Qantas workers prepare to strike

[Yada Yada]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

There's a report in the Australian about how the safety image of Qantas will be hurt by shifting the maintenance overseas. See http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18281420%5E2702,00.html

QANTAS'S reputation for safety could take a battering if it defies popular opinion and moves at least 2500 heavy maintenance jobs overseas, a survey has found.

With the airline poised to announce a decision on its long-haul maintenance work as early as this week, the threat of industrial action has been heightened by what unions say is a surprising degree of support for a campaign to keep the work at home.

Several federal ministers and the federal Opposition have urged the airline to keep the work in Australia after the Howard Government's decision last week to protect Qantas from competition from Singapore Airlines on its lucrative US routes.

Thanks OzMark. Interesting article. I've been wondering how much could be pushed offshore before it began to hurt their image. For me, foreign cabin crews was a bad move in terms of image. With maintenance I suspect it will news for a while but then quietly die. Unless of course there is an incident directly attributable to an error in maintenance. I imagine they'd keep that pretty quiet!

They have obviously done their sums, but I was also wondering how the 763's doing the SYD-MEL run could be sent to China economically for maintenance.

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

Thanks OzMark. Interesting article. I've been wondering how much could be pushed offshore before it began to hurt their image. For me, foreign cabin crews was a bad move in terms of image. With maintenance I suspect it will news for a while but then quietly die. Unless of course there is an incident directly attributable to an error in maintenance. I

I dunno. I can't see why people would be that bothered where their staff are, especially in areas such as cabin crew. To me, it just made perfect sense to base some staff in London for example, rather than paying out for overnight costs unnecessarily

Dave

 

[Yada Yada]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

I dunno. I can't see why people would be that bothered where their staff are, especially in areas such as cabin crew. To me, it just made perfect sense to base some staff in London for example, rather than paying out for overnight costs unnecessarily

Dave, I agree - I am not bothered about where the crew are located. I am sure it makes a lot of sense to have crew based in London or whatever.

My thinking is this - most airlines have similar planes, cabins, food, etc. IMO, what most differentiates one airline from another is the crew. When I fly SQ, it is a little taste of Singapore. When I fly TG, it is a little taste of Thailand. I really like that. I won't comment about AA, US, DL etc. :x

QF sells itself on being the "spirit of Australia". In my opinion, being Australian is more than just a paint job on the hull. After spending time overseas, I love to get on board a QF plane because it feels like home. However if the crew is born and bred in London then for me it just becomes a toss up - who has the better price, schedule, terminal location etc.

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

QF sells itself on being the "spirit of Australia". In my opinion, being Australian is more than just a paint job on the hull. After spending time overseas, I love to get on board a QF plane because it feels like home. However if the crew is born and bred in London then for me it just becomes a toss up - who has the better price, schedule, terminal location etc.

I get on board an plane and that's what it feels like; whether it is BA, QF et al makes no difference as long as it's an airline with decent quality. The differentiator between BA and QF to me , is the ability to pre-select exit row seats on QF and is what tends me towards them on London runs together with their daytime service to London from Asia

Dave

 

[NM]

And just who is to blame for QF's desire to push jobs off-shore?

• We travellers who insist on paying lower fares. The drive by the punters to have increased competition to lower fares has to result in the operators trying to find ways to lower their costs so they remain profitable as fares drop
• The employees who insist on retaining old working conditions and are unwilling to move towards more efficient practices, resulting in the need to employ larger numbers of high-cost staff
• The availability of labour resources in countries where the labour costs are lower and the work practices less restrictive

I am not making comment on the quality of the work undertaken locally or off-shore, just on the factors behind the perceived need to off-shore work functions.

Replacing senior management is not going to make any difference. Although the current senior management may be perceived to be very highly paid, replacing them with people of equal or better competence will require similar renumeration packages to attract the right people to the job.

 

[Yada Yada]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

I get on board an plane and that's what it feels like; whether it is BA, QF et al makes no difference as long as it's an airline with decent quality. The differentiator between BA and QF to me , is the ability to pre-select exit row seats on QF and is what tends me towards them on London runs together with their daytime service to London from Asia

Fair enough. Perhaps most pax think this way too. Personally, I feel it is another step down the road to commoditisation, but as JQ grows and QF shrinks I guess the management has already accepted that.

 

[bigjobs]

i think that as Qantas has been given a huge break by the government in the decision to protect their most profitable route to the USA there will be a view that Qantas might want to be a little bit more considerate when making this decision.

i think they will not bother with considering that, i just think that would be a fair view for people to have. especially since there is a free trade agreement with Singapore which has been effectively devalued by this decision.

 

[JohnK]

Re: Qantas shift hurts safety image: poll

QF sells itself on being the "spirit of Australia". In my opinion, being Australian is more than just a paint job on the hull. After spending time overseas, I love to get on board a QF plane because it feels like home. However if the crew is born and bred in London then for me it just becomes a toss up - who has the better price, schedule, terminal location etc.

I agree with you Peter. After spending time overseas and I step on that QF plane I feel like I am home especially being reunited with the good old Australian accent. Replace the crews with foreign workers and it would not be the same.

 

[shillard]

Shillard

What make you assume that it will be MEN who maintain the planes? - bloody sexist

Women? Working on planes?

Give us a break, mate. Next you'll be suggesting they should have the vote.

 

[straitman]

Shillard

What make you assume that it will be MEN who maintain the planes? - bloody sexist

Women? Working on planes?

Give us a break, mate. Next you'll be suggesting they should have the vote.

Calm down shillard, calm down :!: :!: :!:

 

[shillard]

Agree with what you say but can't help thinking how Chinese products are cheap and inferior. Doesn't matter what you buy, whether it be clothes, appliances, household equipment, spare parts etc there is no quality, they do not last.

Load of bollocks.

Sure, their missiles don't work (but if their fighters build up to ramming speed, they can use that old Greek Galley technique to bring down the odd EP-3), but the Chinese are pretty damn good at building gear.

Try buying a new Olympus Digital SLR, a Chinese-made Kalishnikov knock-off, even some clothing I've got that was made in China is great stuff.

It doesn't really matter if the bloke who presses "go" on the production line is in Nagoya or outside Beijing.

 

[BlacKnox]

Qantas staff to strike

01-03-2006
From: AAP
http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,10166,18311234-31037,00.html

HUNDREDS of Qantas maintenance staff will stop work today to protest at Sydney Airport over the airline's plan to send their jobs offshore.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), which represents the workers, said the employees would stop work for about two hours today between about 12.30pm AEDT and 1430 AEDT.

They will march from the jet base on Qantas Drive to Sydney Airport's Qantas terminal to inform passengers about the dangers of outsourcing.

The workers are angry about a possible plan by Qantas (qan.ASX:Quote,News) to shift thousands of maintenance jobs offshore to Indonesia, China or New Zealand to cut costs.

The airline is expected to make a decision in coming weeks on the move.

AMWU national secretary Doug Cameron said the flying public needed to be aware of what the company was considering.

"Qantas has an unrivalled safety record because its Australian maintenance and engineering staff are the best in the world," Mr Cameron said.

"The work that Qantas is threatening to outsource is the most intensive and most important maintenance work."

Comment was being sought from Qantas.

 

[shillard]

A two hour strike?

That will put the maintenance schedule back by at least 15 minutes....

 

[straitman]

A two hour strike?

That will put the maintenance schedule back by at least 15 minutes....

My you are generous today :!:

 

[straitman]

Oops :!:

Double post. ----- One way to increase the post count

 

[Yada Yada]

Here is the follow up story:

Qantas maintenance workers stage protest
March 1, 2006 - 3:55PM

Qantas will suffer in the public eye if it pushes ahead with a plan to send up to 2,500 jobs offshore, unions say, as they prepare for a campaign of industrial action against the airline.

Hundreds of Qantas maintenance workers created traffic chaos around Sydney Airport as they marched from the Qantas jet base on Qantas Drive to the domestic terminal to inform passengers about the dangers of outsourcing.

More...