There cannot have been many tougher jobs in Australia over the past weeks than that of a Qantas spin doctor.
All too frequently, a Qantas PR person has appeared in front of the TV news cameras to explain the latest breakdown in Qantas services, the most serious of which was the emergency landing of a QF A380 in Singapore on November 4.
The first of the six Qantas A380s to be put back into service following the Singapore incident flew to London at the weekend, but soon after a Qantas Boeing 747, also flying to London, was delayed in Sydney due to a technical issue.
And on Sunday a rock-climbing rope jammed key baggage retrieval equipment in Melbourne, leaving hundreds of Qantas passengers without their luggage.
Today the England Test cricket party was kicking its heels in Brisbane after another Qantas flight delay.
Qantas is right to claim that many of the incidents that have bedeviled it recently are relatively minor, yet the iconic brand has been damaged – and whether that translates into loss of business only time will tell.
