Comments on: Deathstar shines on far North Queensland tourism

By: Greg

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

There is no doubt at all that Qantas has completely lost the plot. That is a given. The thing that always amuses me - as a very long term Japan watcher - is that the Japanese didn’t ever want to go to Cairns in the first place. It was foist upon them as an expedient when Qantas devised - as always purely for their own profit motives - to make that rather ghastly and unappealing city on the estuarine mud flats the “hub” for Japan flights. It was all sold with wonderful Ken Done artworks that had koalas lolling under colorful beach umbrellas on white sandy beaches next to aqua rolling surf. But when the poor old Japanese got off the plane after a long, hard night in economy class and went for a bit of a wander, all they could see (apart from the duty free shops run by Japanese owners - which they were frogmarched to in any case) was mud flats, mangroves and muddy brown water. And warning not to go near the water because of crocodiles and stingers!! Cairns was totally manufactured for Qantas’s own operational convenience purposes, NOT at all for reasons that had anything to do with what the Japanese actually WANTED to see of Australia. And as far as I can see, the move to the Gold Coast, rather than Brisbane, smacks of even more of the same.
Everywhere else in the world the Japanese are going for history, culture, antiquity, etc. (I just spent a week in Venice and was stunned by the numbers of Japanese there), but good old Qantas still thinks they wet their pants over casinos, dolphin parks (even Japan now has them, in addition to including the stars of the shows on restaurant menus) and ultra-expensive duty free shopping. I gave up flying Qantas to Japan long ago. The sooner everyone else does, the better (Cathay, via HK, by the way, is a great alternative!).

By: kerry

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

Qantas has completely lost the plot. It no longer has any interest in customer service , greed and money now reigns supreme. So much for the National carrier, Australian for Australians? NOT

By: michael

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

This should come as no surprise. as dixon’s ‘mini me’, joyce is a cost cutter. rather like schools, hospitals and the like, CEO’s find that the industry would work really well except for the dreaded customer who ruins it all. qf have made it quite clear by sidelining borghetti, getting rid of gregg, hiring joyce who has bought with him the cfo of jetstar that it wants cheap….everything. just watch those executive salaries rise and bonuses inflate while joyce trashes the company. by the time anyone realizes he will be well gone witht he golden parachute.
just one more thiong. given the econmic meltdown, how would qf be now wiyth the likes of allco as an owner in th eproposed buyout. thanks geoff for the promoting of that debacle!