Qantas doesn't care about priority boarding

[moa999]

I'd think the worst would have to be Gates 8-15 at SYD in the circular part at the end.
Not enough seats and limited queuing space so people coming from both directions.

Easier at gates in the side section where you typically have a dedicated seating section for each gate.

 

[kermatu]

Zero evidence of priority boarding in Canberra the other morning. One long line, no signage. Call from the J lounge was early so I assumed it was a signal of better enforcement and the new process, but nope.

 

[nerdag]

CBR a smidgen better. PB called before general, but both queues operational about 30s after PB started.

Sydney on the other hand no improvement so far. Agree gates 8-15 are difficult due to layout

 

[SeatBackForward]

Sydney on the other hand no improvement so far. Agree gates 8-15 are difficult due to layout

Unwillingness of QF to take this seriously.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Danger]

While things seemed to have somewhat improved, I can't believe how much trouble Qantas is still having in getting this right. Is it just that the staff don't care, or have they not been trained properly?

And remember they had people from corporate or elsewhere higher up deployed in Sydney (if not other ports) to ensure a smooth implementation of this revolutionary new approach yet still can't get it right.

I know how difficult it was to communicate a desired change of process to 100 staff on my team in 3 disparate locations in three timezones in a normal 8-5 scenario in a previous life.

I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to implement & monitor a change across 29,000+ staff in maybe a 100 locations in many different timezones working odd shifts in a 24/7 environment with any degree of success in a 1-2 week timeframe.

But Qantas's obfuscation of the oneworld rules has seen this elite benefit that's been around sine BA introduced Club World only implemented at, what, seven ports, not 100. And the staff involved couldn't be more than a few hundred. Regardless ...

Train? What sort of training do you think they would get for something like this?

I'd expect a memo, and a manual update. That's about it.

Absolutely. Qantas seems to have this idea that it's suddenly discovered some kind of revolutionary way to implement a long-established benefit when countless other airlines have been doing, largely without issue, for years. To my mind, this line of thinking aligns with the recent 'test' flights to New York and London. It's not revolutionary, yet Qantas seems to be expecting front page headlines that they've broken records or invented the future of flying.

 

[drron]

Well I didn't think it would happen but PB worked at MCY early Thursday morning apart from 3 from the general line who darted across in front of thus.The FA only made a comment to one of them so possibly the other 2 were allowed to be in the priority crew.

Also just a comment on our FJ flight yesterday.Even they made PB work and once aboard there was the announcement of storing your bags in the overhead with-'if you are having trouble doing so our crew are here to help."

 

[Port Power]

PB worked both in Sydney and Melbourne today. I went down early in SYD and couldn’t believe the number of folk queuing in the priority lane. As mentioned earlier, there are many more Gold and Platinum F/F on that route. We were all boarded first and some were moved to the side at the scanner when found they shouldn’t be in that queue. Same thing in MEL for Perth flight. Duel air bridges and PB according to new rules.

 

[CorvettePete]

PB has been a bugbear of mine for ages. I had a quick trip from CBR to MEL over the last couple of days. The CBR boarding was a debacle. They had 2 queues jammed between the 2 stations where they scan the boarding pass with neither being priority. The people who were looking for general boarding were confused because the sign pointed to the side where there was no queue at all. The guy scanning on what should have been the general boarding seemed more interested in showing that he could scan phones from about 6 feet if passengers held them in the air. There were none of the large premium/general boarding signs anywhere, just A4 sized signs stuck to the front of the boarding station that would not have been visible if there was a queue.

In contrast, in MEL they had 2 queues working well and the lady on the premium queue to the time to welcome me by name and thank me for my continued loyalty as this "kept her in a job" so she appreciated it. They also were boarding this plane from the front and the rear which seemed to speed things up a lot.

Perhaps MEL could send someone up to CBR to give them a bit of training.

 

[jakeseven7]

PB has been a bugbear of mine for ages. I had a quick trip from CBR to MEL over the last couple of days. The CBR boarding was a debacle. They had 2 queues jammed between the 2 stations where they scan the boarding pass with neither being priority. The people who were looking for general boarding were confused because the sign pointed to the side where there was no queue at all. The guy scanning on what should have been the general boarding seemed more interested in showing that he could scan phones from about 6 feet if passengers held them in the air. There were none of the large premium/general boarding signs anywhere, just A4 sized signs stuck to the front of the boarding station that would not have been visible if there was a queue.

In contrast, in MEL they had 2 queues working well and the lady on the premium queue to the time to welcome me by name and thank me for my continued loyalty as this "kept her in a job" so she appreciated it. They also were boarding this plane from the front and the rear which seemed to speed things up a lot.

Perhaps MEL could send someone up to CBR to give them a bit of training.

Did Qantas reply to your feedback on CBR??

I agree - CBR is really slack, just had a MEL-CBR-MEL run.

Melbourne - text book perfect. Dragons turning people away. Brilliant.

Canberra - just a mess. Both scanners processing at the same time - still!?

And yes - I have fired off a congrats form for Melbourne and a seperate complaint one for Canberra. I noted all names as well so they can directly target the naughty ones.

 

[jakeseven7]

Does anyone know if QFLink turbo prop flights out of Melbourne do PB? Last time I fly they didn't at all, no signs etc.

 

[jakeseven7]

CBR a smidgen better. PB called before general, but both queues operational about 30s after PB started.

Sydney on the other hand no improvement so far. Agree gates 8-15 are difficult due to layout

I just shot a complaint email off about Canberra, hopefully you do as well and they have a sniff around what is happening in our nations capital!!!

 

[justinbrett]

Does anyone know if QFLink turbo prop flights out of Melbourne do PB? Last time I fly they didn't at all, no signs etc.

I don’t know about MEL, but they don’t in BNE. The QLK gates only have one scanner. Pretty sure the new PB procedure only applies to mainline.

 

[nerdag]

Does anyone know if QFLink turbo prop flights out of Melbourne do PB? Last time I fly they didn't at all, no signs etc.

Doesn't in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide of Canberra, or any of the regional airports I've departed from. The Dash 8 is too small for it to make much difference.

 

[funkyr]

Another Syd-Mel yesterday. Both priority and non priority boarded at the same time. Thats 3 domestic flights within the last 2 weeks this has happened.

 

[jakeseven7]

Another Syd-Mel yesterday. Both priority and non priority boarded at the same time. Thats 3 domestic flights within the last 2 weeks this has happened.

Has Qantas responded to you?

 

[rsepsot]

I feel the pain. It is quite frustrating to watch non PB passengers go first than PB passengers. It happens more often than not.

 

[bablong]

Total fail today in Canberra for QF833. I purposefully lined up early (second in PB line). A general call was made. No policing or even any care. Different to my experience in Perth and Melbourne. Seems odd to me as I am sure the crew on this flight are the same crew from Melbourne yesterday (I could be wrong) and if that’s the case, it’s pick and choose. I own a small to medium sized business and if any of my employees failed to follow a reasonable client service direction, they would immediately be under performance management.

 

[kookaburra75]

QF809 this morning from Canberra. Priority Boarding worked as it should. Came down from the lounge when called, they were holding everyone back and just scanning the WP's etc. I've sent in my feedback. I'll see how it goes tonight on the flight back from Melbourne

 

[jakeseven7]

Couple of data points: MEL-BNE-MEL yesterday.

Happy to report both MEL and BNE executed textbook premium boarding. I have sent positive feedback to Qantas via the form for both flights separately and taking the lead from others I named names of gate staff who did it well.

MEL seem to be the stand out in terms of compliance with the new system.

I hope the people running into issues in Canberra are reporting it and not just venting on here to absolutely zero effect. I have a template email I've created if people want! It will be quicker to email Qantas than write on here

 

[Rangalad]

Did Qantas reply to your feedback on CBR??

I agree - CBR is really slack, just had a MEL-CBR-MEL run.

Melbourne - text book perfect. Dragons turning people away. Brilliant.

Canberra - just a mess. Both scanners processing at the same time - still!?

And yes - I have fired off a congrats form for Melbourne and a seperate complaint one for Canberra. I noted all names as well so they can directly target the naughty ones.

QF was advertising for ground staff at CBR airport. Hopefully they’ll train PB.