Should Australian airlines acknowledge members of our armed forces?

Veterans/Defence personnel are humble enough not wanting this kind of attention everytime they get on a plane.

This type of behaviour is no becoming of Australians. It is not representative of the egalitarian society to single out a particular group of people in our community. We show a deep amount of respect on remembrance day and ANZAC Day, which would really be better backed up with money and initiatives to be provided to support our defence force personnel rather than the lip service and frankly cringe worthy display of fawning that isn't a part of Australian culture.

If vets are acknowledged, should we not do the same for cops/ambos/firies/nurses/etc?

I think most veterans and defence force personnel would not want the attention. Why not acknowledge their service by Qantas and Virgin giving them access to a business class lounge or upgrading them if upgrades available. It gives the recognition but in a more private and respectful way.

Very well articulated brisflyer. I totally agree. Make the recognition something tangible and of benefit.

I've always kind of admired the way American airlines do this but I didn't think it would work in Australia - we are cut from a different cloth.

The Government should be putting more resources into the welfare of ex-service personnel rather than supporting this type of fluff. I suspect many Australians will consider this yet another example of 'creeping Americanism'. What's next, the National Anthem & hands on hearts before each major sporting event?

This move by Virgin Australia is nothing more than jingoistic, nationalistic nonsense. This is Australia, not America. I really hope VA do a back flip on this.

Go to any domestic flight and it’s clear already that Qantas cannot organise priority boarding for the current PAX who are meant to. If priority boarding actually worked as advertised then by all means do it. Until they can figure that out though there is no point.

Gees this is so left of field for VA, I really wonder who thought of this idea maybe a new CEO from America?

My experience in the US is the terminal makes general announcements about veterans but on the boarding calls I have heard; it it current personnel on duty i.e. going to or from work, which is more part of an enterprise agreement. That has been my experience on AA

We don’t need or want acknowledgement, and many, like myself, aren’t allowed it due to security reasons. I have only flown once in uniform with 2 other men. We received special acknowledgment from the crew, and we were given a Qantas lapel pin.

This is a nice gesture from Virgin, but the issue at large is the fact the government has passed the buck to the corporate world to avoid financial and moral responsibly in areas of concern such as PTSD, drug trials etc...

The backlash is towards the government but corporates such as Virgin have been caught in the crossfire as it appears they are kissing arse to a certain group for their own acknowledgment.

My father is a veteran, formerly with the Army, and he tells me he appreciates the gesture but doesn't want to be singled out for special recognition, and certainly doesn't want to have priority boarding and be seen to be "pushing in" ahead of his fellow travellers. I think this attitude would be common to most servicemen.

I am SO disappointed at the results of the poll. I travel to the US quite frequently and am impressed by that "favour" done over there. The military are "loathed" by the left here until the invasion is imminent. At that point they will complain at the lack of preparedness , caused, naturally, by the other mob.

There's a multitude of reasons I don't like this, or want this to happen. Full disclosure - I'm from a military family though have never served myself.

Veterans should be recognised for their service. However I don't believe singling out veterans for acknowledgement before flights is the correct way of doing this.

I'm not a fan of this either ... however if VA wanted to do it without making a fuss they could just add veterans in with the Platinum/Gold members priority boarding. I'm not advocating that, just saying that it gives a 'perk' without singling them out. Surely they could also grant booking discounts - don't they already have that for other groups of people?

From an ex crew perspective, I think that Qantas' statement nailed it on the head AND I agree with others here who say its far too 'american', and that ultimately, we are losing far more ADF personnel to suicide than we are in combat - so more money on support services and less on lawyers trying to prove some poor bugger doesn't have TPD.

Really, no disrespect here, I take my hat off to our war veterans but this is just far fetched, Christ Jesus this country is becoming a real suck hole to the American's, whatever they do we must copy. Did any politicians like offer them free access to say a VIP lounge, or say even a free flight a year etc. To be honest I don't think most veterans would want this. So do others in our armed forces eg police get a welcome and goodbye salute as well.

Absolutely not! Where will it end? What about Police Officers, Fire Fighters, Paramedics, etc, etc, etc? I don't see why we have to continuously become more and more Americanised. Unsurprising that this push is being driven by Murdoch media.

I thought is was a nice gesture from Virgin Australia, I have also seen it often in the USA and it seems to be unobtrusive. Being a retired Police Officer and ex serviceman I believe this belongs with the Services, no other job is inherently as dangerous and comes with a real risk of death, for usually a lot less pay than any of the other jobs mentioned.

For one thing, I'm absolutely shocked that this is considered a big deal. Why is this controversial in any way? For that matter I don't think choosing not to make such announcements should be controversial either, but why is the issue of whether or not our servicemembers should be given a special discount of perk by a private business somehow a big deal in the first place?

just do something real, give gold, pt status. i dont mind.

No. Let individual pilots make an announcement. As did Captain Richard de Crispigny when I was on QF2 back from London a few years ago. Veterans of WW1 returning from France were on board and the Captain made a very respectful announcement whilst in flight. On landing in Sydney he had arranged for the five gentlemen to be seated at the aerobridge just outside the aircraft and departing PAX had a chance to just shake their hands and say thank you. A very kind, respectful act by the Captain and QF. Something like this stays in the mind.

No! Recognition of our service personnel should be generous, willingly given, and provided by the Government on behalf of the Nation. I only served as a National Serviceman, but I have five members in my close family who are presently serving. None of them would welcome being singled out for recognition in this way.

As ex-military, I'd rather more was done along the lines of mental health support services, financial assistance and reintegration into a different workplace environment that doesn't rely on a chain of command, etc.
I, and others, don't need a specious announcement from an organisation that doesn't understand the circumstances of service or the reasons we do it. The thought is nice, but I personally appreciate firefighters, ambulance officers, police, SES, etc, as well...just not politicians :)

Now they could stand to lose some of their travel privileges :)....

Wow, lot of heavy reading here folks and many opinions. As a Veteran I always wear my lapel pin with pride. Should someone recognize it usually another member of the forces, usually you've made a mate!

Instead of veterans I think the airlines should acknowledge when a politician is flying at tax payers expense. Maybe even set up a special lounge for such people. Oh, and offer them free upgrades and priority boarding.

no disrespect to any Veterans, however this is just a Virgin "try hard" stunt aimed to get attention and polarise opinions

I do understand the idea of recognising the service for Australia, but there are plenty of other services, such as SES, CFS, ambos, nurses among others, that serve the country.
Allegedly there are even politicians that claim to be serving Australia. However that might be an urban legend.

IMHO Australian Veterans, particularly wounded Vets (like the Invictus participants) are not given the recognition they deserve by way of reduced fees and costs on a whole range of services, especially government services and public acknowledgment. Having said that it's also definitely NOT the Aussie way to publicly announce "thank you for your service" which sounds empty and silly and very 'Merican.

VA...Virgin Australia or Veterans Affairs? Most veterans I know would be embarrassed being singled out in public. As others have posted, give them Gold or Platinum status or say two free flights per year. That then becomes a "Thank you for your service" acknowledgment. This would cost VA money but would be a greater PR exercise than this nonsense.

Nationalistic garbage, as bad as Abbot reintroducing knighthoods. There are too any deserving people in this world that could be mentioned, and whom contribute daily to this nation much more than service people will ever do so. JB, this is an idiotic decision and you deserve the flak you are receiving.

NO. As has been stated many times above, they are part of the greater community who protect us (both here and overseas) from danger and preserve our way of life. Soldiers, Ambos, Doctors, Police, Fireees, the list is endless. The whole thing has been started as a political points scoring exercise and it should be recognised for being just that. ALL of the above people and many more are the ones that we already acknowledge for doing such a wonderful job. VA move on, you are wrong on this one.