Things have changed a lot since your days. There is only a small handful of flights with First now and the vast majority of government travel you get status credits only, no frequent flyer points on offer. Pollies will get offered upgrades to business domestically but some refuse the upgrades for instance Katter was sitting at the back of the bus on my last work trip out of Brisbane and I also used to see Tony Rabbit in Economy years ago.
I remember you praising her when she was at AP.
For some of her work yes. She did some good things and always did ok by me. I was upset on how she was dismissed but she had her flaws and some parts of the business suffered. She was excellent in some areas but poor in others and whilst I was thankful for her time at the business I believe the current leadership is much better
Firstly they are not banned, they simply had and extra 4 daily slots denied.
Secondly as recently as this month the Australian government chartered Qatar airways to repatriate citizens from Lebanon so they use them when they want to.
If the government had simply came out and said it was because of the sexual assault why they were banned then I reckon most people would cop that.
Instead you had a minister flip flop and give about a dozen different excuses which changed almost daily and involved intense lobbying by Joyce to the government to prevent them getting those extra slots.
Oh well in hindsight itâs all for the best as now Qatar are buying our second biggest airline and will get their extra slots via the back door and Qantas has made a very powerful enemy going forward
1 Like
2 Likes
As to chartering Qatar for evacuation, that was a straightforward commercial deal of available commercial aircraft.
Defence made it clear that the RAAF planes it had sent to Cyprus were only to be used as a last resort for evacuations (implying that they were there for strategic purposes, connected to cooperation with CENTCOM).
So why are they chartering the evil Qatariâs when our own so called National airline was already doing the job or get their best buddies at Emirates to do the job.
If Qatar is as evil as many on here point out then the Feds shouldnât be dealing with them should they?
2 Likes
Sigh. Australia, US and Canada shared around the aircraft available in the region, Qatar Air wasnât doing any favours,
Sigh all you want
The fact is Australia paid Qatar Airways to repatriate our citizens from Lebanon after a tender process. If our government truly thought Qatar is as evil as many on here think they are then they couldâve easily chose one of the others who put on a tender
There are plenty of other airlines who could do the job but at the end of the day our government chose to pay Qatar.
I just donât get the hypocrisy of people who want Qatar banned from Australia yet are happy for us to use them in our time of need.
They were also the only airline to serve us every single day during Covid when our national airline abandoned us and refused to fly
3 Likes
Do they deserve to be banned forever, no of course not. Mistakes are made.
Was it appropriate to limit them for awhile to send a message that what happened isnât acceptable. Iâd say yes.
1 Like
NT Government is spending megabucks chartering planes to shuffle prisoners between Darwin and Alice to combat over crowding. Doesnât matter where their families and other support are located.
The juvies are all being sent from Alice to Darwin . Before some could be sent from Alice, riots started, delaying the transfer.
1 Like
#geargate
4 Likes
Who hurt you
QATAR canât be that evil. Major sponsor for the largest sporting team in Australiaâs largest city (Swans). If they are evil the AFL and government would be pushing back on this arrangement
3 Likes
Agree. Just as itâs hypocritical to see the Sydney Swans promoting LGTBI and womenâs causes whilst gladly taking the money from Qatar Airlines which is one of its major sponsors! Go figure!
1 Like
Just read this, you beat me to it!
1 Like
If they are prepared to put a disclaimer on their advertising and airline tickets that says, âyou may be dragged from our plane into a van and sexually assaulted at gunpointâ, then I will let it go.
3 Likes
I thought my response was both whimsical and topical. How you infer harm is beyond me.
.
.
.
@chris_1993 declares all posts are sponsored by #biggate
2 Likes
Evil horrible people, but I still fly with them as I have a forgiving nature