Peteralan

News reports here that Macqaurie Bank may be taking over QANTAS. This will probably mean higher fares and ,worse, staff sackings, especially as they already have control of the airport and Max the toe cutter has done exactly that at Kingsford Smith. What do you reckon Neil ?

Tassietwister

I will not use Qantas again. Too many friends and relatives have been treated like garbage by that airline.

If I am going to use a foreign airline (as it is becoming) then there are better options available.

Macquarie Bank caused all those problems for Virgin Blue when they were operating out of a regional service terminal?

Going downhill quickly in my opinion.

Tassietwister

Also read in Cairns papers they have replaced Qantas Services with Jetstar on some asian routes and the passengers are not happy. Could affect tourism.

Neil_Oz

On our last jaunt we flew Qantas SYD-SFO-SYD and we couldn't have been happier with the service and the cabin crew. It was a refreshing change after enduring our previous trans-Pacific flights with United.

Peter, I'm horrified at the thought of Qantas being taken over by Macquarie (in partnership with some Texas outfit). Qantas may no longer be in government ownership, but it's still our flag carrier. As an Australian company it pays tax on its earnings, and it earns valuable foreign exchange. Of perhaps more importance, it helps to convey a good image of Australia around the world. And it has an impressive record of growth and profitability stretching back over 86 years.

None of which, sadly, will mean much to the government, which no doubt will be happy to bend the foreign ownership rules to look after its mates at MacBank.

shandy

I too would be very disappointed to see our national carrier move into foreign hands. One would hope the Govt puts a stop to it, but as Neil has already pointed out, it may be a case of keeping their mates happy.

Having also flown with Lufthansa, Air Canada and some American domestic in the last year or two, give me Qantas any time. May be I was unlucky, with the other carriers but Qantas won hands down.

lizF

I would fly Qantas before any other airline in the World. I have had nothing but wonderful service and smiling faces - apart from the fact that I know that the maintainance is always up to date which it may not be in other airlines. At least Qantas can fall back on its record for safety.
Darn it - is nothing safe anymore. The thought of an overseas take-over makes me shudder.

Bokhara

I've flown QF domestic & international for 25+ years, business & pleasure. Too many trips to count, & I can think of only 2 lousy experiences.

Given Ansett's fate when it went to offshore interests, I certainly hope QF isn't sold into the Macquarie monster & it's mates.

.... all together now, "Keep yer paws off our 'roo, Macq, keep yer paws off our 'roo. Put that kangaroo down Max, or we'll be giving you the axe!"

pat_woolford

Have also flown Qantas more times than I can count, both domestic and international. Was not really impressed a few years back when Ansett, its only major competitor at time,went belly-up, resulting in Qantas, now with a monopoly, yanking up fares, at least domestically into realms previously unkonwn. Virgin Blue brought domestic airfares back to an affordable state, and Qantas had to follow suit with Jetstar. But Qantas does have an impeccable safety record and would hate to see it go to overseas interests.

Heidi_Mo

I booked Quantas flights fom UK to NZ via Asia and Sydney back in February and am now having a few troubles with changes due to Jetstar doing some of the route. However, I must say the Quantas staff have been so helpful that I can not fault the customer service. Will let you know if I feel the same if more changes are made to my honeymoon in December though!

Tassietwister

It amazes me how their safety record still stands. The amount of Qantas employees that have been on stress leave doesn't add up to a healthy workplace environment. Now they have sacked so many of their maintenance staff in Sydney and have told Melbourne staff if they do not reach productivity targets therir jobs will be relocated to Asia as well.

Productivity over safety is not the spirit of Australia. Oh wait, maybe it is these days.

Neil_Oz

I think there's a moral in Ansett's sad fate. One of the things that led to its demise was its majority ownership by Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd, which had no real interest in the airline business and used Ansett as a cash cow, skimping on maintenance and neglecting business systems to the point that its management was described as "flying blind".

Fr its part, Air New Zealand was owned by Brierley Investments, another amateur in the airline business, and bought Ansett without carrying out any serious due-diligence studies.

Now we have Qantas being eyed off by Macquarie Bank and Texas Pacific, two parties with no background in running an airline. The motivation appears to be the potential for breaking Qantas up and selling many of its assets, and reducing costs by exporting Australian jobs to low-cost Asian countries. That's all we need, isn't it?

The Treasurer, Peter Costello, is making soothing noises about keeping the 49% cap on foreign ownership. So why am I worried? Maybe because the predatory Macquarie Bank is Australian?

lizF

Well come February 22nd I will be able to give an up-to-date account of Jetstar International, Qantas, American Airlines, Lan Chile and a few others in between as I have booked a cruise leaving Rio de Janeiro to Antarctica and have to get there via the USA. It will be a good start to see how Jetstar goes from Australia to Honolulu too and what, if anything, is left out that is essential.
I would hate to think that the flying Kangaroo would go to Overseas interests as Qantas is one of only a few International carriers that makes a damn good profit. All they need is some International Guru who thinks he can do better at the helm and it will be all down hill from there.

Neil_Oz

Just so we know what's at stake here, in 2004/05 Qantas was the world's 11th largest carrier, carrying 32 million passengers a year in a fleet of 213 aircraft and employing 38,000 staff. Revenue for the half-year ending 31/12/2005 was just under $7 billion.

For an Australian company this is an outstanding performance, and even in the days when it was 100% government-owned it never relied on taxpayer subsidies - in fact there's hardly been a year in which Qantas didn't return a profit.

Peteralan

Yep they certainly have a great safety record. However one article I read said that if the takeover is successful the maintenance responsibilities will be shifted to China!!

JohnInMiami

LizF - you wouldn't be coming through Miami on your AA or Lan Chile flight, would you? If so, dinner & drinks are on us

lizF

Well shiver me timbers John we sure are coming through Miami en route to Argentina - I think its on AA. My email is [email protected] now so write direct as we would love to catch up with you pair again. Since I managed to wipe everything from my hard drive a few months ago I have lost everyone's email address too.

itchyfeet5

I just returned from a 6 week to OZ and NZ...three weeks in each country. Used my AA miles to get 2 FF R/T tickets for myself and hubby...unfortunately they would not release 2 Business Class for the same flight, so after 5 weeks of trying, we settled for one business and one coach ( my DH called it steerage because of the long flight.) However our experience was excellent. Going over the seat next to me was empty and the cabin crew felt bad that we were separated and so allowed hime to join me in BC except during meal service. We both managed to get real good sleep..the sky beds were great. The crew couldn't have been more accommodating. Coming home the flight was full but he was able to get a bulkhead seat and spent a reasonably comfortable night. A plus was the use of the Qantas Club in all of the cities we had a layover..it was a perk with the BC ticket but they allowed him in too.

We had a total of eight flights on Qantas, one on Jetconnect, two on AA, and two on Regional Express. Qantas was by far the best experience we had. It would be very sad to see it taken over and lose that personal touch we experienced. Hope it doesn't happen.

stevew

First Lizf also let us know you have a stop over in Tampa at all. We would be more than happy to treat to a meal/drinks. Not sure we could make it to Miami, but its only a 5 hour drive from where we are.

Anyone who flies or has flown Qanas should be prepared to be unhappy when they fly any US carrier. As a business traveler, I feel for the passengers and the airline employee's. Staff levels are below what I would consider minimum staffing. There is only one carrier left that still provides blankets and pillows (Continental, which is also the only carrier that offers a small snack at meal time that you dont have to pay for, regardless of flight time). If your lucky you will be given the "opportunity" to buy an apple and a cracker for $5.00US.

Airfares are low and the low cost carriers have forced the transition of how our traditional carriers operate. I have always been amazed that people will gladly get into a cattle car and fly for 3 hours or so and be happy with absolutely no service.

I for one hope Qantas turns down this offer.

Oh and for those that don't know Westfield owns pretty much every mall in the 'states so you should feel good that some of your companies are doing well branching out here at least

Cheers

lizF

Things are still in the planning stage Steve but the leg from Miami to LA on our return is still up in the air and probably will remain so till we get to South America.
Tampa is the home town of a friend of mine but I actually have never been there - probably because she has never been there for a long time either. I will let you know if we do cross paths in or around that area. Love to catch up.
So far nothing more about a Qantas takeover which is good - we hope.
I am feeling a tad nervous about a Jetstar flight to Hawaii because they are such a low cost airline with absolutely no frills but perhaps it will be the time to get a good book out instead, although you can rent a personal DVD player.