Drunken Qantas hostie 'causes mass evacuation'

[Dave Noble]

A drunken Qantas flight attendant reportedly caused 200 hotel guests to be evacuated after smashing an alarm during a recent stopover in Queenstown.

New Zealand newspapers have reported that a female flight attendant smashed an interior alarm point at the Crowne Plaza after a night out, causing a false alarm and forcing hotel guests into the street in the middle of the night.

Full article at Drunken Qantas hostie 'causes mass evacuation' - News - Travel - smh.com.au

Dave

 

[Travel Guru]

Does the SMH have a permanent QF journalist team tracking QF related stories 24/7 does it???

What a joke, that's not news, that sort of thing belongs in a gossip magazine.

SMH Journalists should be embarrassed to report on those sort of stories.

TG

 

[Dave Noble]

Is there a point where people may consider the articles rather than attack the journalists for writing them

The information was originally published in the New Zealand Herald on saturday ( see Boozy air hostess' fire alarm costs $1500 - 10 Aug 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news )

Why should they not report about QF staff member allegedly being charged $1500 for setting off fire alarms at a hotel when there as crewmember

Dave

 

[Travel Guru]

The fact remains though Dave that had it not been a QF hostie, they probably wouldn't have even bothered reporting on it, but because it was a QF employee and because SMH seems to be on a QF witchhunt lately, it gets reported.

TG

 

[Maca44]

If it didn't happen in the air, I don't care.

 

[International Lady]

With 5400 flights a week (incl Jetstar and QantasLink), I'm sure SMH are sure to keep finding major catastrophe's like aborted take offs (??!!) and other not so news worthy articles to print.

Could it be that this hostie was actually from JetConnect?

 

[Dave Noble]

The fact remains though Dave that had it not been a QF hostie, they probably wouldn't have even bothered reporting on it, but because it was a QF employee and because SMH seems to be on a QF witchhunt lately, it gets reported.

TG

I disagree. If it had been either a DJ or JQ flight attendant or had occurred in Australia, I expect that it would have been reported here

It does seem that the new popular activity on AFF is to attack the news reporters than consider the news reports.

Dave

 

[Mal]

Hmm. The only thing I find newsworthy in that article (and the many others around the same topic) is that a FA refused a breathalyser test ordered by a pilot and got sacked.

Everything else is gossip material, mud raking, gutter munching etc.

The only reason the media is bashed so much at AFF at the moment is because they deserve it. If they stuck to the facts, ignored the petty incidents and concentrated on real issues, then they would gain a lot of respect.

Wonder when we will get the news article about a News Ltd/ Fairfax employee drinking too much at a party and throwing up all over a hallway and their room causing a hotel a huge cleaning bill and News Ltd/Fairfax being banned from that hotel.

Will we see it? Nah. Not news worthy

 

[thegurio]

I agree... Your trying to tell me no other employee gets shedfaced and does silly thing, i think not. I mean seriously, that isnt news, its hopping on the bandwagon and that would make me think that there will be something happening soon regarding QF behind the scenes that will make it easier to do with all this bad publicity.

 

[dajop]

My initial reaction was that's not news. But upon reflection, it is an entirely newsworthy article. Many of you suffer the misapprehension that news = reporting of relevant facts. Load of rubbish. News has nothing to do with relevance and nothing to do with facts. News = entertainment. Pure and simple.

News = selling newspapers and getting TV ratings.

Now if it had been a BHP miner, a coles checkout person, a Toll truck driver, a Telstra operator. Forget it - not going to sell papers.

Qantas or Virgin Blue FA, actor - may attract some interest - so published.

AFL or NRL footballer, cricketer, swimmer - front pages news & talkback radio for days.

 

[Travel Guru]

I agree... Your trying to tell me no other employee gets shedfaced and does silly thing, i think not. I mean seriously, that isnt news, its hopping on the bandwagon and that would make me think that there will be something happening soon regarding QF behind the scenes that will make it easier to do with all this bad publicity.

Perhaps a SMH reporter should attend a Flight Centre awards night next time its on, from memory there were far more than 1 shed faced indivudials and they usually do alot worse than setting off a fire alarm at a hotel.

TG

 

[NM]

More to the point is the unanswered question about whether she received Priority Club points for the $1500 charge??

 

[ColinP]

More to the point is the unanswered question about whether she received Priority Club points for the $1500 charge??

LOL, but I suspect that the bulk of that money was billed by the fire dept. They don't usually have loyalty programs. Can you imagine the conflagration if they did? :shock:

 

[Mal]

More to the point is the unanswered question about whether she received Priority Club points for the $1500 charge??

I presume she was on a crew rate - so no points, plus the T&C's seem to imply if you or I did it that we may or may not get points:

"Eligible Charges Worldwide also include food and beverage, telephone, laundry, and in-room movies charged to the member's room. Hotels may choose to award points for other charges at their discretion."

Can't say I want to try it out

 

[NM]

LOL, but I suspect that the bulk of that money was billed by the fire dept. They don't usually have loyalty programs. Can you imagine the conflagration if they did? :shock:

I expect the fire dept would bill the owner of the alarm (Crowne Plaza Hotel in this case) and its up to the hotel to determine if and how it can recover the costs from the culprit. Would be interesting to see how the charge was listed in the customer's room account .

 

[NM]

I presume she was on a crew rate - so no points, plus the T&C's seem to imply if you or I did it that we may or may not get points:

"Eligible Charges Worldwide also include food and beverage, telephone, laundry, and in-room movies charged to the member's room. Hotels may choose to award points for other charges at their discretion."

Can't say I want to try it out

nor I. PC seem to be pretty good at defining things as ineligible for points earning .

 

[Happy Dude]

The newsworthy aspect is the fact that a person, who works in an industry where safety/emergencies are taken very seriously, causes emergency services to be deployed and 200 people to be evacuated unnecessarily.

In this case, the public have an interest in how employees of an airline behave because it involves a serious breach of the standards they (the airlines) expect everyone else to maintain while on their turf.

QF were right to fire the offenders (she was on stopover not vacation, so technically "at work"), just as the journo's were right to report it in our media. It's hardly gossip.

Had the incident taken place in, say, an airport, she'd be facing a lot more than an expensive hotel bill.

 

[JohnK]

The newsworthy aspect is the fact that a person, who works in an industry where safety/emergencies are taken very seriously, causes emergency services to be deployed and 200 people to be evacuated unnecessarily.

Spot on. Being drunk is not an excuse for that sort of behaviour.

Now that she is not working she can ponder on how to behave in the future if, and that is a big IF, she gets another job as a flight attendant.

 

[Mal]

The newsworthy aspect is the fact that a person, who works in an industry where safety/emergencies are taken very seriously, causes emergency services to be deployed and 200 people to be evacuated unnecessarily.

In this case, the public have an interest in how employees of an airline behave because it involves a serious breach of the standards they (the airlines) expect everyone else to maintain while on their turf.

I don't buy this. If a Qantas staffer smokes in a hotel room, should that become news? How about 2 married FAs having an affair? Is that also news?

As I indicated earlier, the only news in that story is that a FA was stood down because they refused a breath test before flying. Now that is something relevant.

I don't care what my FA's have got up to the night before my flight - I've even joined in and had some fun with FA's over the years. There are stories there, but I don't spout them to the media, even though they are perhaps more juicy than this story.

 

[Evan]

I don't care what my FA's have got up to the night before my flight - I've even joined in and had some fun with FA's over the years. There are stories there, but I don't spout them to the media, even though they are perhaps more juicy than this story.

Love it ! also the same... i like a good party with some flight crew... and it happens a lot staying in Singapore.
I have been myself to work after only a shower and no sleep when out with BA crew a few times in SIN.
E