Qantas struggles to restore damaged reputation

Qantas Airways is in a struggle to repair the recent damage to its reputation as one of the safest airlines in the world, by working out new strategies for its maintenance programme.

Senior managers at the carrier, including Geoff Dixon, the outgoing chief executive, have been engaged in ongoing meetings to map out a new strategy for dealing with the problems that have arisen over the past several weeks.

It has been reported that safety experts, maintenance specialists and marketing and public relations specialists have also been involved in the meetings, and in planning the strategy.

According to an airline insider, the main focus of the meetings has been the carrier’s maintenance programme.

Sources inside Qantas are claiming that maintenance work on the fleet’s aircraft is two months or more behind schedule in many cases, mostly due to the contentious seven-month-long dispute between Qantas engineers and the airline’s management.

Late this past week, an engine access panel dropped from another Boeing 747 that was headed from Melbourne to London, which saw Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese to speak out, defending the reputation of the national carrier.

A Qantas manager reported that the airline was working to catch up on maintenance that had been delayed by the engineers’ dispute and now needed to be finished in the next two months.

The manager insisted, however, that none of the maintenance work relates to safety items. “A broken seat, a locker and things like that,” he stressed. “It all has an impact.”

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