QF 'normal day'
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QF 'normal day'
My partner just walked in the door having flown in from AD - ML.
She was late.
This is how the excuses paned out From QF
First delay leaving AD 1 hr+ due poor wx in eastern states, that I can't confirm as I haven't seen any poor wx around where I live. (at least they didn't have to sleep on the sidewalk !!!!)
Second delay due to mechanical problems "we have had to shuffle A/C round all day 'cause we don't have a spare $40 mill plane around", pilot actually said that (they ought to plenty of spare A/C having paid their employees zip !!) busted windscreen on another A/C somewhere adding to the shuffle.
Third delay...........upon arrival from previous flight the A/C finally secured to conduct the AD-ML flt a seat had to be repaired by those over paid engineers.....not !
Fourth delay (yes it gets better !)............no one there to recieve the A/C upon arr in ML via 'driving' the docking bridge into position. Pilot advised that the guy is down the other end of the terminal & running to our rescue, or words to that effect. So pax stood/sat there yet again & waited!
Apparently when the aero bridge was attached it rocked the A/C.
To top it off seeing as it was an evening meal flight (original boarding time just after 5pm) finally boarding at 6;30pm they had no meals for the pax...........oh a couple of biscuits & the offer of a small glass of wine.
Maybe QF mainline is testing the LCC theory on full fair paying pax (my partner was anyway).
...............yep all in a normal days business practice for Australia's leading airline............cough cough cough !
I'm not having a go per say at QF, can & does happen to 'em all just thought......so what's new?
Talk about killed a Chinaman!!!
I know what goes on in the aviation industry, the poor souls that keep that business alive just have to put up with it.
CW
She was late.
This is how the excuses paned out From QF
First delay leaving AD 1 hr+ due poor wx in eastern states, that I can't confirm as I haven't seen any poor wx around where I live. (at least they didn't have to sleep on the sidewalk !!!!)
Second delay due to mechanical problems "we have had to shuffle A/C round all day 'cause we don't have a spare $40 mill plane around", pilot actually said that (they ought to plenty of spare A/C having paid their employees zip !!) busted windscreen on another A/C somewhere adding to the shuffle.
Third delay...........upon arrival from previous flight the A/C finally secured to conduct the AD-ML flt a seat had to be repaired by those over paid engineers.....not !
Fourth delay (yes it gets better !)............no one there to recieve the A/C upon arr in ML via 'driving' the docking bridge into position. Pilot advised that the guy is down the other end of the terminal & running to our rescue, or words to that effect. So pax stood/sat there yet again & waited!
Apparently when the aero bridge was attached it rocked the A/C.To top it off seeing as it was an evening meal flight (original boarding time just after 5pm) finally boarding at 6;30pm they had no meals for the pax...........oh a couple of biscuits & the offer of a small glass of wine.
Maybe QF mainline is testing the LCC theory on full fair paying pax (my partner was anyway).
...............yep all in a normal days business practice for Australia's leading airline............cough cough cough !
I'm not having a go per say at QF, can & does happen to 'em all just thought......so what's new?
Talk about killed a Chinaman!!!
I know what goes on in the aviation industry, the poor souls that keep that business alive just have to put up with it.
CW
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Sh1t happens. 
Today's D&G News, tomorrow's D&G Questions.
Tail Wheel
Today's D&G News, tomorrow's D&G Questions.
Tail Wheel
Apparently when the aero bridge was attached it rocked the A/C.
STFU! I am getting sick of these anti QF threads every single bleeding day
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QF Bash? I have no problem with it, I was there...
February 18, 2006
The worst snowfalls in New York's history played havoc with airline schedules this week.
IT was the captain of Qantas Flight 108 who put it best as we neared the end of the journey from New York. "This is not Qantas's finest hour," he said.
Few among his passengers would have disagreed. They would have sympathised with the American girl phoning home after landing on Wednesday night: "Mum, I've just been on the flight from hell."
"Hell" was the extraordinary time it took us to travel from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Sydney,
a journey supposed to take 23 hours, with a stop in Los Angeles. We should have arrived at 9.25am Tuesday, not 34 hours later, at 7.30pm the next day.
To judge from the apologies poured out by Qantas area managers who boarded at each stop and the frankness of frustrated pilots, it was nothing less than a public relations fiasco.
Flight 108 became a 56-hour endurance test that would rival any reality TV show. This race to get home included more than the usual travel obstacles of cancelled flights, delays and a lack of information. That much was expected.
What was not expected was a 12-hour wait on the tarmac at JFK without food, water, entertainment and minimal fresh air or the harried updates from the cockpit, as Qantas management and flight staff debated whether to queue for 190 minutes for take-off to Los Angeles or queue to find a spare gate back at the terminal.
One businessman said he fell asleep for seven hours, expecting to wake over Los Angeles; he was stunned to discover he had not left New York.
When a Turkish Airlines jet skidded off the runway early in the night, and another runway was closed to clear snow, all departing jets had to compete for the only remaining take-off slot.
Flight 108, we were told, did not have sufficient fuel to queue for hours on end and still reach Los Angeles; and then there were Australian safety regulations that limit the crew's hours. As that first night wore on, and we circled the white wilderness of JFK, cabin staff were ordered to man the doors - a standard safety procedure. This meant that for 12 hours they could not serve food and there was no entertainment.
On yet another PA update, the pilot said: "Ladies and gentleman, my sense of humour just went west …" And another: "I don't like being snowed - and there's a lot of snow out there."
It seemed information was not forthcoming from the New York Port Authority, responsible for the airport.
Returning to Gate Six after 12 hours brought with it a surreal feeling: there slumped in the limited seating or lying on the floor were the same faces from flights that preceded us. Everybody just looked a LOT older.
After the tarmac episode, we waited for a replacement plane from Los Angeles. This 12-hour marathon was made worse as Qantas announced no hotel rooms could be found. The airline-distributed $US20 food vouchers were virtually useless as most outlets had shut. The only bar open was charging $US12 a glass of wine.
As the plane's arrival time passed, one young traveller said: "I don't want to go to Australia any more."
Past midnight, almost 30 hours after our original departure time, Flight 108 was finally in the air.
On docking at Los Angeles there was another drama. The Qantas manager for California came aboard to announce an unexpected diversion to New Zealand. The reason: another crew changeover due to restrictions on crew working hours.
As Flight 108 crossed the international dateline, the captain told us with unrestrained frustration that we had been given the "partial truth" for the stopover in Auckland.
He said ground staff in Los Angeles had failed to inform the crew the flight was not arriving until 2.30am. They had travelled to the airport ready to start work at 9pm, and as a consequence the time limits came into effect.
Just to add a little more spice to the story-when I boarded the replacement plane in LA, I was rather surprised to find it was the same aircraft I had spent 12 hour in taxying JFK in. Somehow it had managed to get to LA at least 8 hours before us. In other words, it left JFK without us and left us there waiting for a replacement.
There were 30 odd passengers going to Auckland via Sydney. Upon landing in Auckland they were told they had to keep going to Sydney and then back to Auckland. But that news, for some, was only the penultimate blow. "Ladies and gentlemen, for those customers waiting for dinner there is no chicken left but there's still plenty of drinks," we were advised.
Good idea; let's all get smashed.
As published in SMH and supplemented by yours truly.
sc
The worst snowfalls in New York's history played havoc with airline schedules this week.
IT was the captain of Qantas Flight 108 who put it best as we neared the end of the journey from New York. "This is not Qantas's finest hour," he said.
Few among his passengers would have disagreed. They would have sympathised with the American girl phoning home after landing on Wednesday night: "Mum, I've just been on the flight from hell."
"Hell" was the extraordinary time it took us to travel from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Sydney,
a journey supposed to take 23 hours, with a stop in Los Angeles. We should have arrived at 9.25am Tuesday, not 34 hours later, at 7.30pm the next day.
To judge from the apologies poured out by Qantas area managers who boarded at each stop and the frankness of frustrated pilots, it was nothing less than a public relations fiasco.
Flight 108 became a 56-hour endurance test that would rival any reality TV show. This race to get home included more than the usual travel obstacles of cancelled flights, delays and a lack of information. That much was expected.
What was not expected was a 12-hour wait on the tarmac at JFK without food, water, entertainment and minimal fresh air or the harried updates from the cockpit, as Qantas management and flight staff debated whether to queue for 190 minutes for take-off to Los Angeles or queue to find a spare gate back at the terminal.
One businessman said he fell asleep for seven hours, expecting to wake over Los Angeles; he was stunned to discover he had not left New York.
When a Turkish Airlines jet skidded off the runway early in the night, and another runway was closed to clear snow, all departing jets had to compete for the only remaining take-off slot.
Flight 108, we were told, did not have sufficient fuel to queue for hours on end and still reach Los Angeles; and then there were Australian safety regulations that limit the crew's hours. As that first night wore on, and we circled the white wilderness of JFK, cabin staff were ordered to man the doors - a standard safety procedure. This meant that for 12 hours they could not serve food and there was no entertainment.
On yet another PA update, the pilot said: "Ladies and gentleman, my sense of humour just went west …" And another: "I don't like being snowed - and there's a lot of snow out there."
It seemed information was not forthcoming from the New York Port Authority, responsible for the airport.
Returning to Gate Six after 12 hours brought with it a surreal feeling: there slumped in the limited seating or lying on the floor were the same faces from flights that preceded us. Everybody just looked a LOT older.
After the tarmac episode, we waited for a replacement plane from Los Angeles. This 12-hour marathon was made worse as Qantas announced no hotel rooms could be found. The airline-distributed $US20 food vouchers were virtually useless as most outlets had shut. The only bar open was charging $US12 a glass of wine.
As the plane's arrival time passed, one young traveller said: "I don't want to go to Australia any more."
Past midnight, almost 30 hours after our original departure time, Flight 108 was finally in the air.
On docking at Los Angeles there was another drama. The Qantas manager for California came aboard to announce an unexpected diversion to New Zealand. The reason: another crew changeover due to restrictions on crew working hours.
As Flight 108 crossed the international dateline, the captain told us with unrestrained frustration that we had been given the "partial truth" for the stopover in Auckland.
He said ground staff in Los Angeles had failed to inform the crew the flight was not arriving until 2.30am. They had travelled to the airport ready to start work at 9pm, and as a consequence the time limits came into effect.
Just to add a little more spice to the story-when I boarded the replacement plane in LA, I was rather surprised to find it was the same aircraft I had spent 12 hour in taxying JFK in. Somehow it had managed to get to LA at least 8 hours before us. In other words, it left JFK without us and left us there waiting for a replacement.
There were 30 odd passengers going to Auckland via Sydney. Upon landing in Auckland they were told they had to keep going to Sydney and then back to Auckland. But that news, for some, was only the penultimate blow. "Ladies and gentlemen, for those customers waiting for dinner there is no chicken left but there's still plenty of drinks," we were advised.
Good idea; let's all get smashed.
As published in SMH and supplemented by yours truly.
sc
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'skystar 320' where all getting sick of it, but try to be a little professional about it. Don't shoot the messenger, if not heard from me then the next person will mention it, welcome to the real world behind the pilots seats!!!
Remember that QF & all the others are there for one single reason...........so supply a service, if it's not acceptable to the people who keep the arrogant in their jobs there then they simply go elsewhere.
We have the most choice these days ever seen in this country, the only thing that these Co's can rely on is the fact that none of them are any better than each other !
Yr comments are a form of advertising for QF's poor performances as are mine.
CW
Remember that QF & all the others are there for one single reason...........so supply a service, if it's not acceptable to the people who keep the arrogant in their jobs there then they simply go elsewhere.
We have the most choice these days ever seen in this country, the only thing that these Co's can rely on is the fact that none of them are any better than each other !
Yr comments are a form of advertising for QF's poor performances as are mine.
CW
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So tell me people, in all honesty how many of you would reccommend working at QF as a pilot despite all the concerns of late? Overall is it still worth it in your opinion, do you think its going through a bad stage and once Dixon departs will things improve? I ask cos I just got into the cadetship and I'm over the moon anyway! Just looking for your opinions.
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As Flight 108 crossed the international dateline, the captain told us with unrestrained frustration that we had been given the "partial truth" for the stopover in Auckland
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'2ndgen' Judging by yr nic name here & yr age are you just that?.........a 2ndgen aviation offspring? Assuming of course & yr probably not. Reason I ask is that yr asking what's QF's really like as an employer meaning you may have had nothing to do with aviation before but then again you may very well be informed thru other channels (if you are then half yr luck). Well these pages don't reflect too good a view at the present time as you have no doubt read with interest but no one can really tell you how it is 'cause it's just an opinion of an individual.
Collective opinions would however be quite powerful here & may influence yr decision somewhat. Be careful in yr assumption here, there are a lot of older bitter & twisted folks around & for good reason to a point. You will need to go find out yourself by way of working for them in whatever capacity. Dixsons departure may very well have an impact on QF's future, we all here hope so, so it will take a lot more than his poor handling of QF's affairs to correct their downhill slide. The other operators have their fair share of hassles also, that's no secret. So I guess in answer to yr driect question.............in all honesty how many of you would reccommend working at QF as a pilot despite all the concerns of late?.............probably very few but then again you couldn't have asked such an important question at such a critical time.
I hope you get the answers yr looking for here amongst these pages.
Good luck
CW
Collective opinions would however be quite powerful here & may influence yr decision somewhat. Be careful in yr assumption here, there are a lot of older bitter & twisted folks around & for good reason to a point. You will need to go find out yourself by way of working for them in whatever capacity. Dixsons departure may very well have an impact on QF's future, we all here hope so, so it will take a lot more than his poor handling of QF's affairs to correct their downhill slide. The other operators have their fair share of hassles also, that's no secret. So I guess in answer to yr driect question.............in all honesty how many of you would reccommend working at QF as a pilot despite all the concerns of late?.............probably very few but then again you couldn't have asked such an important question at such a critical time.
I hope you get the answers yr looking for here amongst these pages.
Good luck
CW
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It is true, I am 2ndGen aviation offspring, Dad is a F/O on 744's with QF and its confusing to me cos he loves his job every minute of every day (in his early 60s tho, so maybe relishing it while it lasts?) however he has pointed out a few 'areas of improvement' lately. I have grown up knowing enough about the industry, however have only taken a really vested interest in commercial aviation relatively recently. There's not much anyone can do to dampen my spirits now, however I am very much interested in the topic esp. politics and people's different points of view, especially because it so much more pertinent to me now than before. Thanks for your reply!
lately. I have grown up knowing enough about the industry, however have only taken a really vested interest in commercial aviation relatively recently. There's not much anyone can do to dampen my spirits now, however I am very much interested in the topic esp. politics and people's different points of view, especially because it so much more pertinent to me now than before. Thanks for your reply!
So Capt Wally being a snag, you would have had the evening meal prepared and as she entered the house you would have her favorite CD playing and handed her a glass of wine?
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Yes 'stationair8' how sad is that, being a 'snag'
ya can't win mate!
I did all of what you mentioned & what did I get for it???.........'bloody pilots' !
'2ndgen.'
Interesting that you are just that, I has a suspicion that you might have been & that's fine meant no malice as such.(am jealous to some degree) Interesting you say yr dad is that age flying 'cause I believe (as I have posted elsewhere) that was the traditional path of flying & it's changed. IE: you start at the bottom & work yr way up to the large cap jets & all within the one Co. That's no longer the case with cadetship bypassing the little bug smashers etc & now a few Co's who have just jets. To also the regionals that have no advancement within their own structure, type wise that is.
You mentioned yr dad loves his job??? Well I think you shall find no one in here is disputing that fact, we all love our jobs (the beauty of being a pilot), it's got nothing to do with 'loving' yr job it's more to do with how yr treated/rewarded whilst fulfilling that love & for the benifit of others, that being the Co you work for, that's what you will find is what all the dissent is about here.
Am sure all of us in here want you to go forth & become the best pilot you can. Just read what's in here to be more informed & prepared that's all. You have, apart from a relative already well established within the industry an opportunity that the likes of us older guys have not seen before by way of a modern future in air transport that is currently hiring big time with the best chances of getting there than ever
.
Stick with it, we want to see the likes of you back here in say 20 yrs time to tell us bitter & twisted old codgers how it is these days
CW
ya can't win mate!I did all of what you mentioned & what did I get for it???.........'bloody pilots' !
'2ndgen.'
Interesting that you are just that, I has a suspicion that you might have been & that's fine meant no malice as such.(am jealous to some degree) Interesting you say yr dad is that age flying 'cause I believe (as I have posted elsewhere) that was the traditional path of flying & it's changed. IE: you start at the bottom & work yr way up to the large cap jets & all within the one Co. That's no longer the case with cadetship bypassing the little bug smashers etc & now a few Co's who have just jets. To also the regionals that have no advancement within their own structure, type wise that is.
You mentioned yr dad loves his job??? Well I think you shall find no one in here is disputing that fact, we all love our jobs (the beauty of being a pilot), it's got nothing to do with 'loving' yr job it's more to do with how yr treated/rewarded whilst fulfilling that love & for the benifit of others, that being the Co you work for, that's what you will find is what all the dissent is about here.
Am sure all of us in here want you to go forth & become the best pilot you can. Just read what's in here to be more informed & prepared that's all. You have, apart from a relative already well established within the industry an opportunity that the likes of us older guys have not seen before by way of a modern future in air transport that is currently hiring big time with the best chances of getting there than ever
.
Stick with it, we want to see the likes of you back here in say 20 yrs time to tell us bitter & twisted old codgers how it is these days
CW