Comments on: Qantas trip a Fawlty Towers fever dream

By: mike smith

mike smith — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

AH yes, I used to fly Qantas, haven’t looked back since flying Virgin. The (odd) delays I’ve experienced haven’t gone > 20 min, they load faster than Qantas, and don’t ply you with food you don’t really want. You want it, BYO or buy it.

By: Harry

Harry — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I’ve yet to board a Qantas flight that ever leaves or arrives on schedule. It certainly needs competition and a new leader!

By: Jenny Walsh

Jenny Walsh — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

The Fawlty Towers fever dream sounds familiar but you lot in the East have got it easier than us over here in the West. We have to rely on WA airline Skywest which services the north west - these days stuffed full of FIFO’s. They are always late taking off and landing sometimes for over two hours and they are always breaking down. Luckily, if this happens mid air, we can always glide down into the sinifex.
A few weeks ago a friend of mine was flying from Carnarvon (900kms north of Perth) to Perth and had the usual stop over at Kalbarri about 160 kms north of Geraldton to pick up the one tourist who is always boringly there. As they were taking off she looked out of the window and saw the left engine was on fire and then noticed that the right engine was also smoking away. Luckily the pilot also noticed it and did a very fast U turn on the run way to off load the stunned passengers. The Kalbarri “airport lounge” is a tin shed where the temperatures can get up to 40 degrees. I think there’s a coke machine in there and a couple of plastic chairs. The passengers had to wait in the shed for five hours for an engine part to be sent up from Perth.
We’re sort of used to the 3rd world air travel conditions up here now but what we mostly object to is having to pay for it. Flights on Qantas from Sydney to Brisbane don’t cost a lot compared to the $840 two hour Carnarvon-Perth return flights we have to pay for. No wonder all the passengers on the Qantas flight could afford to laugh.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

It always amazes me that posts about Qantas seem to draw the creatures out from under their rocks to lay shit on Qantas…

Are Qantas perfect? Hell no. But they’re doing a damn better job than a lot of other airlines. I’ve had my share of crap flights, bad attitude, and just perplexing situations. As someone who travels on them nearly every week (100 sectors last year), I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen delays handled poorly, and I’ve seen delays handled perfectly.

Qantas can do better and maybe they will change. No airline is perfect - not Virgin, not Singair, not anyone.

I suggest you exercise your right and fly whoever you want. Just stop the crap about ‘no flight leaves on time’. You sound pathetic and small.

Why not focus your fury on the real problem…The airports…Sydney is a joke. Brisbane is a joke (really, how can a group of 9 passengers skip security????). Perth is a joke. what are YOU doing to put pressure on our political system to fix this? No really, what are you doing..?

By: Bretto

Bretto — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Qantas are a disgrace. There is a general atttitude within the whole group that they are doing you a favour by letting you get onto their plane. Show me a good Qantas experience and I’ll show you a thousand bad ones. The sooner there is true airline competition in Australia the better. Singapore Airlines would decimate Qantas if allowed to compete. And to throw all that “Spirit of Australia” crap at us is insulting. If Qantas is the spririt of Australia, then Australia is an incompetent, surly, greedy, fool.

By: dennis

dennis — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I wouldnt fly Qantarse ever ever ever ever again, several bad experiences with their ground staff spelt enough is enough. If they want to know how to treat their passengers, check out Thai, Malaysian, Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Air NZ , all leave the Spirit of Oz in their jet stream.