Hope Dixon Is Reading The News

Question:

I hope Geoff Dixon is reading the news about the big BA Balls Up, and the impact it has on its company and the thousands of poor Pax’s it has stranded. Whilst in not really BA’s fault, being the Fault of a Contract Caterer at the epicentre of this major disaster, but its shows that little people will not be pushed around. People power still really does work as this case has shown. With Qantas at present looking at ways to screw its staff, it should tread carefully with Unions. I’ve said it before, keep your staff happy, and everyones happy, so easy really. Its a shame that the poor public has to suffer in these cases. Anyway I hope it will be solved sooner rather than later.

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I hope Geoff Dixon is reading the news about the big BA Balls Up, and the impact it has on its company and the thousands of poor Pax’s it has stranded. Whilst in not really BA’s fault, being the Fault of a Contract Caterer at the epicentre of this major disaster, but its shows that little people will not be pushed around. People power still really does work as this case has shown. With Qantas at present looking at ways to screw its staff, it should tread carefully with Unions. I’ve said it before, keep your staff happy, and everyones happy, so easy really. Its a shame that the poor public has to suffer in these cases. Anyway I hope it will be solved sooner rather than later.

I think Qantas is caught up in this affair as well and they are transporting passengers to Europe (Frankfurt)- lack of catering.

Response:

In brief, what happened?

Response:

In brief, what happened?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4142408.stm British Airways has cancelled all flights in and out of Heathrow until Friday evening because of unofficial strike action by ground staff. Some 70,000 passengers, many of them stranded, will be prevented from travelling until 1800 BST. BA grounded all flights after hundreds of baggage handlers, ground staff and loaders took unofficial action in support of 600 sacked catering staff. A further five airlines have been affected by the disruption. These are Sri Lankan Airlines, Finnair, GB Airways, British Mediterranean Airlines and Qantas, which are also serviced by BA ground staff. Earlier talks with the Transport and General Workers Union aimed at reinstating 600 sacked staff from the caterers that serve BA flights, Gate Gourmet, broke down without agreement.

Response:

I hope Geoff Dixon is reading the news about the big BA Balls Up, and the impact it has on its company and the thousands of poor Pax’s it has stranded.

Geoff’s passengers were among those stranged, basically anything involving the use of T4 ceased operating, and that includes QF… Whilst in not really BA’s fault, being the Fault of a Contract Caterer at the epicentre of this major disaster, but its shows that little people will not be pushed around.

Keep in mind who is running Gate Gourmet, Dave Siegel who ran US Airways so sucessfully that he ran it in Bankrtupcy TWICE…. Mr. Siegel’s credentials for dealing sucessfully with an organized work force are somewhere between slim and none… It is reported that the next round of Bankruptcies in the Industry are going to be in the Catering business. These guys has gotten a triple Whammy. They took huge losses in the Bankrtupcies (Gate Gourmet was owed Millions when Ansett folded, and they have also taken a beating in the US with Airline failures. In addition, the demand for Airline catering is way down, and what the airlines are willing to pay for what they do buy, has also gone down significantly People power still really does work as this case has shown.

And if they aren’t careful, they could all end up just like the Ansett employees… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -With Qantas at present looking at ways to screw its staff, it should tread carefully with Unions. I’ve said it before, keep your staff happy, and everyones happy, so easy really. Its a shame that the poor public has to suffer in these cases. Anyway I hope it will be solved sooner rather than later.

Response:

In brief, what happened?

Gate Gourmet, BA’s cater, wanted to hire casuals to meet summer demands. Some employees refused to work with the casuals. They were warned, and then fired for the refusal. That caused a walkout at Gate Gourmet, and BA’s ground employees and contractors honored the picket line.

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – In brief, what happened? Gate Gourmet, BA’s cater, wanted to hire casuals to meet summer demands. Some employees refused to work with the casuals. They were warned, and then fired for the refusal. That caused a walkout at Gate Gourmet, and BA’s ground employees and contractors honored the picket line.

Ah…. ok… Ta.

Response:

Matt you seem to know a lot about the industry. So with talks that Qantas will offload its Catering Subsidary who would want to have it. Talk about LSG Skychefs been the only company that would buy it. But I would think that Dixon will have some trouble with the Unions if he tries to sell it off, what would you think.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I hope Geoff Dixon is reading the news about the big BA Balls Up, and the impact it has on its company and the thousands of poor Pax’s it has stranded. Geoff’s passengers were among those stranged, basically anything involving the use of T4 ceased operating, and that includes QF… Whilst in not really BA’s fault, being the Fault of a Contract Caterer at the epicentre of this major disaster, but its shows that little people will not be pushed around. Keep in mind who is running Gate Gourmet, Dave Siegel who ran US Airways so sucessfully that he ran it in Bankrtupcy TWICE…. Mr. Siegel’s credentials for dealing sucessfully with an organized work force are somewhere between slim and none… It is reported that the next round of Bankruptcies in the Industry are going to be in the Catering business. These guys has gotten a triple Whammy. They took huge losses in the Bankrtupcies (Gate Gourmet was owed Millions when Ansett folded, and they have also taken a beating in the US with Airline failures. In addition, the demand for Airline catering is way down, and what the airlines are willing to pay for what they do buy, has also gone down significantly People power still really does work as this case has shown. And if they aren’t careful, they could all end up just like the Ansett employees… With Qantas at present looking at ways to screw its staff, it should tread carefully with Unions. I’ve said it before, keep your staff happy, and everyones happy, so easy really. Its a shame that the poor public has to suffer in these cases. Anyway I hope it will be solved sooner rather than later.

Response:

It is always a problem. The bind that airlines are in is that margins for many of them have vanished, so finding ways to get rid of employees and the fringe benefits has become an important issue. One of the reasons companies Like HAECO exist is so that the parent, Swire and Cathay Pacific doesn’t need to provide airline style benefits. In the USA, Southwest Airlines has never had any heavy maintenance capability, it has always been done with Southwest Inspectors on the job, at Tramco. No Southwest Airlines benefits (like profit sharing and travel) for Tramco. There isn’t a good reason other than history to provide airline benefits Catering companies. Should they be entitled to benefits that materially different than others in the same industry. Should a company specializing in corporate function catering have employee with airline travel benefits just like a catering company that specializes in airline catering? Should a security guard at QANTAS corporate HQ be entitled to significantly better benefits (like travel), just because he works at QANTAS instead of Westpac Bank? That is part of what is driving the desire to unload these non-core businesses. Catering is largely catering. Qatar Airways Caterer used to be the Sheraton Hotel in Doha! (May still be for all I know). In remote stations like Townsville, QF used to use local caters who other than having a contract with QANTAS was a commercial caterer. The way you make money these days is figure out the things you are good at, and concentrate on them. The things you aren’t so good at, you either find a way to do much better, or you find someone else who things they are much better at it, and let them do it. There is no shortage of people who believe they can do it better, however the industry is littered with the remains of people who found out the hard way they couldn’t. BA had good reasons to be want to be out of the Catering business. They had a few catering disasters, and finally decided it was time for someone else to actually face the music for them. They actually had a passenger die in the 1980’s as a result of food poisoning… At this point most airlines are having such a rough time of it, that getting rid of non-essential businesses is a way to stay more focused.

Response:

Yes they make big profits on the side, last year Catering made 50 million profit, 1 mill a day, not a bad investment on the side is it.

How is $50 million a year profit equal to $1 millin profit a day? Dave ===== There are 10 types of people – those who understand binary, and those who don’t.

Response:

Yes they make big profits on the side, last year Catering made 50 million profit, 1 mill a day, not a bad investment on the side is it. How is $50 million a year profit equal to $1 millin profit a day? Dave

The bloke put his hand up said it was an error . Also works for a bank. these days it makes sense. He Meant they DID make a mil a day but after bank charges and fees it came down to just $50mil net

Response:

Sorry I farked up, yep I work in the bank. Yes about 1 mill a week, still not bad for a side investment.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Yes they make big profits on the side, last year Catering made 50 million profit, 1 mill a day, not a bad investment on the side is it. there’s a $306m discrepancy in your numbers – you don’t work for the state government do you? ;)

Response:

Yes they make big profits on the side, last year Catering made 50 million profit, 1 mill a day, not a bad investment on the side is it.

there’s a $306m discrepancy in your numbers – you don’t work for the state government do you? ;)

Response:

Yes they make big profits on the side, last year Catering made 50 million profit, 1 mill a day, not a bad investment on the side is it.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Paul said…. You will never get good quality work from contractors, as they really don’t give a shit. That goes for many sections of the Aviation world. And in other industries. I work in the power industry. I work for a power generator that has both in house maintenance and some contracted work. Our guys are pretty good, but they have to be on top of the contractors that they supervise, otherwise, they end up doing mediocre work. Most of the contractor employees are casual, and when we have say a major outage or overhaul, often we get in people who’ve had little experience working on the plant, and who really don’t care, as they’re just working from job to job. Unfortunately for us, their work affects us, both in terms of company performance, and our own performance or productivity incentives (bonus). It gets frustrating, too. One of the generators is considering hiring back its own maintenance people. Most would come from the incumbent contractor. I’d say that it’d be an opportunity to cast adrift the dead wood that the contractor inherited when the site was split up following the sale of the assets when the old SECV was privatised. But as far as catering goes, is there any real benefits for Qantas or any other airline to have their own services? Wouldn’t one or two catering companies work more efficiently servicing many airlines?

Response:

Paul said…. You will never get good quality work from contractors, as they really don’t give a shit. That goes for many sections of the Aviation world.

And in other industries. I work in the power industry. I work for a power generator that has both in house maintenance and some contracted work. Our guys are pretty good, but they have to be on top of the contractors that they supervise, otherwise, they end up doing mediocre work. Most of the contractor employees are casual, and when we have say a major outage or overhaul, often we get in people who’ve had little experience working on the plant, and who really don’t care, as they’re just working from job to job. Unfortunately for us, their work affects us, both in terms of company performance, and our own performance or productivity incentives (bonus). It gets frustrating, too. One of the generators is considering hiring back its own maintenance people. Most would come from the incumbent contractor. I’d say that it’d be an opportunity to cast adrift the dead wood that the contractor inherited when the site was split up following the sale of the assets when the old SECV was privatised. But as far as catering goes, is there any real benefits for Qantas or any other airline to have their own services? Wouldn’t one or two catering companies work more efficiently servicing many airlines?

Response:

Yep British Airwars sold off its Catering Section, but after this weekends debacle, I bet they wish they hadn’t. You will never get good quality work from contractors, as they really don’t give a shit. That goes for many sections of the Aviation world.

YOu really can get good work from contractors, but you have to be prepared to keep them on a very tight leash. I had several products designed by contractors, and I used to visit them about every other week when the work was going on, and I was actively involved in testing and debugging. If you just hand over the keys, you are likely to get lousy work. the problem is that is how most of it is done, and the result is as you suggest, lousy work. If you are prepared to supervise the work (as Southwest does with Tramco, Tramco employees understand that if the Southwest inspector on the premises won’t sign off on it, it isn’t done), you really can get good work. You can outsource the work, you cannot outsource the responsiblity and supervision.

Response:

Filed under: Strike action

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