Qantas Grounds Fleet

[Heymanse]

So my mum is coming to visit us in 2 weeks' time and yes, is booked on a Qantas/SAA flight. Flight Centre didn't even know about the strike action when my mum called them yesterday to ask about her flight and what the implications would be. The lady there also said there would be no impact on her flight because even though it is a

Qantas plane, it is South African pilots that will be flying the plane. Now from my memory, the 3 times we flew back and forth from SA to Aus, we always had Australian crew and captain. Also, the lady does not seem to be getting the point that the "fleet" has been grounded in other words, NO QANTAS PLANES will be flying. I'm thinking that she would have to book on another airline as soon as possible? The grounding of the entire Qantas fleet would impact on all flights to & from SA wouldn't it?

[Sharky]

We were waiting in the airport lounge at Adelaide to see my mother-in-law fly to Perth, then Johannesburg when the announcement was made yesterday afternoon. Not a great feeling.

We're still struggling to find out what's going on, but I've confirmed that all the SAA flights are still running normal. Even the QF303 flight (operated by SAA) is going normally from Perth to Johannesburg...but our problem is how to get my mother-in-law to Perth. Virgin Atlantic are fully booked.

[zetman]

Hi there,

We're visiting Brisbane and the Gold Coast from Perth, due to fly back on Tuesday so we've been watching the situation. The below is straight from the Qantas website:

Is my flight still operating?

QantasLink, Jetstar, Jetconnect services, and our freight services (Express Freighters Australia and Atlas) will continue to operate as normal.

QantasLink:If your flight number falls within the range QF1400 - 2699 you are travelling with QantasLink. Your flight is not affected by the grounding so you should travel to the airport as normal.

Jetconnect services between Australia and New Zealand: The following services, operated by Jetconnect, are not affected by the grounding and customers should travel to the airport as normal.

Sydney - Auckland

Sydney - Christchurch

Sydney - Wellington

Melbourne - Auckland

Melbourne - Christchurch

Brisbane - Auckland

Brisbane - Christchurch

Codeshare Flights: Qantas codeshares with a number of airlines who are continuing their operations as scheduled. These flights have both Qantas and alternative carrier flight numbers eg. QF319 and BA16. If you are on a codeshare flight you should travel to the airport as normal.

So codeshared flights between Aus and SA should be fine still (fingers crossed); things are not looking so good for us though, would be nice if they can at least get to some point of clarity as to what's going to be happening...

z

[Toitjie]

We are to fly on Saturday, on a Qantas plane, but the booking is SAA, only operated by Qantas, so we are hoping that we wont be affected. If the fleet is grounded, but the booking was made through SAA, then surely SAA will have contingency plans in place?

[Heymanse]

I just went onto Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport's site and the same flight my mum is suppose to take in 2 week's time had been cancelled yesterday as well as the one that was scheduled for today. Qantas site says differently, that codeshares flights should not be affected by the grounding of the fleet. I'm getting real nervous here because of the conflicting information.

[Toitjie]

Is the flight that is scheduled for TWO weeks from now cancelled?? That is bad news...I thought they cancelled only flights for yesterday and maybe today!

I'll have to phone them too, this is seriously distressing

[Heymanse]

Received confirmation on my worst fears - that flights leaving from SA to Sydney has been cancelled due to the grounding of their fleet. A number of people were left stranded at the airport yesterday not being able to leave Johannesburg, some leaving permanently like most of us did and now not knowing how they'll get to Australia.

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/b714518048de9e46983e99ba9f42f9e5/World-leaders-among-stranded-passengers-as-Qantas-grounds-entire-fleet-20111028

[Toitjie]

I have just phoned SAA and this is the feedback they gave me:

All flights from 4 November will (in all probability) resume as normal. We fly the 5th, and he said chances are good we will fly as scheduled.

All passengers from this weekend up until the 4th who were displaced, will be offered seats on the scheduled flights from the 5th.

He did, however, caution me to phone them every single day for an update because things can change quickly. He said there were flights yesterday that we scheduled to take off, and all of the were cancelled too.

We will not be able to fly with a SAA boeing since they only travel as far as Perth, so we HAVE to do the sharecode through Qantas.

[Heymanse]

Is the flight that is scheduled for TWO weeks from now cancelled??

No, just yesterday and today's flights. The fact of the matter is we don't know for how long the issue between Qantas and the Unions will continue and one can only hope for a quick solution. Unfortunately, Alan Joyce just mentioned over the news that even though a resolution can be reached it will not just be a matter of them immediately start flying again and that there will have to be procedures that would have to be taken before the entire fleet can get up in the air again.. and who know how long that will take...

[Toitjie]

Alan Joyce should be fired

[Garrick]

Alan Joyce should be fired

I think what they did is extreme. But the board would have made the decision to push this whole year-long issue to a head. Major impact, but you can't jsut let your company be run by repeated strike action.

I feel very much for the passengers, but the alternative is Qantas bleeding to death.

Tough call. Wouldn't want to be in their shoes.

-G

[Bosvelder]

Wait until you get to Aus you will see that the union's rules the workplace.....backed by the lobour goverment......hope we get a election soon and put someone in government like Margeret Thatcher that can put a stop to the unions.......you can actually compare the unions demands similar to the julius malemma's of Africa......LOL

[Diveup]

Wait until you get to Aus you will see that the union's rules the workplace.....backed by the lobour goverment......hope we get a election soon and put someone in government like Margeret Thatcher that can put a stop to the unions.......you can actually compare the unions demands similar to the julius malemma's of Africa......LOL

To compare the Qantas unions demands to Julius Malemma is a bit rich. Qantas union members are highly qualified engineers and pilots and are fighting for job security and to keep aircraft maintenance in Australia.

[Garrick]

Wait until you get to Aus you will see that the union's rules the workplace.....

Been here 21 months already.

As with any business, Qantas wants to make money for the shareholders. So it's either raise prices, or cut expenses... by moving the maintenance offshore, they save money, thus making the shareholders happy. So what if you put your passengers lives at risk due to bad maintenance, it's cheap right? And it gets you a nice fat bonus/increase at the AGM... right?

-G

[Toitjie]

I saw on the news that the strike has been ordered to be called off with immediate effect, so all flights will resume from tomorrow.

Im very happy about that, we dont need that kind of additional stress!

[AndreaL]

Wait until you get to Aus you will see that the union's rules the workplace.....backed by the lobour goverment......hope we get a election soon and put someone in government like Margeret Thatcher that can put a stop to the unions.......you can actually compare the unions demands similar to the julius malemma's of Africa......LOL

Is that the very same Margaret Thatcher who effectively destroyed the mining industry in Britain? It doesn't take long for workers to lose any rights they have such as holidays and pensions. Australia has always been a world leader in workers rights

We've not long gotten rid of workchoices and a government that took away annual leave loadings, penalty rates, shift rates and dispute resolutions.

There is nothing wrong with unions, the problem is when the union bosses believe that they are omnipotent and forget that they are there to fight for fair conditions for workers.

Australian workplace agreements

[Heymanse]

I saw on the news that the strike has been ordered to be called off with immediate effect, so all flights will resume from tomorrow.

Im very happy about that, we dont need that kind of additional stress!

This is the best news ever, phew! I was losing a lot of sleep over the past 2 nights I tell you..

[Short&Tall]

To add to this it sounds as if the abitrator's have required both the unions and qantas to cease all industrial action (ie both sides) for a period of 21 days while they talk some more about the matter.

So hopefully once they get everything on track again (as I am sure there are backlogs) then flights should be fine for at least 21 days without disruption (as previously there had been some disruptions re the strikes).

I personally think grounding the planes with 3 hours notice and just dumping passengers on route without notice was appauling. The least they could have done was give sufficient time for people to decide if they wished to fly or not and for planes to reach their destinations.

I was reading an awful story about a lady flying from London to Oz who was unloaded at Bangkok - and the bus to the hotel for accommodation left while she was trying to see if she could get another flight. The hotel was in an area at risk of flooding and she had to make her own way there.

Awful consideration of the passenger from a company that was considered as providing excellent customer service.

[Toitjie]

As far as I understand, the strike was suspended permanently, not only for 21 days. They are not allowed to strike again.

I cannot find the article I read, I see they talk about the 21 days, but yesterday they reported that the unions asked for a certain time limit on the ban, but the ruling was a permanent ban.....something to that effect

Not that I really understand all their niceties, as long as they dont do this to their passengers again!

found one article.....

http://www.suntimes.com/news/world/8506523-418/aussie-court-ends-qantas-strike-that-left-tens-of-thousands-stranded.html

[Short&Tall]

Thanks Toitjie

Wow - I was thinking surely not...

But it is as above in respect of this current dosagreement - that is really comforting to know as given the differences who knows if they would have come to an agreement.

Seemingly if they can't decide between themselves about this matter then Fair Work Australia (the mediators) make a decision for them "Fair Work Australia would then be in a position of setting employment conditions for the relevant Qantas workers for the next few years and it is a rarely used provision of the Fair Work Act intended for just this kind of very extreme disputation that is having an adverse effect on an important part of the Australian economy. "