Well for some of you who know me quite well, the following trip may come as an unusual surprise for many of you are quite aware of my avid discontent and hatred of my nation’s flag carrier, Qantas. Well, either I have since fallen and hit my head which has caused massive haemorrhaging within my brain or I’ve become complacent in my whole sixteen years of life because I came of my last flight one happy chappy…so here the story goes.

Route: Perth-Sydney
Flight: Qantas Flight QF 566
Aircraft type: Boeing 767-300ER
Registration: VH-OGJ
Scheduled Time of departure: 1630
Actual time of departure: 1650
Scheduled time of arrival: 2230
Actual time of arrival: 2225
Class of travel: Economy

Wednesday the 26th was an extraordinarily busy day for me and my holiday therefore couldn’t have come at a better time. God send. The morning was to be tied up with school commitments which would see me completing all final assessments prior to my departure. At 2pm I was home and still had an empty suitcase and full wardrobe…not even I’m usually this disorganised so it was all a bit of a rush. Needless to say, good old grandma delivered us to the airport safe and sound at 3:45 ready for our 4:30 departure. Terminal was somewhat subdued but nevertheless took the opportunity to use the Business Class check in and was greeted by an ultra-efficient check-in agent who literally had us checked in and on our way in 45 seconds. Impressive girl. Very smooth. I’m impressed.

Now here’s the dreaded part. Security. And boy has it been stepped up in the last few months. I was forced to deprive myself of my belt in order to pass through the security check. Fine…I’m now trying desperately to hold my jeans up and am then told that my computer must also be taken out of the bag with the adapter and accompanying paraphernalia. Okay…bit of a struggle. I’m sure all the girls within the vicinity enjoyed looking at the patterns on my boxer shorts and so I’m through the check. Fastened up with the belt and computer in hand. Aaaah. How nice! To be tapped on the shoulder by one ultra kind bloke with my boarding passes was somewhat ego-damaging and I found myself cringing at my stupidity of almost leaving 4 boarding passes on the other side. Smooth and intelligent, Anthony. What a godsend that bloke was, three cheers!

So, somewhat harried and confused we finally make it up to the boarding lounge deciding to give the Qantas Club a miss in fear of them not honouring dad’s membership to his impoverished relatives. Gate one empty. Interesting so took a look around and watched a 734 depart to Paraburdoo. Even post Ansett, the QF terminal was dead but even still, there wasn’t enough room for everyone to have seats. Out the corner of my eye, I could see a coloured aircraft which to me looked like VH-VXB. Now I knew it had been into Perth earlier that afternoon so I actually thought that it must have returned with some kind of problem. I was therefore pretty surprised to see it was VH-OGJ pulling into gate 1 which would be taking me to Sydney as QF 566. And guys, this is one magnificent machine. Pristine and what a fabulous livery. Quite stunning indeed, especially close up. An announcement was made that due to the late arrival of the aircraft, boarding would be delayed by approximately 15 minutes. No skin off my nose when I look out at this truly wonderful machine. Top marks Mr. Austalian Airlines livery designer because you’re a saint!

Took the chance to watch the myriad of 2 planes departing (we’re deprived souls in Perth)). First was Singapore Airlines 777-200 9V-SRD departing to Singapore as SQ 226, always an elegant aircraft basking in the lovely afternoon light and it looked clean too because I originally thought it must have been SRL. Following was Malaysia Airlines’ MH 125 service to Kuala Lumpur but I didn’t get the chance to catch the registration. Malaysia Airlines’ livery really doesn’t do justice to the magnificent 777 in my very humble opinion. Anyway, QF 566 was called for boarding and I was aboard. Incidentally, I’m impressed with the Qantas artwork in the aerobridges now. Most elegant indeed. Top effort Qantas.

Aboard QGJ and I was welcomed aboard the flight by the CSM who was actually a very cheery bloke. Nice welcome. I’m impressed already. Was surprised to see OGJ still had the Dreamtime Business Class seats still looking quite pristine indeed. Haggled my way through to the Economy cabin to 43A, my seat for today. Stowed my gear in the overhead compartments and took my seat quite surprised at the lack of cabin crew on hand to assist. No one. Not impressed Qantas. People filed aboard and it was evident that this was going to be one full flight this afternoon with very little in the way of spare seats. Cabin crew appeared for the safety demo as we pushed back at 1650 and taxied out for a runway 21 departure. A very casual but friendly welcome aboard from the CSM which was a big change from the oh-so-lovely and formal Singapore girl announcements which I love. Intonation from them is always so interesting! No word from the captain other than a rather curt “cabin crew be seated for takeoff”. Hmmm. Need I say more?

The GE’s make a great noise on takeoff and we were airborne with one of the 767’s famous climbs into cloud. Made a rather unusual left turn which seemed to last forever and we were in cloud. Nothing to see. Seatbelt sign off about five minutes later, CSM informed us about Qantas’ antiquated entertainment and it was all hunky dory. The QF YCL seats are perfectly comfortable for my 6’1 stature and those headrests are fantastic. Much much better than any other YCL headrests, especially SIA’s. Meal tray had coffee spilt all over but being the pleasant and retiring person that I am, I made do and settled in to read Wheels. Yipee. Qantas finally addressed us and told us a little about the flight.. Sorry to say I can’t remember a bloody word apart from the fact that the flight would be 25 minutes shorter than expected Meal service started about 40 minutes into the flight. No choices today. Typical Qantas I say to myself. Dinner was an unusual affair with red wine steak on pasta. Interesting combination and I don’t buy it. Edible though if only just. Salad with dressing plus a roll with butter on hand. Nothing even remotely exiting. Especially the dessert: 2 Anzac biscuits which, as nice as they were, were disappointing when JCL was indulging in Connoisseur ice cream. But, you get what you pay for so my dad can open his wallet for the second time and spend some money. Hopefully he hears me.

Was exceedingly impressed with the Qantas service. One flight attendant, I’m sorry I can’t remember her name was just lovely. Really really good and very genuine. It’s a pity I can’t remember her name. All the crew were good but she stood out. So, I took it upon myself to congratulate the crew and headed for the rear galley to pick up a comment form. They didn’t have one so they got the Cabin Service Director’s sheet was interesting reading and I filled my comments in. I was met with the remark “only if its good!” and I expressed my satisfaction at the best Qantas service I’d ever had. I was called a honey but what’s new? Aren’t I delightful? Was then told that the reason the service was good was they were all ex-Ansett. Aaaah it all clicks now. I knew it was too good for Qantas. Was asked by the crew if I wanted anything to which I responded desperately “ice cream!” No problem. I’m pop up the front and found myself tucking into a tub of chocolate Connoisseur. Yum yum. Well done guys!

Returned to my seat with a pen and continued reading. Watched a bit of the croc hunter which was unmitigated crap. As much as I enjoy old Steve’s show, don’t bother watching it. Diabolical. Please trust me, I’m very honest! Crew constantly on their feet with the drinks cart which came around twice after the meal and also a water service. Even better than my last (excellent) Singapore Airlines flights. Descent commenced and we turned and turned and turned on approach into Sydney. I was disorientated. All I knew was that the landing was an absolute shocker and I could feel us zigzagging down the runway. Not impressed boys, especially with the lovely balmy weather which Sydney had greeted us with. Taxied past the QF hanger into our bay to find that the aerobridge was on strike and didn’t want to move. VH-ZXD arrived from Melbourne, disembarked and went to sleep for the night whilst the poor old Perth passengers waited 20 minutes. Captain did keep us informed and repeatedly apologised. He was probably still feeling guilty for the crappy landing. Bless his heart. Stepped into the magnificent new Qantas domestic terminal and arrived at the baggage carousel to find that bags still not there. Hmmm. Not impressed. Mine was, however, first out. The Singapore Airlines First Class tag certainly earned its keep and infuriated all the Qantas Business Class passengers who waited as I strolled away.

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen. I was genuinely impressed with this flight. It was truly excellent and would have been highly satisfactory should it have been a long-haul intercontinental. But for a domestic hop, well done! But really it wasn’t a real Qantas flight. We all know very well that Ansett was far more service orientated so lets hope that some of their charm wears of on the old Qantas grannies. Time will tell when I embard upon QF 580 on the 14th of next month. Stay tuned…will the real Qantas show its real colours?