Absence of a product strategy?

[Isochronous]

People talk a lot about routes and plane type, but it seems like QF does not have an active strategy for the onboard product (apart from customer service improvements - this is noticeably very good with A380 crew and the new uniform - I've been very happy with service of late). For example:

1) The current A330 upgrade. Alan Joyce can take the credit for getting this approved by the board and dealing promptly with the disgraceful A332 cabin they tried to sell as J on transcon domestic flights. But remember, this was a kneejerk reaction to that public outrage. The new J suites look fantastic, though.

2) Related to (1) the lack of PE on the new A330 refurb. QF have never stated publicly (to my knowledge) that they even considered this, or why they rejected the idea. Yet CX among other carriers manages to run PE on the A330. QF PE is a fantastic product. I consistently am willing to pay for it on HKG-SYD runs and route my MEL flights via SYD just to take advantage of this - why don't they realise PE is a big winner and brings in more revenue, and is consistent with building a premium brand experience?

3) A strategy to update the A380 cabin, especially Skybed II. These are already starting to look old with sagging beds no longer being lie-flat in some cases, and the lack of all aisle access is increasingly uncompetitive. These cabins are 6 years old now - there should be active plans to refresh this, even if the delivery time frame is another 2 years away or so.

IMO instead of doing the big maintenance overhaul on the A380s that will be due soon, they should sell them and take up new ones since a) a new cabin ought be installed and b) for the fuel efficiency/newness benefits.

 

[Mr_Orange]

2) Related to (1) the lack of PE on the new A330 refurb. QF have never stated publicly (to my knowledge) that they even considered this, or why they rejected the idea. Yet CX among other carriers manages to run PE on the A330. QF PE is a fantastic product. I consistently am willing to pay for it on HKG-SYD runs and route my MEL flights via SYD just to take advantage of this - why don't they realise PE is a big winner and brings in more revenue, and is consistent with building a premium brand experience?

Completely agree with this. Not fitting PE to the refurbed A330s is a mistake. If they are worried about not having enough Y seats then I would cut 1 row of J, which IME (BNE-HKG-BNE) is never full anyway.

 

[eastwest101]

I agree as well - not having PE is a massive mistake, as long as many companies continue to mandate a "no J class allowed" policy and as long as QF's J class continues to be uncompetative in price (and in product at the moment) then I think they should have been investing in a good PE product that is popular and people seem happy to pay the price for and presumably could make them some money and be a key point of difference from their competitors....

But to get back to the OP's point. We have to differentiate between "strategy" and "tactics". I don't know that QF management can tell the difference between the two, but there has been a longstanding problem with a lack of long term strategy - especially when it comes to fleet planning - the ordering and the retirements.

As for tactics - we have seen too many of those which seem to change every six months such as: we have no capital, our costs are too high, hub through SIN then blame the unions/workers then blame the price of fuel/low AUD/high AUD, the announcement of RedQ (red herring), LCC's affecting yields then to share buyback, shut the airline down due to safety concerns followed by blame the competition followed by hub though DXB / the 65% line in the sand/ too much capacity / its the QF sales act then maybe we need a debt garantee. Too many "cargo cult mentality" saviours invoked - once the PE takeover/A380/RedQ/B787/EK deal arrive then things will improve. They change their tactics more often that the QP menu! Its bad PR, bad communication skills and certainly implies a pannicky and reactionary management style.

 

[SQ421]

What's the logic behind not starting the A330 hard product upgrade till later in the year?

If giving competition a 12 month head start on the new product wasn't bad enough, now Qantas will spend better part of 2014 talking about this product that is "coming soon".

Wouldn't surprise me if, in the meanwhile, VA puts an A330 in service operating its own new product timed to take the skies a week or three before Qantas' big reveal! They do have 2x A330s (the ex EK ones) ripe for a product refurb!

 

[ajw373]

What's the logic behind not starting the A330 hard product upgrade till later in the year?

Aircraft are not like your lounge room at home where if you want a new lounge you can just go buy a new one, remove the old and install.

There are regulatory approvals required, manufaturing lead times (common with a new lounge might I add), then you need to find time to schedule the upgrades in an orderly manner.

 

[SQ421]

Aircraft are not like your lounge room at home where if you want a new lounge you can just go buy a new one, remove the old and install.

There are regulatory approvals required, manufaturing lead times (common with a new lounge might I add), then you need to find time to schedule the upgrades in an orderly manner.

Yeah, quite aware that they can't just go out, buy a seat and plonk it in the aircraft.

However, other airlines manage to have a short turnaround between unveiling a product and having it flying. SQ's recent upgrade was unveiled in June '13 was on planes starting September (albeit only factory fresh ones). Cathay Pacific announced its Cirrus product sometime in June 2010 and was operational in March 2011.

 

[ajw373]

Yeah, quite aware that they can't just go out, buy a seat and plonk it in the aircraft.

However, other airlines manage to have a short turnaround between unveiling a product and having it flying. SQ's recent upgrade was unveiled in June '13 was on planes starting September (albeit only factory fresh ones). Cathay Pacific announced its Cirrus product sometime in June 2010 and was operational in March 2011.

The key word being unveiling. You have no idea how long beofre an unveiling that they had been working on getting the product out there. Maybe in the case of Qantas they unveiled early for what ever reason.

 

[Isochronous]

The key word being unveiling. You have no idea how long beofre an unveiling that they had been working on getting the product out there. Maybe in the case of Qantas they unveiled early for what ever reason.

Because the backlash against the A332 J cabin was so severe!

 

[TomVexille]

Because the backlash against the A332 J cabin was so severe!

Most likely the reason.

 

[moa999]

Once the A330 refresh is complete and if 787-9s are ordered to replace the older 747s from say 2017, then I suspect they will start looking at the A380 product again