What I would like from the new Qantas CEO

A genuine attempt to restore pride in the national carrier. To carry that title it must reflect values of Australia, which have been eroded at the airline over recent years.

Unfortunately Qantas is now a shadow of it former self. Having been a loyal Qantas frequent flyer since 1990, Lifetime Gold since 2015 and moving back and forth between Platinum and Platinum One in recent years, today I have near zero loyalty. Far different now to earlier days when I would be using the national flag carrier for probably 90% of my flights, pricing was good, planes were reliable and I felt a sense of pride in using them. I will drop back to my LTG status this August having hardly used QF in the last year, SQ getting most of my long haul business, Cathay, JAL, Malaysia, taking a share also.

What should Qantas do to get our business back:

• Get your pricing right. My company expects me to use the lowest logical airfare for my travels. Qantas business class costs thousands more than other ‘tier 1’ airlines travelling the same long haul routes. I just can’t justify these high fares to my management
• Update the fleet. Don’t need to say too much more on this one
• Turn off the PR machine. We are sick of hearing about Project Sunrise. Will I pay thousands more to save 4 hours to London, no probably not. Onboard gyms, below deck bunks, chill zones, come on, give us a break!
• Listen to the travelling public not just the shareholders. I know how it works, maximise revenue, minimise costs, and you maximise bottom line. Shareholders love this and the execs get their massive bonuses. Hopefully the new CEO will see the travelling public as being key to the business. It’s been a bit of a perfect storm for Qantas in the last year or so, Qantas have done very well making the most of the reduced competition. This will change as more of the big internationals come back to take their fair share of the business

Completely agree (@APACPete). Am in the same status category but have been torn between continuing with Qantas because of my LTG and current Platinum status or going with a carrier like Singapore that has a much better product out of Melbourne.

100% agree on both of these comments. With fares so high, I have been using Singapore a lot lately on AUS/Europe trips. At first I was reluctant but the reality is that their service is much better than QF so any status differential against P/P1 doesn't matter all that much. There's also just no incentive to push from the 30K lifetime status credit zone towards lifetime plat on QF. Literally the only thing Qantas has going for it anymore are the SYD/MEL first lounges and after you've been to those dozens of time the novelty wears off.

I went to the first lounge for the first time the other week, and to be honest didn't see what the fuss is really about. I mean the difference is they will actually serve you at a table, but any other cafe in Sydney will do that!