I did lunch last week at the Great Northern Hotel in North Carlton with a friend who is a very senior barrister. Given that I am about to hop on a plane to Italy in a few days’ time, we talked a fair bit about travel, and particularly about the scandals which are currently plaguing Qantas.
Probably because my friend is a very competent barrister, with the intellectual discipline which that entails, he is very reserved in his words, even in private. He does not make sweeping generalisations, nor give opinions which are not based strictly on fact, nor leap to conclusions unless he has evidence to back them.
Hence I was rather surprised when the first words he uttered in relation to the disclosure that Qantas had intentionally continued to sell tickets on 8000 flights after they had cancelled those flights were: “It’s fraud. It’s theft.”
I concur of course.
Intentionally seeking to gain a benefit by deceiving someone out of their property is fraud. That Qantas did it on an industrial scale is a matter of serious concern, which is now being addressed by the ACCC in commencing a prosecution of the airline.
This is the latest in a long string of outrages involving Qantas under the leadership of its deceptively woke CEO Alan Joyce.
I will list a few of them.
During the covid lockdown crisis, Qantas obtained at least $2 billion in subsidies from state and federal governments. This was significantly more than any of its smaller competitors.
After several years of covid related losses, Qantas recently announced a $1.7 billion profit. It has not signalled any intention of returning any of those subsidies. Nor has it shied away from paying extremely large salaries and bonuses to its senior executives.
When the covid occurred, Qantas stood down thousands of employees without pay. One of those was, up until that point, on extended sick leave during to cancer. Whilst it was legally entitled to stand that employee down, doing so exhibited, on the part of Qantas management, an extreme degree of callousness which is abhorrent to the Australian community.
Prior to this, Qantas has, in order to maximise its profits, outsourced thousands of jobs, causing a decline in customer service and staff morale. Whilst this does not appear to have decreased safety standards, this is the sort of calculated risk which usually only becomes apparent when there is an air disaster.
Until this past month, the ability to claim and use flight credits, such as those from those cancelled flights which had been fraudulently sold to customers, was difficult. Last year, for example, you could only use those credits for flights that cost the same or more than the credits you held. This link to Choice gives some detail on this:
https://www.choice.com.au/travel/on-holidays/airlines/articles/qantas-flight-credits-failure
Industrial relations negotiations run by the supposedly woke Mr Joyce in the past have been particularly ruthless, including shutting down the airline at one stage. Indeed, much as I am a rather right wing person, Alan Joyce makes me look like a socialist in comparison.
All up, Qantas is now a very toxic brand. You do not treat staff, customers, and the taxpayer in the way that they have without commercial repercussions. It is sad that the toxicity of Qantas is being used by some as an issue to try and reopen the issue of allowing more flights by the even more toxic Qatar Airways.
Lost For Words! 