Jetstar accused of compromising security

[Peter Agatsiotis]

I got home at 3pm and thought my acars had 'frozen' as I could see Garuda and Asiana just leaving then JAL around 3.30 and QF129 just behind him.

A friend just updated me on the mess out there earlier.

[Simon L.]

It was a total mess, a friend working for an international carrier said they are now getting extremely frustrated with the worsening relationship between Qantas and its staff members/unions, especially when a lot of the international carriers use Qantas ground services as their GHA in Australia and a lot of them also have SPAs with Qantas so that heaps of their connecting passengers are actually booked on Qantas for domestic add-on sectors.

[Greg F]

Well I personally think its about time QF actually looked after their staff and gave a ***** about them!!
Dad and the HBA crew have been completely screwed over by the QF group!
I know first hand that the HBA crew were a close nit group with an extremely low staff turnover.
My father PSM gave his role 150% and often did rostering and stuff at home, worked 12hr + days.
90% of the crew at HBA have been with JQ since it Launched.
TO have the rug yanked out from under them was very saddening, and to make matters worse they were aware of the 'tendering' for about 8 weeks before it happened and the announcement was put off and put off....

A simple motto, Look after your staff, your staff look after the customers, the customers look after the business/shareholders.........

Onya Jetstar / The spirit of Australia........ hmmmmmmm.

[Nigel C]

When the world's economy is as fragile as it is right now, you'd think the Unions would be keen on keeping as many jobs for their members as possible and keeping their heads out of the spotlight.

Instead they encourage industrial action which achieves nothing but waving a red flag in front of a wounded bull (Qantas management) and puts them in the spotlight for the next time Qantas feel the need to look at their business model.

Unfortunately the rank and file go along with this crap, probably go without pay during the strike action and, whether they like it or not, contribute to the next round of their own staff cuts.

I bet Tony Sheldon hasn't gone a day without pay while the industrial action goes on........

[Marty H]

Ive said it before unions are a pile of crap. It does nothing for the Qantas workers cause going out on strike and as you say it will make QF management more determined to out source work to contractors, wont bother them, reduces their costs, no staff benefits to cover etc.

When it comes to EBA negotions these days the company (can be any company) 'says jump and the unions say how high'

[Nigel C]

Originally Posted by Marty H

Ive said it before unions are a pile of crap.

Unions have their place, and there should always be a place for them to help protect the 'little man'.
In the right environment, unions can be a useful resource, but unfortunately there are some union heavies who are there for nothing more than a springboard into the political arena and quite frankly couldn't care less about the rank and file. The current Federal Government ranks show this quite nicely...

[Sarah C]

Well said Andrew. I will keep my comments brief but:

- The strike yesterday was illegal. The airline isn't going to negotiate with unions who take illegal action.

- The reason they were striking was a joke. As Andrew mentioned, Aerocare provide services to other airlines like Virgin Blue. If the unions claims were correct, why didn't DJ staff join them?

- The Qantas spokesmen said that if you don't have an ASIC clearance, you don't go airside, simple as that. As least the engineers had a correct reason to strike last year.

- People are losing thier jobs everyday. As Andrew mentioned, 90 of them last week. Unfortunately it is part of business with the current conditions and business has to make tough choices.

[Greg F]

Thanks for the Replies guys.

I am not 100% familiar with DJ's st up, but have they ever had their 'own' ground staff or have they always used Aero-Care?

[Marty H]

Originally Posted by Greg F

Thanks for the Replies guys.

I am not 100% familiar with DJ's st up, but have they ever had their 'own' ground staff or have they always used Aero-Care?

Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide are the ports where ground staff are directly employed by DJ, all other ports are contract companies such as Aerocare and Oceania.

[David McNeil]

Carriers operating into Sydney who are handled by QF wouldnt be to happy with this disruption to their schedule and pax. It would be interesting to know if they would be demanding some form of financial compensation due to these heavily delayed departures.

This act simply gives the airlines currently handled by QF in SYD more weight to follow JQ and change service provider away from QF and to Menzies or Aero-Care so they don't have to worry about future industrial action QF is well known for.

This one event probably wouldnt be enough for these carriers to change ground handling arrangement but it did happened last year with the engineers strike and with QF Ramp a couple of months ago in MEL and it all adds up.

They may well have just shot themselves in the foot!