Frequent flyers flying off the handle
By Robert Gottliebsen
25jan02

FREQUENT flyers and Ansett pilots were the two groups that responded most strongly to the revelation of how Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox will rescue Ansett.

Their plan was set out in The Australian on Wednesday and quickly attracted emails. Frequent flyers were unhappy they had been invited to a creditors' meeting without knowing how their points would convert.
Fox and Lew did not want the creditors' vote linked to the frequent flyer offer and so will not release their plan well in advance of the meeting next Tuesday. But it has caused agitation among the 2.7 million Ansett frequent flyers and it showed up in the emails.

Among the pilots, frequent flyer points didn't rank as an issue. They have agreed to substantially reduce their salaries and stake their futures on the abilities of Lew and Fox. They know how difficult it is going to be for Qantas to match what Lew and Fox have done. I selected two emails from frequent flyers and one from a pilot to show what is happening. Ansett frequent flyer 1

"The Fox/Lew people seem to want to leave their bad news for Golden Wing members to the last minute so we cannot get organised to blow their scheme out of the air.

"I joined the day it started in 1983 and upgraded to life membership in 1993 and was left with 248,000 points. Unless their offer is close to business as normal, I will sink $3500 into the Qantas version and live with that rather than a second or third-rate offer. Life is too short to sit around with mum and dad on holidays every time you fly.

"The corporate flyer links are not that strong. Government can dictate who flys what, but when I was at Shell we flew Ansett but managers could arrange their own flights and did as they wanted on the basis as they knew when and where they wanted to be and were responsible for that.

"Next Tuesday will be interesting. The only problem is they will not be able to bring their TWU enforcers to the meeting as they did with rival trucking firms." Ansett frequent flyer 2

"Great to see Diners Club acting as a proxy at the Ansett meeting. I have filled in the forms and faxed them to Diners (one phone call and done). I am still trying to connect to the administrators (100 calls or more and still unable to connect). Would it be that it isn't in their interests to receive my intention to have a say?"

The Ansett pilot

"I am an Ansett pilot (one of the lucky few who got their job back). I have been reading your news articles and those of your fellow journalists regularly since the collapse of Ansett.

"When I read your article in The Australian it brought me a great sense of relief. At last someone has realised the potential of this great Australian icon.

"It is an Australian tradition to kick someone when they're down – you guys in the past have certainly put the boot in. Fortunately, another great Australian tradition is to support the underdog, and with positive articles like yours I believe the support will begin to flow, at first just a trickle but becoming a raging torrent as Australians begin to realise what damage a dominant airline with over 80 per cent market share can do to an average family's/small business's travel plans.

"Additionally, I look forward to Qantas's attempts to reduce their pilots' pay and conditions to anywhere near those negotiated by Tesna. As you quite rightly said, it is a job more easily done under the shadow of unemployment than from within a successful business.

"Do you honestly think a Qantas pilot is going to accept a 50 per cent pay cut? Nine months ago, I would have said I'd never accept such a pay cut either, but isn't it interesting how times change?"




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RichardMEL, UA 1K
A Star Alliance Member.