Important! Qantas grounds flights

[Gollywobbler]

Good Morning, All

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15504838

 

According to the BBC, Qantas are threatening to ground all of their flights within the next 15 hours or so. The company say 6pm on Sunday but that means AEST, not the time zone anywhere else in the world.

 

This sounds like shock tactics to me, presumably designed to prevent the latest threatened strike, The grounding may not go ahead.

 

However, if push comes to shove and people affected cannot find out in any other way, I discovered a few years ago that Heathrow Police are most helpful. In the 2006 bomb scare at Heathrow, Heathrow was closed and it was not clear where the flights would be sent to. My mother was on her way to the UK with Singapore Airlines. There was so much chaos that BAA took their Flight Information website off line - or all the stupid goddamned things to do.

 

I was unable to get hold of anyone who could tell me anything and since Mum was 85 and wheelchair bound, it was not funny. There was a rumour that the Singapore Airlines flight was going to Paris instead but that was a rumour. Singapore Airlines in Singapore told me that it was coming to Heathrow but the man there was more interested in the fact that it had left Singapore and admitted that he had not been told anything about problems at Heathrow.

 

Eventually I phoned Heathrow Police at 3am. They turned out to know about every single flight heading for Heathrow. They confirmed that the Singapore Airlines incoming flight was cleared to land at Heathrow and they confirmed its ETA and told me which pier it would be going onto. Everyone else was useless but Heathrow Police were brilliant, I found.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Guest5035]

As of 5pm tonight Saturday Australian time all flights whether in or out or on way to Australia have or will be grounded when they land and from monday 8am ALL staff involved in the dispute will be locked out. If a flight is presently en route from one airport to another, the next leg if with Qantas is grounded.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-29/qantas-locking-out-staff/3608250

 

 

Stevo

[Gollywobbler]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15504730

 

Please read the article above.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Guest5035]

as soon as any qantas flight touches down, those passengers if flying onwards with qantas will not take off, qantas will foot the bill for hotels etc etc.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-29/pilots-say-qantas-holding-country-to-ransom/3608306

 

stevo

[Gollywobbler]

According to the Daily Wail, 17 world leaders who attended the Commonwealth Conference are now stranded in Perth because of the Qantas dispute. Unfortunately, Call Me Dave is not one of them. He's on his way back to the UK.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055009/Hundreds-passengers-stranded-Heathrow-Qantas-grounds-ENTIRE-fleet-108-aircraft.html

 

The BBC also confirm the Wail's story that the Australian Government have referred the dispute to an emergency industrial tribunal, to try to settle the dispute before the good name of the Flying Kangaroo is wrecked all over the world.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Guest5035]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-30/qantas-grounding-fair-work-australia-hearing-adjourned/3608630

 

my guess they'll be back flying by tonight early monday, all the crews in transit will have had there required breaks and the unions and company will be ordered by FWA to resume negotiations and fix it within 21 days.

 

stevo

[Gollywobbler]

If I were Alan Joyce, I'd be using these dramatic actions as a smokescreen. Apparently Qantas is now privately owned? If so then it can be broken up and sold to the new Asian airlines I've been reading about, surely?

 

Exasperation does not cause the CEO of a major airline to ground all the planes in this way, so my guess is that Mr Joyce is up to something behind this smokescreen.

 

The Fed Govt's arguments that the Aussie economy and tourist industry will be damaged if Qantas goes phut sounds like nonsense to me. Loads of other airlines fly in and out of Australia and apparently Qantas' international bookings are already down because passengers have chosen more reliable carriers (ie ones who won't go on strike) to book their Christmas hols in Australia.

[Diane]

It's really a case of him cutting off his nose to spite his face I think. He doesn't seem to be coming out of this one very well - if I was a shareholder, I'd not be happy with his actions... but then i wouldn't have voted him his huge rise either!! Talk about "I'm alright, Jack!"

[Guest Guest5035]

The shareholders voted yes for his payrise, which is performance related.

The baggage handlers $40k BASIC (+ shift allowances )!! for throwing a few bags around,

Maintenance engineers $100k plus

Pilots (a380) $300k plus

no wonder they want it overseas

 

stevo

[Pesty650]

Alan Joyce should be given the boot. He has failed miserably and with this latest debacle has treated his customers like something you'd find on the bottom of your shoe. I'm sure he sleeps next to a photo of Michael O'Leary. Qantas has been going downhill for a while now and is a far cry from the airline it once was. If he wants to run a cheap crappy airline then he should go to Tiger.

[Guest Guest5035]

Tiger is actually part of singapore airlines, as is Jetstar part of Qantas. It all boils down to the $$$$$$, if you ran a company at a loss every year what would you do???? I think sooner or later the Flying Kangaroo emblem will dissappear and a Dim Sim will take its place..

 

Stevo

[Pesty650]

Stevo you are probably right. Australia's national carrier will become NoodleAir

[Guest welshboy]

Yes QANTAS ground all flights.... Funny enough on a similar story happen in the U.S.A AUGUST 1981 the air traffic controllers went on strike and the president at that time Ronald Reagan gave them 48hrs to return to work or fear losing there jobs the strike continued and then Reagan sacked 11.345 workers with immediate effect ....... Could that happen here???

[Guest Guest5035]

nah, reagan knew what he was doing, juliar doesn't..

 

stevo

[ShouldIStayOrShouldIGo]

An Irishman running an Australian Corporation and Welsh girl running the country

 

Where do i sign up to move a few bags for $50K a year, no wonder they want to out source work. Does anyone out there have an employer who will guarantee their job security?

[Guest Guest5035]

Where do i sign up to move a few bags for $50K a year, QUOTE]

 

those jobs are like gold

 

stevo

[Guest Guest5035]

The Kangaroos flying again, not quite a dim sim yet, interesting to note that Juliars government DID know a few days before what was happening..

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/qantas-fleet-grounded/story-e6frea6u-1226180309932

 

Stevo

[Diane]

Certainly if reputations were on a see-saw, Qantas' is going to be sitting on the ground for a while, whilst Virgin's is way up in the sky!

 

Perhaps Joyce should go have a word with Branson to get some tips for running an international and domestic airline....

[Guest Guest5035]

 

Perhaps Joyce should go have a word with Branson to get some tips for running an international and domestic airline....

 

and he could take along the 3 unions that are also holding the national carrier to ransom., in this day and age, wherever you work, no job is guaranteed

 

stevo

[Diane]

Not good PR in the middle of pay negotiations for the boss to accept a huge payrise/bonus for himself though, is it? Not saying he didn't earn it or whatever, but extremely stupid to not see how that would appear and handle the whole thing so much better! And as you may have noticed, I have no time for stupidity....

[Guest Guest5035]

thats a stupid reply, the shareholders of the company, the actual people who own it , voted the pay rise in i believe..and how can so few union leaders/reps/delegates be so dumb along with their members, no ones job is guaranteed

 

stevo

[Guest Guest5035]

http://thenewaustralian.org/?p=673

 

just been sent this, qantas got the exact result they were after by getting FA involved

 

stevo

 

just to clarify, qantas did get the FA involved because unions being unions and labour and all that, on the front bench of the government are 3 ex union leaders, so by taking this decision he forced the gov's hand, otherwise there will still be rolling industrial action, has everyone forgotten about that..

[Diane]

As a privately owned company, the Qantas management could have taken it to the Fair Work tribunal (sorry might not be the official term) themselves easily without getting the government involved... as was pointed out by Ms Gillard herself I think. Sooner they shut down Qantas, call it something different, operate out of asia instead and stop pretending it's "the Australian people's" airline, the better imho!