Hi Platy, I can tell you're not a happy camper. I don't dispute what you are saying about a reduction in servicing some routes, and without a thorough analysis at my fingertips of the routing/schedules etc... I accept that what you're saying is true. However, the world of aviation is at a crossroad. We need to fly to get around this wonderful country of ours, and it may be that the only way to do that is LCC way. Jetstar is still growing domestically, and Q will reduce capacity, but not service standards. The key markets for Q are business between BNE,SYD, MEL. Not the routes you mention. Unfortunately if you're doing business in CNS, then you just have to accept that it is not a major business centre in the global sense and will be serviced according to how profitable the route is. By niche, I mean the most profitable corner of the market - if it happens to be high volume as well, then all the better. They are not mutually exclusive terms I believe.
Q has to raise fares( sometimes to ridiculous levels) to remain profitable on routes that aren't profitable, it's that simple. You can't have everything, you still have choice, between business class on Q or the J* experience. I never said it would be the perfect choice. I would suggest you might need to get a global perspective on this issue, and I can tell you now that SQ have just introduced the all business class service between SIN- LAX, SIN - Newark, so things are changing.
I agree that if the service isn't there, as a consumer you have every right to complain. And complain you should. However, I think if you're flying out of GC/Hamilton Is, these are generally tourist destinations as far as airlines are concerned and you may not get the service standard you would like because of that, that's just the way it is.
As for VB, they won't crack the business/premium market in a significant way - they just don't offer what Q does, and they can't without eroding their cost base until they're broke.
It's all changing, that's all I can say, and I can tell you the AGM was heated and there are lots of issues for Mr Joyce out there. I think he'll listen more than GD did and that's a good start. I don't agree with your prediction that QF service levels will drop on the key business routes, in fact they will increase, however, those not on that track will inevitably be serviced according to the best cost efficiency that can be achieved. It's a business, and at the end of the day, it's a balancing act that will never make everyone happy. The relationship between price and value is very subjective for each individual.
Do we want a profitable national airline, that makes a significant contribution to the economy on many levels, or do we want to have the American experience? Airlines going broke, jobs gone forever. Personally I think we're very lucky to have Q, J* & VB in a country this small and isolated. I don't think you can judge Q too harshly at the moment - the aviation industry is in freefall - and most airlines around the world are just trying to stay in the air. I hope Q survives and I'll do my bit to help our national airline, whatever shape it takes. As I've said before Joyce is a totally different kettle of fish to Dixon, there's a new management team coming in, so let's see what happens.
Thanks once again for the input,
SusanS, (and please don't worry, I'm actually quite happy, just fascinated by all of the machinations of the industry - I also will politely complain if I sense the need, but also readily proffer glowing feedback when warranted)
There is a lot of sense in your points of view. It is, however, a little troubling that the QF Group PR machine is winning the battle to convince people that the LCC model is the only way to go for many (most domestic?) sectors and certain towns/cities are only viably considered as "holiday' destinations. The real advantage to the Qf Group of developing the Deathstar starfleet was the opportunity to reset salary levels.
As mentioned in my reply to
Comint, the SYD-OOL route is one of the most frequented in Australia, but the QF Group has defined the Gold Coast as a "holiday" destination and has little interest in the many business folk and premium end holiday customers who need/wish to fly the sector. There is a viable market there, it's just QF Group has decided not to bother with it.
Business and commerce (and high end tourism) do occur in places outside SYD, MEL and ADL!!! Routes across northern Australia have been curtailed despite the resources boom. For example, on other posts you will see folk complaining of it being very hard to get flights in/out DRW at certain times of the year.
As far as your supply/demand pricing assumptions are concerned for domestic J, I do not believe that QF has their yield management maximised on some of the routes I have travelled frequently. This topic has been explored previously in other threads (and you will see that other posters don't necessarily agree with my point of view of this), suffice to say QF would not be flying aircraft with empty seats, or seats frequented by subload staff, if they had their pricing model, upgrade availabilities etc correct. It is simply easier for QF to curtail the product availability than tweak the product to improve value for customer and return for airline. You certainly don't create profitability by blindly raising fares!
I have no reason to suppose the QF group will indeed improve premium product service levels. Seven years of recent history since the demise of competition (Ansett) argues that they are firmly in the mindset of gentle and almost imperceptable erosion of product/service in an effort to accrue a creeping profit margin.
As far as "national' airline is concerned obviously QF wants an each way bet. It is happy to accept the support of national government in protecting its international routes, but not interested in supporting the local communities it deems to represent unprofitable locales. It wants to be seen as quintessentially Australian, but increasingly seeks to employ non-Australian staff. It will happily take a state government subsidy (the upcoming Deathstar OOL-CNS route) despite previously failing to enter dialogue with local tourism and business people in support of the outgoing QF SYD-CNS-NRT and BNE-CNS-NRT routes. If QF falls over, so be it, another operator will fill the void. Asserting that QF deserves some favour as a "national" airline is increasingly hard to justify.
Yes, you are right, we will just have to see what the dwarf conjures from his hat! The bulldog is gone with $20 million reasons to grin ($12 million package and a nice little $8 million super top up) and a very very lucky escape when the private equity deal fell over.
Hopefully your expectations of some Irish magic will prevail!
