QF to defer A380/738 and slash 1750 jobs

[ANstar]

http://asx.com.au/asxpdf/20090414/pd...dbxm9rgp7v.pdf

500 Management jobs to go
1250 FTE jobs to be cut
5% reduction in capacity - Routes to be affected will be UK/US and South Africa
Around 10 aircraft grounded (744/767)
4 x A380's to be deferred
12 x 738's to be deferred

Profit downgrade to around $100M-$200M for Full year

 

[NM]

Qantas has announced a profit downgrade that will lead to job and route cuts

A similar and related story:

From news.com.au:

Qantas will cut 500 management positions, and says 1250 more full time positions will be affected, as it downgrades profit from $500 million to $100 million - $200 million.

Qantas has flagged further jobs cuts, capacity reduction and downgraded its annual profit forecast due to rapidly deteriorating trading conditions.

The carrier said it would remove an additional 500 management positions and said "up to 1250 equivalent full time positions will be affected in addition to the management reductions being made''.

 

[NM]

4 x A380's to be deferred

It would be interesting to know the terms of this deferral, given that Airbus is reported to have provided significant compensation to QF (and other customers) for the original delayed deliveries.

 

[Evan]

Which A380's ? i guess it wont be 4,5,6 and maybe 7 since i think they are all built and getting ready. But you would imagine after that.
And with 4 x A380 potentially still joining in 2009 i would expect then to also ground some of the older 744's

E

 

[Reggie]

I'm sorry for the people who will lose their jobs, and those whom will have their hours reduced. However I feel that Qantas have themselves to blame. I have been a loyal Qantas customer since the dimise of Ansett. I will always fly with them when possible. The only times I haven't is when they dont fly the route, ie Jetstar versus Virgin, and then I take the best deal and times.

I have a trip planned to CDG in J for late July, and have been keeping an eye on pricing for the last 2 months. Last week I booked and ticketed my flights on Singapore Air for around $6.5K, some $4K cheaper than Qantas, and the latter wonders why they are loosing customers !!!!!

Loyalty and QFF only goes so far. I have been caught in PER airport for 13 hours due to a delayed PER-MEL, numerous other delays, lost baggage, poor service (bordering on bad service), for someone who generally always travels in QF J, and accumulated some 14K in SC's in the last 4 years.

 

[Flashback]

I wonder whether that reduction on the UK/US routes will then cause the price to rise again due to "less availability" and in turn "more demand for fewer seats"?

 

[anat0l]

Here's just to hoping that Qantas doesn't follow suit of Ansett.

Not because I'm completely enamoured with the airline, although I would kiss a decent number of points goodbye. FWIW in the world they are doing fine (customer service wise) by me.

 

[ANstar]

I wonder whether that reduction on the UK/US routes will then cause the price to rise again due to "less availability" and in turn "more demand for fewer seats"?

Perhaps just an official extension of the reducitons they have already been making on London/Hong Kong services etc?

Ie MEL-HKG-LHR and BNE-LAX etc

 

[Evan]

I would presume it must be HKG or BKK Kangaroo routes since the SIN ones seem to be holding up really well and are consistantly more or less full even mid week.
E

 

[Evan]

It would be interesting to know the terms of this deferral, given that Airbus is reported to have provided significant compensation to QF (and other customers) for the original delayed deliveries.

I would presume its ones due in 2010 and after, the ones in 2009 are already being built or outfitted so i think these would have to be firm. But then again maybe they are just being finished at a slower rate.
Its hard to know what airbus are feeling right now, if they were useing lots of overtime to meet the schedule then a reduction may also help them somewhat.
Bit sad about the 738's, i would have thought they may have said lets get all our domestic fleet to 738 maybe... but i guess some of the 734's are only new as well.

E

 

[Yada Yada]

I wonder whether that reduction on the UK/US routes will then cause the price to rise again due to "less availability" and in turn "more demand for fewer seats"?

With VA now in the air, QF's ability to gouge customers flying between Australia and the USA is now severely limited. They get no sympathy from me. They made plenty of hay while the sun shined. :-|

 

[Yada Yada]

Around 10 aircraft grounded (744/767)
4 x A380's to be deferred
12 x 738's to be deferred

Profit downgrade to around $100M-$200M for Full year

smh.com.au is reporting that "Qantas... is also in discussions with Boeing to delay the delivery of the first batch of its 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

That may annoy some QF stalwarts if JQ pax are flying around in 787's for even longer before QF get them.

 

[ANstar]

Perhaps they will just cancel the 787-8 order and stay with the -9 model

 

[oz_mark]

Which A380's ? i guess it wont be 4,5,6 and maybe 7 since i think they are all built and getting ready. But you would imagine after that.
And with 4 x A380 potentially still joining in 2009 i would expect then to also ground some of the older 744's

E

According to this source (Airbus A380 Production) it is MSN055, MSN062, MSN067 and MSN070.

 

[futaris]

Which are 2010-Q2, 2010-Q3, 2010-Q3 and 2010-Q4 deliveries, according to this wiki.

 

[oz_mark]

Which are 2010-Q2, 2010-Q3, 2010-Q3 and 2010-Q4 deliveries, according to this wiki.

Cheers I couldn't find that when I posted! Looks like deliveries 9 through 12 are to be pushed back.

 

[Evan]

Makes sense, 8 A380's in the fleet by then so a reasonable about of flexability and the oldest 744's gone. Probably they had issues getting decent rates for funding them as well. Wonder if BA derfer any or bring theres forward.

 

[MelUser]

When will we know what routes are going?

Airlines are quick to advertise new routes but ones that go just disappear from the timetable!

 

[wtolmie]

With VA now in the air, QF's ability to gouge customers flying between Australia and the USA is now severely limited. They get no sympathy from me. They made plenty of hay while the sun shined. :-|

Also dont forget Delta starts flying to Australia in June / July..

 

[Evan]

Also dont forget Delta starts flying to Australia in June / July..

Its not going to be pretty, i guess QF are in 2 minds, do they keep market share and loose $$ doing it or just drop the frequency now, still probably loose some dollars, let the others also loose some $$ and then when it starts to come good re-try to take some market share, or just keep bleeding money and flying empty planes.

E