I strongly welcome this initiative. This will make Singapore - Australia flights to receive better service.
Has there ever been a problem with crew? Consistent feedback is how pax feel ‘at home’ the moment they board.
Not a problem as such, more just a higher level of consistency when it comes to service levels from Asian based crews.
Not costing QF an arm and a leg
I flew the Finnair wetlease fairly recently - so no ‘teething issues’ or the like - and defo didn’t notice any improvement in service. The crew were slower in economy… with some issues creeping in… like leaving meal trays in front of pax for 30-40 minutes. Well after everyone had finished eating. And didn’t have the same rapport with pax. Maybe it’s because they were Finnair crew and following AY SOPs as opposed to QF?
An interesting nugget that I got from the Finnair SIN-based crew was that the QF service was apparently a lot more involved compared to the AY one (at least down the back, not sure about up the front), which is why they found the service a little clumsy at times because of the number of bits and bobs involved. That being said, I've never noticed that the service was any worse (if anything, it's often better) than when the flight was operated as QF81/82.
Well… AY service is basically LCC, Air Asia style. One tiny cardboard box main and a single alcoholic drink. Everything else has to be paid for. No choice of main in economy, one size fits all. And of course no snack runs.
If they intend to play on the Europe to Australia route in house, they need to step up the catering game if they intend to go up against the existing players. I certainly won’t have them on my if that is the standard.Well… AY service is basically LCC, Air Asia style. One tiny cardboard box main and a single alcoholic drink. Everything else has to be paid for. No choice of main in economy, one size fits all. And of course no snack runs.
But it’s little things like how to make drink… having the gin bottle in the vicinity of the cup while you pour the tonic doesn’t make a gin and tonic!
I question whether establishing a cabin crew base in Singapore is actually going to significantly lower their cost base at first glance as Singapore has a mandatory 17% contribution by the employer to the equivalent of Australia's superannuation in Singapore (known as the CPF account). In addition, salaries in Singapore are not considered low by any measure so there probably are other factors at play here with this decision.
At least to Europe, Sunrise aircraft will avoid Singapore. And can only see one slot at LHR for a consolidated SIN-LHR.
I hope they can be expanded for Hong Kong, Tokyo and Manila flights.
Other than not offering a greeting (which I would argue is consistently inconsistent for all races), what sort of "racist" behaviours are you encountering?
I welcome offshoring jobs away from Australia, in particular Australian labour laws and so called "values" are making us extremely uncompetitive and driving cost of living up so much.
