half billion profit a year. Somehow I don't think their cost base is what is realky hurting them.