Longer term observers of Qantas have much to think about after Qantas international pilots today decided to campaign on the issue of keeping the airline Australian, rather than engaging in lawful strike action in support of their pay claims.
This is after all, the same high ground that every Qantas management in its post war history championed in their relations with government and consumers, until the ultimately unsuccessful private equity bid that the management team led by Margaret Jackson and Geoff Dixon urged on shareholders late in 2006.
But since that bid went down in May 2007 and Jackson, its chair, and Dixon, its CEO, were replaced by Leigh Clifford and Alan Joyce respectively, it became increasingly obvious that they also saw a brighter future in the trans border franchising of the Jetstar low cost brand, than what they see as the unsustainably high costs of supporting a full service brand.
The situation today is one in which the pilots and engineers are insisting that Qantas stay Australian, and management is damning this as being a ‘veto on change,’ which it intends to pursue by shifting as much activity offshore as possible, replacing Australian tax paying labor with employees paid according to the industrial laws of countries where Qantas sets up bases to operate into and out of Australia.
The so called ‘kamikaze’ pilot union at Qantas, as Joyce termed it, this morning announced it wouldn’t immediately strike over its unresolved EBA negotiations with the airline, and would limit its protected industrial action to making brief in flight statements, erecting roadside billboards, and running a website explaining its concerns about keeping Qantas Australian rather than moving thousand of jobs to Asian entities.
In a return salvo, Qantas deplored the intrusion on the in flight experience that the pilots would force upon its passengers, as well as attacking their demands for guarantees that only Qantas pilots would fly Qantas jets.
Both sides emphasised that at this stage it appeared that no one would find their flight grounded by strike action.
The pilots are trying to shame Qantas in advance of the foreshadowed August 24 announcement by management of a restructuring of international services, its intentions in terms of setting up an Asia based full service carrier to supplement its expansion of the low cost Jetstar franchise, and a new set of joint business agreements in which other airlines will take over services which Qantas says are unsustainable.
Qantas management in response is arguing that without change, Qantas will die, which is also what the pilots are saying, except that they are urging Qantas to get competitive with better fleet, product and network investments.
This non-strike strategy by the Australian and International Pilots Association means Qantas will probably go into the restructuring announcement with no headline grabbing strikes to point to, unless the engineers association steps up its parallel campaign.
Job losses are expected from the August 24 restructuring. The core claim of the Qantas pilots, that anything sold as a Qantas service must really be one flown by pilots trained to Qantas standards and paid according to Australian conditions, is likely to collide with the full extent of plans to replace them with cheaper, and less experienced pilots.
An AIPA member and first officer, Nathan Safe, told a press conference “The biggest wake up call we can send the current management team is to blow the whistle on their plans to strip a proud Australian icon down to its bare bones and shift operations to Asia.
“When Australians board a Qantas flight they expect a Qantas pilot to be at the controls. Our initial campaign is to focus on raising awareness that this very basic expectation is under threat.”
11 Comments
The public billboards and establishing a website are a much more sensible course of action. Making public announcements over the PA system is more likely to backfire because the pilots have very little support or empathy from the flying public.
It’s only when events such as QF32 occur that the passengers truly appreciate the crew’s skills. I support the pilots’ campaign 100%. Qantas is Australian and should stay that way. Employed by Qantas in Australia at Australian rates i QF international is not that competitive as it is managed to fail. Slowly but surely being strangled to sidestep wages and conditions of highly skilled people.
Flying High,
you and I must be discussing very different groups of people. My experience when flying and observing other passengers is that, intelligent, aware, travellers will stop everything they are doing when the Captain of the aircraft makes an announcement.
It’s an indication of respect and I suppose that Qantas management can only hope that given enough dedication and experience that they may also command the same degree of respect one day!
I fear you may be entirely correct FH. In my experience people are way too self involved to pay attention to a PA from a mere pilot and are far more concerned about paying as little for their fare as possible, while whinging incessantly that their seat pitch is terrible, the food is god damn awful and that the service has gone downhill from when they last few 15 years ago.
The reality is that Qantas had a worldwide reputation because of their safety record and that was very much driven by, and the responsibility of the EXPERIENCED pilots and engineers. Whilst the general public perceive their flight as routine as a bus ride in the sky, the reality is that perception is only driven by the focus on safety of the front line staff that has prevented any recent major airline accident resulting in large loss of life. Can that same culture be expected from the less experienced, lower paid pilots based in Asia? Have they (and will they) be trained to the same standards as expected here in Australia?
The lack of empathy and support from the public in my view stems from the mainstream media’s lack of interest in this story and a culture shift that very much focuses on price, not necessarily the quality of a product or service being provided. Tiger is a prime example of this price driven infatuation and the media being complicit in not providing as much attention as they should to the safety shortcomings of this airline.
My prediction is the pilot’s will win big concessions. The issue is very real to the average Australian: high piloting standards, even with top-end salaries and conditions are worth protecting.
The engineers are different though story though : I think they’ve come across in this debate as a bit hysterical, and unprofessional (the ‘left hand’ gimick was bizarre). Their work practices and staffing levels don’t stand up to scrutiny, and with the exception of a minority involved in line work, they are a less visible, and ultimately more expendable workgroup in a globalised aviation maintenance market.
As this is about MONEY the solution would be to pay the QANTAS INTERNATIONAL crew in US dollars the same wage paid by US airlines. With the doubling of the AUD against the USD in the last few years and all of the fixed costs being in US dollars this would stop all this endless talk about wages. Alan Joyce could get back to running QANTAS like a real airline.
If there are no more ‘Qantas pilots’ who will John Travolta be able to trust? Maybe Olivia Wirth should do the safety announcement.
I personally like the idea, that QANTAS pilots announce industrial action every time the bedraggled company spokesmodel lies to the media about the pilots claims (or in fact anything to do with QANTAS engine failures, diversions, safety related issues which are related to safety but arent a safety issue etc)
Based on this – at the rate she is going…. the pilots would be announcing industrial action every time she fronted the media!
And with a bit of luck, before long the company would realise that there is a significant expense (other than moral bankruptcy) involved in distorting the truth.
Why this discussion about Qantas, I stopped travelling with them 15 years ago and will never travel internationally with Jetstar when there are so many full service airlines that do offer excellent service, friendly staff, better frequent flier schemes and competitive prices.
As with Telstra they are still living with the attitude that we should be grateful they let us give them money.
I’m sorry but I think it is very unprofessional to use an aircraft PA system to push a union point of view. I assume the same pilots would have no problem allowing the ground crew, the cabin crew or even the air traffic controller on the other end of the radio to make announcements to the passengers about how wonderful they are and how their industrial campaign should be supported.
Two chances, none and Buckley’s, so how come they “allow” themselves the privilege? Oh, I forgot, they’re pilots!
Having flown a few times since these PAs have been made I would say the pilots are receiving quite good support.