A culture of double-speak and abuse of power appears to be developing at Qantas. This is bad for shareholders, bad for customers, bad for employees and bad for the broader community. We can now see that this is coming from the very top. Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, recently held a media conference in which he flatly denied pulling strings behind the scenes to get Israel Folau fired. He then went on to explain in great detail how he pulled strings behind the scenes to get Israel Folau fired.
This was not some off-the-cuff remark. It was a carefully scripted media release. Alan Joyce may well be losing his marbles, but he no doubt has plenty of advisers and assistants. None of them told him this was a bad idea. So either he is surrounded by 'yes men', or they are all so indoctrinated into homofascist hypocrisy that none of them could see this for what it is.
Here it is:
Quote:‘Outrageous’: Qantas boss Alan Joyce responds to explosive Folau allegation
https://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby/outrageous-qantas-boss-alan-joyce-responds-to-explosive-folau-allegation/news-story/d9ad04a6f6debbb268f0faf871ca06b3
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce says claims he was responsible for ordering Israel Folau’s sacking are “outrageous” while comparing the saga to cricket’s ball tampering brouhaha.
Speaking at a media conference on Thursday, Joyce reiterated that the airline was supportive of Rugby Australia’s decision to tear up Folau’s contract.
But he shot down the accusation from former Wallabies coach Alan Jones — and others — that the team’s major sponsor was actively involved in the employment dispute and subsequent contract termination.
“We sponsor organisations and sports teams to get a positive benefit out of it,” Joyce told reporters.
“When it becomes controversial, we, of course, want the sporting code to fix those issues.
“Israel’s comments were terrible for a large element of the community, a vulnerable element of the community.
“We felt that was causing controversy for our sponsorship and as a consequence, we asked Rugby Australia ‘what are you doing to make sure we’re not involved in controversy?’”
“It is their issue to resolve, they have put a solution in place, they’re working through that and we’re very supportive of what they’re doing.
“The same was true of Cricket Australia with the ball tampering, we said ‘that was not good.’ “Some sponsors pulled out, we didn’t.
“We gave them time to fix it, and they fixed it.
“We’re still a sponsor and continue to be a sponsor because they did the right thing.”
Joyce also joked that Jones was welcome to continue flying with Qantas.
“We don’t discriminate against anybody — other people may, but we don’t,” he laughed.
“Even Alan Jones is welcome to get Lifetime Platinum Status if he gets there.”
I recently came across a similar attitude in dealing with Qantas staff. Qantas basically scammed extra baggage fees. This is how the scam works: Qantas staff reassure a passenger that certain baggage fees will not be charged. Partner airlines hold you to ransom at check-in and demand the fee on behalf of Qantas. They instruct you to approach Qantas for a refund. Both airlines then deny responsibility for the mistake and no refund is issued. After great effort over several months, I managed to speak to an industry customer service rep over the phone. She was literally the worst customer service rep I had ever encountered. She came across as a drunk person deliberately trying to wind me up, and mocked the extended effort I was going to to get fair treatment. Ultimately their justification for this scam was that they wrote themselves a right to conduct this scam into their paperwork. The industry customer service rep supposedly comes from an independent body designed to alleviate the government from having to regulate against this sort of scam, however the body is funded by Qantas.
Quote:Qantas and American Airlines hitting customers with last minute 'surprise fees' at check-inhttp://www.ozpolitic.com/articles/qantas-american-airlines-last-minute-surprise-...Qantas and American Airlines are charging customers 'surprise fees' for baggage at check-in for codeshare flights that they later both deny responsibility for. Here is an example of how the scam works:
A customer purchases a ticket from Qantas for a two-leg flight. One of the legs is on American Airlines. It is a codeshare flight and the ticket is issued as a QF (Qantas) ticket. Prior to the flight, Qantas assures the customer that the Qantas baggage rules apply and that no extra fees will be charged.
At check-in, American Airlines refuse to carry the luggage unless an additional fee is paid. They claim (incorrectly) that the fee is being charged under Qantas rules, referring to the incorrect page on the Qantas website to justify the fee. The amount charged is also not in accordance with Qantas pricing. They insist that the fee is being charged on behalf of Qantas and that if the fee is incorrect the customer simply has to inform Qantas staff before they board the next flight to get a refund. This tactic in employed in 'high pressure' environments, for example when there is a long queue of people or the customer is dealing with children throwing a tantrum, so they choose the 'easier' option of paying the fee and chasing it up later.