Frequent Fliers beware!

[Sunfish]

Can't find the recent thread where the jet-setters amoung us discussed airlines.

Would you fly on this airline!!!!
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Qantas fight halts flight
March 30, 2005
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A fracas among flight crew before take-off caused a Tokyo-to-Melbourne Qantas flight to be cancelled on Good Friday.

Qantas is investigating a fight involving several of the flight crew, which delayed hundreds of passengers and put a crew member in hospital. The scuffle started as an argument in a Tokyo nightspot about 15 hours before the flight to Melbourne.

At least one punch was thrown, and a crew member had to go to hospital, it is believed.

Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp confirmed there had been an "incident" in Japan, and said the airline had launched an investigation.

All passengers had been found seats on another flight through Sydney about an hour or so later, he said.

 

[always_learning]

Qantas would have to be the worst airline in Asia, if it wasnt for being protected from real world class competion it would fold. My contacts with Qantas leads me to believe the solution is simple, 50% the customer front line should be fired immediately for the simple reason that they have not a slightest interest in helping the customer, the other 1/2 who seem to have some interest in service and helping the customers (who actually pay their salaries) should be given 50% salary increases and rewarded with large bonuses for putting up with the dead wood for so long . Then open OS routes and airports for competition.

I cannot tell you just how stupid our airline would look to the Japanese customers, if given a choice they wont be back and they will tell 10 others.

 

[Sim]

Actually Qantas isn't that bad. There are a couple of excellent airlines in the region - Singapore, Cathay, Emirates, but Qantas are up there in the leadership pack (even if they do trail the other three in service at times).

Trust me, when you have status as a recognised frequent flyer with Qantas, the customer service levels go up quite dramatically ... but unfortunately, you pretty much have to be Platinum to actually get the good service.

A great site for learning about airlines and loyalty programs and such is FlyerTalk - where they have some forums (running vBulletin like we do !) that get a huge amount of traffic. Not just airlines either - they also cover hotels, car rental, destinations and a lot more. I post a bit in the Qantas Frequent Flyer forums - although I haven't done so as much in recent months.

 

[Aceyducey]

Another good place to assess airlines is at http://www.airlinemeals.net

After all, if they don't serve decent food, how can the rest of their service be any good?

BTW: If you have a particular question about meals on a given airline you can ask a question which may well be answered by some of the food staff from that airline.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[always_learning]

Actually Qantas isn't that bad. There are a couple of excellent airlines in the region - Singapore, Cathay, Emirates, but Qantas are up there in the leadership pack (even if they do trail the other three in service at times).

Trust me, when you have status as a recognised frequent flyer with Qantas, the customer service levels go up quite dramatically ... but unfortunately, you pretty much have to be Platinum to actually get the good service.

If it is business I dont have a choice of airlines, I just have to suck up who they pick for me. Private of course is different, but if I wish to fly direct Tokyo-Melbourne my choice is Qantas Qantas and Qantas, so I just have to suck it up.

I am not a big traveler, maybe 4 business and 3 private round trips per year. So I have to suck up the service offered. However Qantas is bad, particularly the internationals from Melbourne and Sydney. In comparision to JAL, ANA, Singapore, Lufthansa Qantas sucks the only bottom of the pack experiences I had to rival Qantas was with United.


I did have one good experience with Qantas, a flight back from Perth to Tokyo...I couldnt believe it they smiled to us were friendly, and twice not just once which would have been amazing, the crew actually asked Can we help you with that (2 young children with all the stuff), maybe something in the water in Perth

 

[Sim]

Airlines I have travelled where the experience was less than stellar are Air New Zealand, Malaysian, and by far the worst, United (that was shocking - even in business class). Some of the US domestic airlines are pretty bad too.

I have had my fair share of bad experiences with Qantas - but they tended to be on the less-premium legs. One I remember was SYD-SIN-BOM ... which I have flown the SYD-SIN leg of several times, all of which were vastly different to the SYD-SIN-LHR or other such flights bound for europe, or the SYD-HKG or SYD-LAX and such. The best (and most experienced) aircrew tend to get the premium legs, and the crew with attitude problems get stuck on the less desirable destinations. That's my experience anyway.

I cannot comment on SYD-NRT or other Japanese destinations, as I'm yet to travel to Japan

I would like to see a bit more competition for Qantas locally (but then run the risk of being made to fly other airlines, thus losing the maximum frequent flyer earning potential you get with a single-airline policy) ... but I would like to see a Qantas / Air New Zealand merger followed by a free-sky agreement with Singapore Airlines over AUS/NZ airspace and especially on north american routes out of Australia. Qantas simply have too much leverage on the SYD-LAX route, it's an effective monopoly, with the only other airline allowed to fly it (United) a bit of a lame duck.

 

[Rolf Schaefer]

In my previous life with Ernst&Young I had on overage 2 intercontinental flights a month (Europe - South Africa - Asia - Australia) and must say I was always very impressed with Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific followed by Lufthansa.

Since we are permanently living in Australia I have the "pleasure" of experiencing Qantas service, and my question is: What service do they actually offer besides getting me from A to B?

Just my five cents. No offense meant.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I'll take Qantas over El Al any day. Worst food (by far) I've ever had, little consideration from other passengers, very old aircraft (water leaking from the ceiling), and ex-fighter pilots up front who still like to fly as if they're fighter pilots.

And then there's the security interviews...

 

[Sunfish]

I flew SABINA and lived

Is GARUDA still in the air?

 

[natmarie73]

Is QANTAS still the only airline which hasn't crashed or is that just a myth? I don't care what the service is like when I fly, but I care a lot about the safety record

Nat

 

[Sunfish]

Is QANTAS still the only airline which hasn't crashed or is that just a myth? I don't care what the service is like when I fly, but I care a lot about the safety record

Nat

They definately haven't dropped a jet. No Aussie airline has done that but they fly the "friendliest" skys ie very little foul weather (NO ice) and skys so empty that auto-pilot is allowed to take over.

The only airliner I can remember being lost in Aus was a Viscount near Mackay with a lot of school kids on board. The Viscount was never a particularly good aircraft tho.

Thommo

 

[geoffw]

They have lost planes, though not for over 50 years, and no jets.

7 fatal crashes are listed on aviation-safety.net

 

[Sunfish]

Never trust your memory LOL

They definately haven't dropped a jet. No Aussie airline has done that but they fly the "friendliest" skys ie very little foul weather (NO ice) and skys so empty that auto-pilot is allowed to take over.

The only airliner I can remember being lost in Aus was a Viscount near Mackay with a lot of school kids on board. The Viscount was never a particularly good aircraft tho.

Thommo

Accident description




Status:
Final

Date:
10 JUN 1960

Time:
ca 22:05

Type:
Fokker F-27 Friendship 100

Operator:
Trans Australia Airlines - TAA

Registration:
VH-TFB

Msn / C/n:
10112

Year built:
1959

Total airframe hrs:
2420 hours

Cycles:
3396 cycles

Crew:
4 fatalities / 4 on board

Passengers:
25 fatalities / 25 on board

Total:
29 fatalities / 29 on board

Airplane damage:
Written off

Location:
12 km (7.5 mls) off Mackay, QLD (Australia)

Phase:
Approach

Nature:
Domestic Scheduled Passenger

Departure airport:
Rockhampton Airport, QLD (ROK)

Destination airport:
Mackay Airport, QLD (MKY)


Narrative:
The F-27 crashed into the sea while on a visual approach to Mackay airport runway 32 after holding for 70min due to fog.
The investigation was not able to determine a probable cause of this accident. No evidence was found of material or structural defects, fire or an explosion on board, or any commotion or unusual act by any person in the aircraft. It is possible that something happened within the last 2-3 minutes as a result of which the pilot was unaware of his actual rate of descent. This could have been either caused by the instruments not accurately recording the altitude, or by the pilot relying on visual observation of his surroundings without paying (sufficient) attention to the instruments. The accident happened at night with very few visual clues.


Found the details on the above "Viscount" crash. Thanks to Sim for the link. I Thought it was TAA but wasn't sure but it was the a/c I had wrong. Right that it was a turbo-prop.

Thommo

 

[XBenX]

I fly Star Alliance on my board trips because they let the stupid amount of gear I have on the plane...

Every time I get a Lufthansa flight I smuggle vast amounts of sleeping pills so I dont have to put up with their service or their planes... but even that doesnt stop them spilling hot coffee on me.

 

[Aceyducey]

I'm flying Virgins all this week. If one crashes unexpectedly I'll make sure to post about it to the forum.

Qantas's safety record is getting shakier - with the level of staffing now at it's maintenance depots it's only a matter of time. I'll continue avoiding Qantas until they start hiring more qualified aircraft repair mechanics.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[muppie]

I was on Garuda back in 2003 from singapore to jakarta... ughhhh never again would I fly with them. It was as if they had no air conditioning - very very hot, and smoking is allowed!!! I just could not believe it. Had to use it as it was an emergency and it was the only flight I could get departing at that day/time. Lucky it was only less than an hour flight I think.

Singapore Airlines is nice, although I normally don't ask much so I don't know how their service is like.

Flying virgin blue is like hopping on a bus he he he

 

[natmarie73]

Qantas's safety record is getting shakier - with the level of staffing now at it's maintenance depots it's only a matter of time. I'll continue avoiding Qantas until they start hiring more qualified aircraft repair mechanics.

Agggh don't tell me that! I am a nervous flyer as it is and the only way to get me on a plane is if it's QANTAS and only because of the safety record.

Nat

 

[Sim]

Nat ... I did around 60 flights last year, all bar two of them on Qantas ... so if they are going to have a problem, statistically speaking, I'm the one who's going to cop it, not you

I'm happy to keep flying Qantas - at least until I reach lifetime Gold status (should take another 6 years or so if I stay in this job)

 

[emcdonald]

Qantas fight halts flight
March 30, 2005
Page Tools

A fracas among flight crew before take-off caused a Tokyo-to-Melbourne Qantas flight to be cancelled on Good Friday.

Qantas is investigating a fight involving several of the flight crew, which delayed hundreds of passengers and put a crew member in hospital. The scuffle started as an argument in a Tokyo nightspot about 15 hours before the flight to Melbourne.

At least one punch was thrown, and a crew member had to go to hospital, it is believed.

Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp confirmed there had been an "incident" in Japan, and said the airline had launched an investigation.

All passengers had been found seats on another flight through Sydney about an hour or so later, he said.

Interestingly enough after this story was published a Qantas employee phoned up the local radio stations here in Brissie and said that the fight happened the night before the sceduled departure. The only reason the flight couldn't have left on time was that there were no extra crew to fill the injured employees position and flying short staff is (understandably) a big no-no.

As a side note, the fight was apparently over one of the more attractive British Airways flight attendants...

e x

 

[agent 86]

As a side note, the fight was apparently over one of the more attractive British Airways flight attendants...

e x

...a BA Steward I presume.

A86