Qantas Airlines: Man testet jetzt die Mitarbeiter auf Drogen... - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[FrontrunningInsider]

da will man wohl für ein paar Leute einen Entlassungsgrund...





IRC hears Qantas drug testing dispute
A hearing into a dispute over Qantas`s trial random drug testing of staff has begun in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) in Melbourne.

The trial is meant to begin on Sydney-based staff this month and Qantas says it is necessary for safety.

But unions say the tests are an invasion of privacy and are hoping the IRC will step in and delay the trial.

Hundreds of Qantas staff in Melbourne, Sydney and now Brisbane have voted against the trial, which is due to begin later this month.

Australian Services Union spokeswoman Linda White says the unions are seeking to have the trial cancelled.

"We`re hoping today at the commission that we`ll be able to get a recommendation from them that Qantas doesn`t proceed with their random testing for drug and alcohol," she said.

"We think it is incredibly important that people`s privacy is protected and we`re hoping to convince the commission of the strength of feeling of the workforce."

Brisbane

Brisbane-based Qantas staff have voted unanimously to reject the airline`s planned introduction of random drug and alcohol testing.

Similar staff resolutions condemning Qantas`s plans as an invasion of privacy were passed earlier this week in Sydney and Melbourne.

Australian Services Union spokeswoman in Queensland, Jo Justo, says the issue could lead to a very serious impasse between Qantas and its staff.

"It`s not just about illegal drugs, it`s not just about alcohol," she said. "It`s about over-the-counter medicines. It`s about prescription medicines.

"You will have to report if you are on Viagra, you will have to report if you are taking IVF medicines.

"People don`t have a need to do that but the policy says if it may affect your work then you have a requirement to report it and if you`re randomly tested and you haven`t, you`ll be punished."

[daimlerfreak]

das ist doch mal ne gute Idee, binletztens Qantas geflogen und ich glaub wirklich, die haben da was verteilt unter der Crew

[bum]

schon schlimm wenn die quantaspiloten ihre alten jumbos nur noch mit viagra hochkriegen.

[FrontrunningInsider]

Qantas, Air NZ link-up gains new support

By Geoffrey Thomas



QANTAS Airways and Air New Zealand`s bitter struggle to gain regulatory approval for a $NZ550 million ($492.5 million) equity tie-up is gaining speed, with fresh support from an industry body, but the fate of the alliance may be settled in competition tribunals.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) objections to the deal were collapsing, said a leading Melbourne airline analyst who declined to be named, with Emirates launching services across the Tasman last week with fares as low as $399 return - 25 per cent less than Qantas and Air NZ.

Adding capacity and stiff competition, Virgin Blue will start flights across the Tasman from late October, with flights from Brisbane and Sydney to Auckland initially.

Strong support also came this week from director-general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association Giovanni Bisignani, who said the link-up was what the industry needed.

"It`s not a merger, it`s cooperation," Mr Bisignani said. "The industry was too fragmented and needed economies of scale."

Qantas and Air NZ put the value of those economies of scale in the order of $450 million by the third year of the alliance.

Mr Bisignani warned that the international aviation industry was in crisis, facing the loss of up to $10 billion this year. And it is still grappling with the three pillars of stagnation - the bilateral system of organising aviation services between governments, national ownership rules and competition authorities.

The IATA chief said privatised airlines worldwide were still forced to operate in markets constrained by governments that limit foreign investment and flight destinations.

And they were held back by competition regulators that would not allow them to merge and consolidate, he said.

In draft determinations handed down on April 10, competition regulators objected strongly to the Qantas and Air NZ alliance, citing concerns that the duo would use their 90 per cent market share to lift fares.

The NZCC claims the alliance would cost NZ consumers $432 million in higher air fares.

But the airlines counter that the venture would generate net economic benefits of $1.57 billion to Australia and NZ over five years.

Qantas and Air NZ executives, who have fought the regulators in a very public battle, are also lining up an army of international airline economic experts to fight any final rejection of the equity alliance in competition tribunals, say observers.

Airline analyst Peter Harbison, founder of the Sydney-based Centre of Asia-Pacific Aviation, claimed that Australia and NZ cannot support two separate national airlines.

"There is a massive logic behind the argument that our two flag carriers should get together," Mr Harbison said.

"With a combined population of less than 25 million at the end of the world, it`s impossible to justify two home-grown national airlines and our two countries need strong national airline representation in global markets."

Mr Harbison said Virgin Blue cannot justify its objection to the equity tie-up and notes that the airline has carved out a 30 per cent market share in Australia despite opposition from Qantas and, until its demise, Ansett.

However, industry sources believe that because of their entrenched positions, the ACCC and the NZCC may still reject the deal and both airlines will be forced to appeal to the relevant competition tribunals.

Both Qantas and Air NZ have made further undertakings to the competition regulators, including price caps and capacity guarantees, to try to sway the final decision due at the end of next month.


FrontrunningInsider

[orwell1984]

Qantas introduces voice recognition software for Frequent Fliers
Source: SYDNEY, Aug 13 AAP
Published: Wednesday August 13 2003, 12:30 PM

Qantas Airways Ltd has begun using speech recognition technology to manage telephone enquiries for some members of its Frequent Flyer program.

Customers in Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania today started using the new technology, to be rolled out across all states and territories over the next six months.

The trial of Qantas Voice will involve Frequent Flyer program members seeking points balances and booking domestic redemption seats during business hours.

Qantas Sales and Marketing executive general manager John Borghetti said the airline had followed closely the dramatic improvements in Natural Language Speech Recognition (NLSR) systems in recent years.

He said the Qantas system had been developed specifically for the airline, and was amongst the best in the world in terms of functionality and customer experience.

"Qantas Voice will handle domestic Frequent Flyer award enquiries and bookings, reducing waiting times for all callers," Mr Borghetti said.

"A key attraction is that Qantas Voice customers will never have to wait in a call queue ... and once fully implemented (it) will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

He said there had been no change to Qantas` normal telephone sales centres in terms of services offered, with a Telephone Sales consultant available to take over the inquiry or booking whenever necessary.

The technology had been designed to transfer non-standard enquiries directly to an operator, he said.

The software behind Qantas Voice has been developed by a consortium comprising Unisys Australia, Avaya Communications and Scansoft.

At 1207 AEDT, Qantas shares were up two cents to $3.13.

[Seefunk]

da tut sich ja im Moment auch nicht viel am Aktienkurs...

[FrontrunningInsider]

9,000 Qantas staff sign anti-drug testing petition
Source: MELBOURNE, Aug 15 AAP
Published: Friday August 15 2003, 6:30 PM

Qantas management has been handed a petition signed by nearly 9,000 employees opposing random drug testing.

An industrial court hearing into a dispute over a Qantas plan to introduce random breath and urine tests was adjourned today to allow for further negotiations.

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) hearing followed last week`s decision that Qantas confine any drug and alcohol testing to senior executives and non-union members until the dispute is resolved.

The airline had hoped to begin examining employees` samples for alcohol, stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens, including over-the-counter and prescription medication, in Sydney later this month. advertisement

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ACTU senior industrial officer Richard Watts said nearly a third of Qantas`s unionised staff had signed the petition in two weeks.

He said the parties hoped to reach an agreement before returning to the AIRC on September 9.

"We`re basically going to fire our experts at their experts and see what we can come up with in relation to these issues," Mr Watts said.



FrontrunningInsider