Airlines and national identity

While I was in Australia in October, there were strikes involving Qantas ground staff (flight and cabin crew strikes occurred later). Qantas are, among other things, recruiting lower cost non Australian staff at all levels, including flight crews, as a way of reducing costs in pursuit of greater competiveness as part of a strategy led by their Irish CEO.

Having now travelled on various national airlines to and from Australia, I've been struck by the role that airlines play in creating and promoting a national identity on the global stage. Emirates have done this very successfully, even though none of the personnel that an Emirates passenger actually encounters is an Emirati. So, while Emirates crews are highly diverse, nationally and linguistically, through masterly management, the UAE have managed to project an entirely bogus Emirati identity and image by means of their airline.

Qantas, by contrast, has always been largely crewed by Aussies, and the airline has stressed its Australian heritage and identity. Will replacing Aussie staff by non Aussies jeopardize this unique quality? If Emirates can pull off the trick of creating an identity with non nationals as staff, can Qantas maintain an Aussie identity with non Aussie crews?

And then there's Singapore Airlines. One of the things they were pushing in their publicity in October was the ‘Singapore Gir’l -- the comely stewardesses for which they have long been well known. Obviously, SA employs non Singaporean staff, but the image projected is one of Singaporean hospitality and identity by and of Singaporeans. The airline is closely aligned with the promotion of Singapore as a sophisticated, efficient and safe place to visit and do business in.

Finally, there is Royal Brunei, with whom I’ve travelled on most of my trips to Australia. I've always thought of RB as a 'hobby' airline for the royal family. On the last sector from Brunei to Singapore on my return, I was bumped from business to economy, with fulsome apologies (I even received a personal grovel letter when I was between flights in Brunei). The reason: a member of the royal family and entourage were travelling on the flight. One might wonder why they don't actually have their own jetliner, although with a hobby airline I suppose they already do. At a separate royal part of the airport, we witnessed the royal member and wife arrive in a top-of-the line Mercedes S class, to be greeted and seen off by a line of signatories (including an Arab in flowing robes). So, I suppose one could say that the airline is 'by appointment' and being royal sets it apart from a neighbouring airline better known for its Singapore Girls.

By such diverse means, countries use their national airlines as a way of projecting national identity on a global stage, as well as providing, when successful, an important commercial enterprise. The challenge now seems to be successfully meeting commercial pressures – not least competition from other similar airlines – while also retaining the national identity that, potentially, makes each airline unique, and which provides an important part of their USP. I hope that the Irish CEO at Qantas doesn’t trash the Aussie service qualities that are part of the image and appeal of Qantas as he reconfigures the national flag carrier.