I have sat on both sides of the desk in aviation, not at the level Qanatas operates at, but I do have a reasonable feeling for the business. Unlike members of this forum I am not privy to the way Qantas is structured and how it works internally. Hence my comments are of a general nature and cannot be at the same level of knowledge of others who have posted.

There does appear to have been some odd decisions made back a bit that have not prepared Qantas for the global situation it now finds itself in. I appreciate hindsight is 20/20 and in colour but other organisations appear to have seen what was coming and were better prepared from an equipment and management point of view. Talking about Qantas here, not Jetstar.

Outsourcing is essential and has been a fact for many years and is not always popular. I have been criticised for outsourcing myself over the years but many maintenance and overhaul tasks are just not viable to be carried out internally.

Aviation is a very complex business and cannot be presented to the public in the simplistic terms one sees on TV or in the papers and have the public expect to understand what is actually going on.

The Qantas fiasco has far more bubbling below the surface than just a dispute over wages and conditions. I unlike some on this forum will never know entirely what are the root causes and do not expect to know as I will never be privy to the inner machinations of the parties involved.

I shall retire from the field and leave the answers to those pundits who obviously have access to the boardroom and or closed door union discussions.

Take it easy.

SD

Ref third para. Bad phrasing. I did not outsource myself but I imagine there were times the staff wish I had done so !!

SD

Not sure benk, but more than a butcher who has done a trade and that's a disgrace.

Two million pay rise, not bad when you have ten million worth of shares yourself. He shouldn't be allowed to use his power to award a pay rise to himself.

579, if you check you will find that 97% of the shareholders gave
Joyce his payrise, so his own shares have little to do with it.

I saw an extensive interview with him this morning explaining things
in detail and I have to say I cannot fault his reasoning skills.
He might look like a leprechaun, but by geezes, he clearly has
testicles.

In that sense he deserves every penny. The shareholders have clearly
had a gutful of militant unions thinking that Qantas should only
exist for the benefit of employees. They are paying him to sort it
out, which is one hell of a challenge.

The unions took no notice of shareholder opinion and were quite
prepared to bleed the business to death, slowly, week by week.
People won't book advance tickets on an airline where there is
uncertainty wether they will fly or not.

The actions which Joyce has taken were the only ones left to him
under the Fairwork act. Good on him for showing guts and intellect.

If the unions want to run Qantas, let them buy it, which is quite
within their financial capability.

The vote was 97%, that was 97% of board members which are all share holders.