Thread: Qantas, your thoughts

Hi Guys,

A close friend who works for Qantas recently mentioned to me that the incidents occurring recently are at the same frequency as they have always been, and that now the media reports it after they had a couple of hiccups in close succession some time back.

Personally, prefer Virgin over Qantas for reasons I wont go into but I will say it has nothing to do with the reliability or performance of their fleet.

As for the $29 flights, the close friend also said that for instance, if all the business class seats are sold at full fare and "X" (can't remember soz) amount of freight on a domestic run, that flight would come close to breaking even.

Not really sure if this was the case as we once chartered a BAE146 for work and the 1.5 hr flight both ways and turn around time plus hosties cost 14k. Mind you this was organized at pretty short notice and on a weekend so possibly the costs were a bit higher?

for the work i do and the industry i'm in I fly them alot, both domestic and international.
Media is just reporting every service item the have, it would be the same headline for a land rover fleet.

as mentioaned above, one of the few fleet and crews that could land a 747, with a sudden hole in the side and 40000ft, if that was some other airlines that would have been 350 pax dead.

they don't take the risk regardless of were they are in the flight sequance, if theres a problem, they abort and keep it on the ground.

Just a media beat up over trivia! (in aviation terms)

Originally Posted by garrycol

From my experience in aviation I would say that there is nothing to worry about - seems fairly routine. Aircraft are machines and like all machines develop issues. Ideally the maintenance programs detect major issues before they develop and how the airline deals with them.

I would rather turn around or not take off as a precaution rather than push on.

Garry

Bingo.

I CHOOSE to fly Virgin because the girls are better looking....


















I'm not joking!

Seriously though, I used to fly Qantas all the time.. and I'm in a commercial plane almost every week for work. I got on a virgin plane when a Qantas one wasnt available and after some initial adjustment I've come to love the way they are nearly ALWAYS on time.

Upon reflection I guess if they find a problem on the tarmac and refuse to take off until it's sorted then I should be glad but when it happens (and it happens to me too often considering I don't fly much) it really makes me angry.

Flew to Melbourne for a mate's wedding and my flight got cancelled. I had treated myself to an exxy hotel too, finally arrived 4pm the next day. God I was disappointed and angry. I paid them to do a job and they didn't do it, that simple. I was one of the lucky ones, a mate I was travelling with was gold status and we got one on the first flight.

And then there's the cabin crew. I've had excellent service from Qantas cabin crew and you always remember it because it so different to what you normally get. Someone told me it is a Perth thing because Perth to Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney is a desired leg so you get attendants with seniority. I'm sure they will be efficient if the plane falls out of the sky but all other times they are just rude, and you coud swera it was deliberate.

I respect Qantas, grudgingly, but I don't like it.

Until a couple of years ago ( a bit less) I basically lived out of a suitcase, only ate at hotels and slept on airplanes. New passport every 18 months because that’s how quick it filled up.

Qantas was and is an airline ( internationally) to be avoided, stupidly old aircraft and just as old and lazy cabin crew. And international embarrassment for Australia

"We always respond conservatively to any mechanical or performance issue, and we always put safety before schedule".

It is a good reasurance, I hope that thinks will be for the best in the future.
I have asked your thoughts about it because apart from Air France and couple of american companies no other company was bashed by the media like Quantas