Australian airline Qantas, already suffering from failing electronics in the air, has a new fail ... treatment of musicians. Australian singer/songwriter and former Redgum singer John Schumann has spoken out against the treatment Qantas is giving the music industry.
Here is what he said in The Age:
In its obsession with profits, the airline is fleecing artists.
As a travelling musician, I spend more of my life than I would like queuing in Qantas aerobridges, the sides of which are usually adorned with glossy posters trumpeting the airline's support of the high arts. I've seen them a million times and, as a labourer in the vineyard of contemporary popular music I pay scant attention. I've never received, nor do I expect to receive, any of Qantas's philanthropic largesse.
Recently I received an email from a musician friend urging me to join a Facebook cause: "Stop Qantas's no musical instruments on board policy." The new policy apparently states that only violins and violas can be carried on as hand luggage, presumably to the exclusion of mandolins, lutes, ukuleles and any wind instrument larger than a piccolo. The breaking news for the Qantas bean-counters who dreamt this one up is that these instruments are small, fragile and very expensive too. Good luck with the insurance claims, guys.
At the time I joined the cause there were about 1800 members. A few days later, membership had ballooned to about 3200 and continues to grow. Qantas is not having a good year and it's only going to get worse.
In the meantime, as a Gold Frequent Flyer on what is purported to be a "full-service" airline, I recently received a brochure outlining the range of "wonderful, new benefits" I am to receive as a reward for my loyalty. In tiny print, however, I was informed that my check-in baggage entitlements are to change. As of December 1, I am entitled to one piece of baggage to a maximum of 32 kilograms. (Presumably, there will be fork-lifts available to help me get it to the check-in counter and baggage handlers are all Olympic weightlifters.) Meanwhile, regardless of how little my checked-in bag weighs, I now have to pay extra to check in the instrument Qantas once took as part of my baggage allowance.
As musicians our instruments are our tools of trade. In the context of Qantas's new "no instruments on board" policy, it's hard not see this other "wonderful, new benefit" as gouging and discriminatory. Will businessmen and women have to check in their laptops, suit packs and wheel-on hand luggage?
What has happened to our national airline? Following the arrival of James Strong in 1993 the culture shift was palpable. Directors and senior managers started paying themselves millions of dollars. Claiming to be the "custodians of Qantas" this new breed dined out on the airline's safety record and paid themselves increasing bonuses as they reduced costs. The first victims of this cost-cutting were the staff — counter staff, flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers and engineers. Now, 17 years later, it seems the passengers are the new victims.
About a year ago, I was booking a fare online. Halfway through the process the advertised fare became unavailable and the next cheapest fare was almost twice the price. This didn't seem right so I rang a mate who worked for Qantas. He checked the flight on his Qantas system and found more than 90 empty seats on that flight and plenty available to him at the original price. He apologised, calling it the "sucker punch".
As services are eroded, I sympathise with the Qantas staff who struggle to minimise the effects of this relentless cost-cutting on passengers. They sigh, roll their eyes and encourage us to complain. They call it "the tyranny of the Qantas bean-counter".
It's hard enough earning a living as an artist in Australia. Qantas's professed support for Australian artists would be more credible if its policies went some way to matching the glossy posters in the aerobridges.
Failing a review of these new policies, perhaps Australian musicians could band together and charge Qantas premium rates for the use of our songs and videos. Or we could withdraw our music from Qantas in-flight entertainment altogether.
Australian musicians withdraw their songs from Australia's national airline. Now there's a story.
VIDEO: Watch Australian singer songwriter perform three songs live for Undercover uSessions:
