Qantas grounds every flight

[silverwillow]

Could be a win win situation for Alan Joyce. 1) The unions may back down, win, if not 2) Qantas will be trashed and the whole enterprise can be moved offshore, win. He will probably be given a nice big fat golden parachute and move on to his next endeavour.

[The_Big_M]

Found this a shocking move from Joyce, given it was done without warning, and particularly when the AGM was only held yesterday with no warning or hint of this. A very underhanded approach and unless the government/tribunal somehow save him with a resolution, I suspect this will turn most of the public against him.

 

Looks like another Trujillo - paid the big bucks to destroy shareholder value and a large, local brand.

[MMDown Under]

My daughter was on a Qantas plane in Sydney, ready to fly to Canberra, when the pilot came on and said "This is not a joke".

 

Words cannot express how disgusted I am with the Qantas Board's decision to ground the whole Qantas fleet immediately.

 

I feel so sorry for their passengers all over the world.

[Acrusa]

Really dumb question .I am booked with Qantas for Feburary 2012 should I start to worry?

[cedar41]

Really dumb question .I am booked with Qantas for Feburary 2012 should I start to worry?

 

I wonder the same thing, booked Jan29th. Should we rebook with another airline (Not American cause I think they will go out on strike next year). But book refundable tickets on Delta or United??

 

Would Cruise insurance cover this?

Too many questions.

[MMDown Under]

Really dumb question .I am booked with Qantas for Feburary 2012 should I start to worry?

 

I wonder the same thing, booked Jan29th. Should we rebook with another airline (Not American cause I think they will go out on strike next year). But book refundable tickets on Delta or United??

 

Would Cruise insurance cover this?

Too many questions.

 

I wouldn't worry, at this stage.

 

I am booked to fly with them in January.

[Acrusa]

I wouldn't worry, at this stage.

 

I am booked to fly with them in January.

 

I tent to agree with you.

[MMDown Under]

I tent to agree with you.

 

I just flew with them from JFK this month. They really are a wonderful airline, with a cabin crew second to none.

[Gordo]

We have a flight on Qantas in three weeks from Sydney to Cairns. We hope that they are flying again soon, not only for us but for all the other travelers who could be affected.

[icat2000]

Found this a shocking move from Joyce, given it was done without warning, and particularly when the AGM was only held yesterday with no warning or hint of this. A very underhanded approach and unless the government/tribunal somehow save him with a resolution, I suspect this will turn most of the public against him.

 

Looks like another Trujillo - paid the big bucks to destroy shareholder value and a large, local brand.

I think its more to force Fair Work Australia to make a decision and for the Government to intervene. Well that happened really quickly yesterday.

[Australian family]

My daughter was on a Qantas plane in Sydney, ready to fly to Canberra, when the pilot came on and said "This is not a joke".

 

Words cannot express how disgusted I am with the Qantas Board's decision to ground the whole Qantas fleet immediately.

 

I feel so sorry for their passengers all over the world.

 

That is terrible. What disgusts me is that they said last night that a Sydney to Hobart flight landed at Melbourne, how bloody stupid is that, passengers stuck in a totally different place.

 

This is an interesting bit of news:

 

TWU says they want to see documents that allegedly show Qantas warned catering company Gate Gourmet about the lock out. Fair Work Australia said it will not give orders to produce the documents, but won't rule it out later today.

 

The unions are also calling for Alan Joyce to appear before the judges to answer questions about whether the action was premeditated or not.

 

Tomorrow the unions will be given the opportunity to cross examine the Qantas witnesses.

[Kartgv]

This is devastating news. We have dear friends coming over from Canada atm for a pre holiday and then cruise, and their flight in LA, which was meant to leave only one hr after the announcement is showing 'cancelled'.......I am sooo worried for them. They must be besides themselves. They are not even near home, after having travelled to LA from Toronto for connecting flights. So worried.

Jen

According to a news story on Yahoo! today, all the Qantas flights from LAX on Friday night (or last night in Los Angeles, whatever day that is in Australia!) were already in the air when the lockout was announced. It says that there were no passengers left stranded at LAX. Hopefully your friends have already arrived and now just have to worry about getting home!

[Australian family]

I think dear old queenie's got that one! :D

MP.

 

Actually she flew back with British Airways.

 

Even delegates at CHOGM are caught in Perth. Qantas is certainly not doing anything positive for the reputation of Australia.

[icat2000]

According to a news story on Yahoo! today, all the Qantas flights from LAX on Friday night (or last night in Los Angeles, whatever day that is in Australia!) were already in the air when the lockout was announced. It says that there were no passengers left stranded at LAX. Hopefully your friends have already arrived and now just have to worry about getting home!

Well that's different information from what Australian networks are reporting stating three flights have been grounded at LAX due to the industrial action.

[icat2000]

That is terrible. What disgusts me is that they said last night that a Sydney to Hobart flight landed at Melbourne, how bloody stupid is that, passengers stuck in a totally different place.

 

This is an interesting bit of news:

 

TWU says they want to see documents that allegedly show Qantas warned catering company Gate Gourmet about the lock out. Fair Work Australia said it will not give orders to produce the documents, but won't rule it out later today.

 

The unions are also calling for Alan Joyce to appear before the judges to answer questions about whether the action was premeditated or not.

 

Tomorrow the unions will be given the opportunity to cross examine the Qantas witnesses.

Well, first we have to see what Fair Work Australia rule. If they rule terminate then Qantas can probably put their planes in the air within 6 hours. If they suspend, I think this will drag out.

 

My understanding that the unions have been dragging this out for over a year and were deliberating telling people not to book with Qantas as they would continue to have rolling strikes for months to come. That sort of talk would have sent Qantas broke in time.

 

Now, you have to believe that Qantas would have put some risk plans in place before making such a huge decision yesterday. Interesting to see how it unfolds.

[rugbypopsie]

I hope they sort this out quickly...husband currently stranded in Melb...not too big a deal he will be able to get home..but I feel for others whose situation is far more serious. I have finally been able to secure..great seats on FFP I have saved up points for years for this trip. Booked last flight yesterday! I have until next September so I am sure it will be OK fingers crossed. Surely the unions can see that they are not going to get job stability by their current tactics..in fact it makes it more likely no job at all.:mad:

[MMDown Under]

According to a news story on Yahoo! today, all the Qantas flights from LAX on Friday night (or last night in Los Angeles, whatever day that is in Australia!) were already in the air when the lockout was announced. It says that there were no passengers left stranded at LAX. Hopefully your friends have already arrived and now just have to worry about getting home!

 

No that is not true.

 

I just listened to an interview with a Qantas passenger who is still stranded in LAX. He was about to board that terrible Qantas flight, which departs LAX at midnight, when they disembarked those who had already boarded and eventually put them all in LAX hotels.

 

They learnt of the grounding of Qantas flights from Twitter, before they were advised by Qantas.

[thied]

We may see a for sale sign soon:rolleyes:

OR some new paint work done on Qantas planes:rolleyes:

 

all jokes aside I would not be happy to be a share holder.

[johndon]

I see another Ansett debacle coming up. This whole incident reeks of oneupsmanship on both sides, the Unions and Qantas. Dont blame Joyce entirely. He has a board of Management and this decision to ground the fleet would not have been his alone. He and the Board have to go. What is wrong with the shareholders??!!!

Gillard cannot crow about what she has done. It should have been done two weeks earlier and when the two Liberal States wrote to her last week to take action she accused them of playing political games. And when will the unions wake up. The inflated wage claims are unsustainable. What a mess this Country is getting itself into (or already has got it self into) I fear for our future and the future of Qantas.

 

 

John

[Kinkacruiser]

The lockout was a drastic and sudden action and I feel very sorry for those stranded or had holiday plans spoiled (hope it works out with the least diusruption for you).

 

That aside, I was looking at international aifares and it's not surprising that on some routes, Qantas was twice the price of competitors...no doubt due to higher operating costs (especially wages).

[thied]

Joyce did not say anything at the last AGM with share holders, the AGM was on the day before he announced the he was going to ground the air line.

[icat2000]

Joyce did not say anything at the last AGM with share holders, the AGM was on the day before he announced the he was going to ground the air line.

Airlines have contingency plans for all sorts of situations. Maybe Joyce didn't tell teh shareholders because they thought they wouldn't have to resort to this extreme action.

 

When the unions just got more agressive after the annual general meeting stating it would just up the anti and stating it would disrupt the airline futher for months, its seems liek that was the catayst for Joyce called the meeting and the board voted to ground the airline.

 

What is funny is that the Labor Government seems to behind the eight ball again. No surprise here.

 

I think one of the key sticking points is the unions want Qantas Management to guarantee job security and it this economic climate you can't do that and then there is the higher wage costs.

[room010]

Qantas is by far the most expensive carrier on both domestic and international routes. This is partly because their employees (not just the CEO) are among the best paid in the airline industry worldwide yet they still indulge in ridiculous pay disputes and strikes and now Qantas has called their bluff. It's about time. Meanwhile, Virgin Blue is still doing a great (cheaper) job and Sir Richard Branson is laughing all the way to the bank.

 

If anyone's cruise is disrupted by all this then I can only hope they have the appropriate cancellation insurance to cover their losses. Everyone has that, don't they? ;)

[Kartgv]

According to a news story on Yahoo! today, all the Qantas flights from LAX on Friday night (or last night in Los Angeles, whatever day that is in Australia!) were already in the air when the lockout was announced. It says that there were no passengers left stranded at LAX. Hopefully your friends have already arrived and now just have to worry about getting home!

Yahoo! has now updated and expanded their story, but the LAX spokesperson is still saying she 'was not aware of any passengers stranded at the airport because of the strike'. That might mean that they were able to get everyone on other flights or might be just wrong!

[MMDown Under]

Yahoo! has now updated and expanded their story, but the LAX spokesperson is still saying she 'was not aware of any passengers stranded at the airport because of the strike'. That might mean that they were able to get everyone on other flights or might be just wrong!

 

They were not stranded at the airport, as they were put in hotels.

 

BTW The man said he still hadn't heard from Qantas re alternative flights home by 2 pm LAX time, so was going to try to book a flight home himself.