Qantas Airways - dispelling the myths

Before I left home, people had asked me “who are you flying with?” I’d tell them Qantas and they’d look at me with a look of somewhat fear. Imagining that the engine will fallout midflight, the flight attendants will go on strike and we’ll have to dish up our own meals. If you’re an Australian reading this then you would have to live under a rock to not be aware of all of the bad press Qantas has had lately - and a lot of it really is exactly that, bad press. I won’t make political commentary or dredge up questionable decisions made by the CEO or go into a trade unionist spiel – that’s not the point here. For those of you who perhaps aren't hip on the Qantas saga, the airline has been the centre of a few controversies in recent times, including a few safety incidents and a rather well publicised (read: front pages and headlines for days) decision by the CEO to ground Qantas flights temporarily as a response to union driven employee action. For all of the shit that gets tossed around on the front pages of newspapers, you don’t see recaps of all of the flights which go off without a hitch. My flight was one of these, and it left me impressed, impressed enough to want to highlight it, to write a blog entry to address the scepticism.

As an Australian, I grew up with Qantas being the dominant airline for middle to upper class travel. Rival competitor Ansett went bust and not long after, the budget airline revolution took off, and all of my flying experiences were with either Virgin Australia or Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Airways. In my adult life, the first time I have flown with Qantas was on the Singapore – London leg of my flight from Australia. It’s weird, such an iconic Australian brand, and yet I had no first hand (remembered) experience to really draw judgement from. I’ve flown with several major airlines for long haul flights – Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, American Airlines, British Airways. My experience with Qantas came out on top.

First impression upon boarding was that the plane was nice. Very nice. Nicer than any I’ve been on before, except maybe a Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles which perhaps was more of the funky purple lighting which attracted me. I’m not sure if it was a new plane or recently remodelled or if they’ve just kept it in good nick, but I was genuinely impressed. The spacing of the seats seemed roomier than what I’ve experienced before.  The in-flight entertainment screen was quite large with a great selection of offerings. The food itself was fine in the wider context of airline food – you cannot expect gourmet dining and if you do, you’re silly.

However, what impressed me most was the overall flow of the service. I felt like I was being served by waiters in a fine dining restaurant – every service, whether it be meal, snack or just a water run in the middle of the night, was treated with respect and with an air of sophistication. It’s an interesting branding image, one which I’m curious if it flows through domestically – if Qantas Airways is like a fine dining experience, then Jetstar and Virgin are family restaurants and Tiger Airways is like having a meal from a fast food restaurant.

Apparently there were self service bars for drinks and snacks which I find absolutely amazing – I was on the window and did not have the opportunity to explore properly, just jumping up to use the bathroom when my seat mates also vacated. But these drinks and snacks really weren’t required, with more than adequate rounds being made with various offerings of drinks and my favourite thing, the overnight snack pack – including a little water bottle and some packaged up snacks in a bag, for when you’re feeling a bit peckish or thirsty during the night but not requiring you to be keeping a cup of water on the tray down.

On the whole, I really cannot fault it as a flying experience, so thank you to all of the crew on QF1 Singapore – London departing Singapore late Friday 20 April for the top effort!