Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson’s attempt to “rebrand” the airline after years of missteps has borne some fruit — at least from a public relations perspective.
But at the coalface, airline crew and essential maintenance engineers remain either unhappy or cynical, with a sense that the company has not changed, and that there has been a lot of ”talk” resulting in few concrete improvements.
“Qantas staff have dealt with plenty of customer frustration in the past, but their crews are warming to a new era for the airline,” a story from Yahoo gushed this week, quoting a crew member who remarked: “The crew are excited and they’re ready for a fresh start, there’s a genuine belief the company can turn the reputation around.”
Among the things to be excited about? A plan to introduce new uniforms — although not until 2027. But as one pilot told Crikey, “In the top 20 things that are wrong with Qantas, the uniform is not one of them. Even though it is disliked.”
There is no question Qantas has been through a brand reputation crisis. It sacked thousands of employees during COVID, illegally outsourced ground workers, and was found to have sold tickets to “ghost flights” that didn’t exist — all while former CEO Alan Joyce and top executives banked millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses.
Eventually, Joyce was forced out early, the company’s chairman Richard Goyder departed, and wholesale changes were made to senior management and the board. The way many staff see it, however, is that Hudson — who has been at Qantas for more than two decades and was Joyce’s number two — has been part of the problem, despite presenting herself as the “nicer face” of the company.
Central to Hudson’s rebranding efforts was the appointment of Catherine Walsh as Qantas’ inaugural chief people officer, a newly created role that Walsh assumed in February 2024.
The role was said to be designed to help foster a stronger relationship between Qantas and its 25,000 employees, as well as with the unions that represent them.
”While Catherine Walsh is definitely trying to improve the engagement with the staff and rebuild trust/confidence, most of the people from the Alan Joyce era are still in position,” one pilot told Crikey. “They did a lot of horrible things and have never been held accountable for their actions — this includes Vanessa Hudson.”
Qantas staff who Crikey spoke to commented that while there had been an increase in staff surveys, there had been less in the way of concrete changes.
Meanwhile, pilots from Qantas’ regional airlines said that Walsh’s efforts, through the company’s “town hall” meeting program, appeared very much focused on mainline operations. “That has been disappointing so far,” one regional pilot said.
Another pilot said that if Hudson really wanted to improve relations with staff, “she would stop insisting on a two-year wage freeze in the middle of a cost of living crisis where management are walking away with millions in bonuses”.
Qantas remains embroiled in negotiations with its two biggest pilot groups — representing mainline short-haul and long-haul — and is preparing for a second vote on a new enterprise bargaining agreement for the former cohort.
“The only people who are happy at the moment are international cabin crew who got a decent pay rise last year — which they deserved,” one pilot said.
Pilots who spoke to Crikey also remain frustrated with the poor state of the airline’s fleet, with the condition of planes and the availability of parts resulting in delays and cancellations.
“The fleet is still in a rather sad state,” one engineer said. ”A330 engines too — we’re waiting for four or five engines to be replaced. Not much has changed.”
Fleet issues have impacted one of the core benefits staff say they have had working at Qantas: travel. “It is increasingly difficult to get not just a premium cabin but even an economy seat,” one pilot said, noting that while it was always more difficult during summer holidays, there were waitlists of dozens of staff in places like Singapore in recent weeks.
As for the new uniforms, a number of staff Crikey spoke to hoped history would not repeat itself after the mistakes of the airline’s last uniform overhaul 12 years ago. The “Star Trek” look was widely derided, but the main complaint was that the use of too much synthetic fibre made the uniforms uncomfortable, particularly in any heat.
Qantas has promised to consult widely with staff, and indeed (yet more) surveys have already been sent out across the company.
But as one former pilot said: “The previous uniform had staff input but [Qantas] just ignored it. It’s all about cost and the material is bad because it’s cheap.”
Staff believe window dressing continues at the company. “They are wallpapering over the cracks but I think Hudson is also doing this with herself,” one pilot noted. “She’s distancing herself from Alan Joyce. They’re blaming everything on Joyce, but she was a significant contributing factor to what went on — and all the staff know that.”
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