Bye, bye, Qantas

Hooray! Another political post! I swear next time I'll post kittens doing something cute.

I have flown Qantas a lot in my life. Its pretty much always been a pleasant experience, the staff a friendly and I don't want to get all soppy but there is something about flying home with them. It may have been a while since you've heard an Australian accent, and you finally feel that energy and can read Australian newspapers and see Australian news and I would be lying if I told you I'd never teared up at that stupid video with the kids singing (and by never I mean every single time, and by tear up I mean cry like a baby).

I am flying home for a wedding mid-November, I have exactly a week, I leave Friday evening and get back Sunday. I work as a nanny so when I need time off the baby's parents need to take time off or fine other arrangements for her, its not something I can just call in sick on or change on a whim. Other people depend on me so I depend on whatever airline I choose to fly with.  I understand delays and I add enough padding in my transferring flights to accommodate them.

I have been watching the recent industrial action with interest obviously. I think the Unions are not entierly in the right. I think Qantas should stay on Australian shores but the Unions need to make compromises. Plane travel has changed, the cheaper carriers have changed the way people fly. They can see that they will get them where they need to be (except for Tiger of course).  When I fly I don't go to Qantas' website to pick flights anymore. I go to a site that consolodates lots of airlines, put in my infromation & pick the cheapest one that fits my schedule. I believe most people pick their flights like this and Qantas needs to be able to compete with other airlines. If that means they have to make structual changes then so be it.  Although its hard to believe that the company is in dire financial straits when they report record profits and the CEO gets a massive pay rise, if things were really that bad wouldn't it be showing in the bottom line?

The actions taken by Alan Joyce on Saturday have completely destroyed my faith in Qantas.  Yes Union industrial action caused flight cancellations, but they gave warning, they did not completely shut down the company. People could still fly.  That a CEO would make a decision to ground the entire fleet on a Saturday morning then let people go to the airport, let people get on the first leg of their trips then screw them is not something I can trust.  I have read stories of people taxiing in the runway and being turned back, people stuck in Hong Kong after a layover, doctors stuck at a conference in Alice Springs. He didn't even give the Government enough warning to get leaders from CHOGM out of Perth. He did not have to shut down the airline, he could have just asked FWA to arbitrate the dispute, everyone knew there was a problem, he didn't need to screw people over in order to ask for what he wanted.

I cannot trust my travel plans to a company who's CEO will ground all planes on a whim. What if this had happened the day of my trip? I could have gotten a refund (and by refund I mean credit to use with Qantas within a year, not actual money). But who would have told my 89-year-old grandmother that all her grandchildren won't be there for my cousin's wedding? What if I got stuck in Australia? Am I meant to tell my employers "Sorry, I know you made a big effort to make sure I could make it to this event even though it was inconvenient for you but you need to take more time off."

For at least until Alan Joyce is gone I will not be flying Qantas if I have another option. I will probably fly Air New Zealand for my trips back to Australia. Saying goodbye to Qantas is not something that makes me happy, like I said there is (or was) something special about getting on board, like the planes were an extension of Australia. But that sense of warmth can not come at the cost of actually getting to my destination.