Qantas grounds all aircraft in drastic step

@Spidapig24: Well said...exactly what I wanted to say but was just trying to be a little bit more diplomatic!

Tel Porter

The villains in this situation (for a change) are not the workers and the unions.

So the airline finally reacts to being held to ransom by greedy unions for months, and suddenly their the bad guys. The unions and their rolling on and off stoppages has cost the airline millions and caused havoc to passengers for long enou. And when the airline finally stands up to the their the bad guys, that laughable. Kiss goodbye to you jobs you greedy qantas workers.

The villains in this situation (for a change) are not the workers and the unions.

Ranger_Miffy2, fly UAL or Air New Zealand, true the other airlines have these pretty young girls but they do not a thing for me. Elbuda Mexicano, I did not see Fosters in Aussie land, nor an outback steak house. My bud told me to order a pint of bitter.

Qantas refused to negotiate for 5 months, then came to the table with an offer that would slash established Australian work and training standards. Qantas made $530 million or so in profits and Joyce himself received a 70 pc pay rise ($2 million). Qantas executives received $14 million in the 10/11 fiscal year up from $8 million the previous year. The TWU has around 4500 members involved who vote for or against strike action and are fairly unlikely to destroy their own jobs with ridiculous demands ( like a 70 pc pay increase, for example). Not trying to attack anyone, but there are two sides in this dispute.

I always thought Aussies were just happy go lucky mates, drinking Fosters beer 24/7 not worrying about $$$$, am I wrong??

@ranger: None non-stop. JAL, Qantas, Jetstar. All poor. Best to go via Singapore on SQ.

Good on Qantas though, if the Unions aren't prepared to compromise lock everyone out. Let the Unions explain to employees why they are not being paid. The unions clearly have little idea of the economic turndown affecting the world, add that to the price of fuel and it's clear they are running an untenable business. Feel sorry for the passengers who will be stranded, let me clear about that before I start getting thumbs down.

So, what is a good airline to Australia and New Zealand? Recommendations?

Burakumin you might be confused, Jetstar is still running and its business is not affected by the Qantas issue.

Tiger Airways was the one that recently was shut down and has only just begun operations again in the last month or so.

I've flown Jetstar countless times both domestically and internationally and not had any problems.

just how much did you pay for a Jetstar ticket to complain?

I flew once and once only! All sectors of the trip were delayed...money is not the principal consideration for me - it is service.

BOYCOTT JETSTAR TOO PEOPLE - THEY ARE AN AWFUL, AWFUL AIRLINE! (If they ever resume flights again which is now looking doubtful). I just hope that the whole company folds.

just how much did you pay for a Jetstar ticket to complain?

Aircraft currently in the air will complete the sectors they are operating.

That's a relief. Walkout repercussions are proportionate to altitude, after all.

Seems to me like Qantas wants to follow the American business model and classify work in multiple ways to as to eviscerate existing labor contracts. I make more than most pilots on "regional airlines" in the US, and those make up the majority of pilots in the US. No sane person (or person not totally enamored of the lifestyle regardless of pay) would choose to work for a US airline today. The bosses are doing well, though, so we've got that going for us.

@ Smartacus - agree completely. Most people I know stopped flying with QANTAS years ago - the company is being run into the ground by that disgusting little Irish nerd, who recently gave himself a $2M a year payrise - as well as the unions who believe engineers and mechanics should be paid more than brain surgeons.

BOYCOTT JETSTAR TOO PEOPLE - THEY ARE AN AWFUL, AWFUL AIRLINE! (If they ever resume flights again which is now looking doubtful). I just hope that the whole company folds.

Quite a stupid management decision also.. the shareholders would be fuming over this.

Qantas oops typo

Qanatas =bad food, holes opening in mid air (5 times), crap service, bad maintenance for safety, dont care for their pilots.

Disgraceful conduct by both sides.