Has Qantas lost "the spirit of Australia"?

What does Qantas mean by the statement ..the spirit of Australia.I asked a captain in LA recently and was told the spirit has long gone.I ask you why you can not only fly at at cheaper fare in all classes or will you fly Qantas Int for survival of the once great carrier.

Perhaps we can read 'spirit' today as being more about a shadow of its former self than a once icon of a prosperous and vibrant country. 

I'd like to see Qantas return to being a great carrier. That's obviously the plan, but only time will tell if the current management can turn the tables around. 

However, until that happens ill continue to fly with airlines that understand what customers want and deliver it. 

Define "great carrier".

Perhaps not flying internationally is in fact the optimal size of scope of Qantas?

So if Qantas is extremely profitable flying only domestic flights, does that make them "great"? Or does greatness come from being international? (Home turf is not good enough?).

Who defines greatness in the public discourse?

Perhaps 'profitable' is the word I'm really looking for. 'Great' is subjective to be sure.

I regard Qantas as the best carrier by far trans pacific.No competition on this sector.In regard greatness in the public discourse booth you and i do as we travel more than most on this carrier. if i fly to LHR from from SYD/BNE i do SQ.Two times this year to LHR on SQ and no comparson in first.But unlike you i do not retain my own private aircraft...but will soon.... and hopefully get me to where i wish to go at least domestically with in the US and and Aust..

While I fly the long Westward way to reach New York, I'd have to agree that for Trans Pacific (without flying via Asia) Qantas would be the airline I'd choose to book with. Delta, VA, and United are far behind seat-wise. Perhaps Air NZ would be a second option to Qantas. 

We cannot wait for you to retain your own private aircraft.

The paint job will have to incorporate a phoenix somewhere...

Can it not be a phoenix? I'd much rather it not be immortal.

Any emotional nationalistic connotations aside I would still choose Qantas on most routes it flies.  As an Aussie living in europe and using european/american airlines frequently I really think sometimes we don't know how lucky we are with our 'national' airline.  

I  regulary fly to the US and almost always fly with Delta (DL) and not Qantas. Main Reason is PRICE. Yes, I do agree that they have the best trans pacific product both in First and Business (have flowen QF in the past) BUT if they want my business back, they need to be more price compeditive. Example: I am booked to travel back to the US on the 17th for 3 weeks DL came in at the most cost effective while QF was about 20% more expensive. 

Yes.It's not the same anymore as it was when I first flew them in 1989 and the service levels are down the toilet.Perhaps someone should send Alan Joyce a You Tube video of the old Australian Airlines the way we do the things we do from the early nineties for some ideas to get the airline back to the way it used to be.I only ever fly them domestically as a last resort otherwise Virgin is my domestic carrier of choice and as for International it varies on where I am headed of course.

Things always seem better in the good old days. Service may have been nicer, but then passengers were also nicer when flying was still a special thing. People actually dressed appropriately, didn't get aggressively drunk, abuse staff if they didn't get their 'needs' answered immediately - all part of the entitlement culture that has seeped into everyday life.

I've been flying Qantas for decades and think the service is as good as ever. The occasional grump, but nothing that speaks of a poor service culture across the company. I like that they take safety super seriously and that it has a distinctly Australian feel to it. My only gripe would be that they give their planes a better systemic check for cleanliness between flights.

I have removed several comments from this thread that didn't align with the AusBT commenting policy.

As we've said before, please keep your comments to the issue, rather than to the person making an earlier comment.

The topic being discussed is whether you're motivated solely on price, or whether you're prepared to pay more to fly with 'The Spirit of Australia' (Qantas) when its fares are higher than the competition.

Play nice, folks!