Restarting after 18 months!

Oops...I guess I let this slide in a big way. And that's not because my job has become boring - the complete opposite, actually. A lot has changed. My pay rate has gone up but so has the staff travel, which I suppose had to happen. The company has started hiring a whole lot of dimwits, mostly aged around 18-20 years old, and separated those of us who are trained and those of us who only have limited skills into what they call a cluster system. It's stupid and I knew from the get-go it wouldn't work and has only made me resent working for my actual employer.

So I joined the Qantas pool. Now this airline I can mention because I'm not actually employed by them, we're just contracted to do their ground handling (check-in, boarding etc). This has given me a sense of working for a proper airline where people still check-in face-to-face instead of solely through a machine, and that those working there are properly trained and know what they're doing.

Well...for the most part. Some people in my job are really starting to grate on me, to the point that if I see I'm working for them I can feel a headache coming on before I even start. Now obviously I'm not going to name names, but there is definitely a group who are "in" with the managerial side of things and therefore get away with murder. I can only imagine the unbelievable trouble I would be in if I refused to do anything but sit on my ass making the boarding calls, or chatting to my mates non-stop. Yet this select group get to do whatever they want and management turn a blind eye to it.

Hmm. But I get a talking to for calling a manager a bitch after she humiliated me in front of dozens of passengers? Yeah, fair call. To be honest I thought I let her off lightly, I could have called her a lot worse - that's not the first time she's gone out of her way to make me feel 2 inches tall.

Then there's two particular drama queens who are nothing short of rude and in love with themselves. I've been called fat and ugly TO MY FACE by one. I didn't think she was much to look at but still, she had the gall to point out that a group of rugby boys didn't want to be checked in by me because of how I look. Thanks, my tiny ego just DIED right there. Then there's the constant talk talk talk about "me me me" that you personally just don't care about or want to know.

Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people at my work that I do get on with and a lot I am lucky to call friends. I've actually hit the jackpot in that department and made some of the best friends I think I'll ever have, solely through this job. But still! I thought this company had some sort of integrity when it came to their recruitment, that the reason we went through so many interviews and checks was to ensure we made a good name for this airline. I got told that only 2% of applicants actually successfully gained employment with this company, which would make you think they're very picky.

They're having trouble proving that right now. Nearly every week another group of sullen-eyed, disinterested, gum-chewing school leavers put on that uniform and are somehow expected to show the world that we are a world-class airline. Go figure.

I know people think that I joined the Qantas pool either because it's a lot less work or because my best mate pretty much solely works down there, which means we have a lot of fun if we're working together. But actually it was neither of those reasons. I wanted to be in the Qantas pool because inevitably one day I'm going to leave New Zealand - the goal is 2010. I still want to work in the airline industry and at the rate my current employer is going, I think it's going to look far more impressive if I have Qantas behind me. They are the second oldest airline in the world and one of the biggest, and despite the fact that they are...ugh...Australian, I can't help but feel a little bit proud when I'm working for them.

Even though the disrupts, cancellations and general mayhem is about ten-fold what I get down the other end. Seriously Qantas, time to start buying some new planes...

It's like working for a proper airline, which is how I used to feel about my employers. Even the uniform is a million times more professional. It doesn't feel like a hideous bland sack. It's actually nice and flattering and stands out.

Anyway. My employers have a lot to answer for at the moment. I'm not going anywhere and I still feel extremely lucky to have my job but that doesn't mean I'm hugely impressed with what they're doing. We're pretty much going to be replaced by machines and the people they're hiring are nothing to be desired. Lazy, arrogant, rude and totally clueless about the aviation industry. "Um...what's a 737?" How do you not roll your eyes at that?

I think this rant is coming to a close, particularly as it's my day off so I have no real specific incidents to report. I managed to have the manager of the Wellington Phoenix abuse me over a cellphone yesterday which was exciting, because I pretty much told his friend who had passed him over to me that he would not be travelling if he kept that attitude up, and that I had told my manager who was looking out for him. Hahaha, BURN.

Fingers crossed we keep our jobs. Don't keep hiring losers when they're all going to be replaced anyway!