‘Never-on-time airline’: Aussie golf great Greg Norman takes swing at Qantas

Australian golf legend Greg Norman has taken a very public swing at Qantas, calling it the “never on-time” airline and describing it as outdated and unreliable.

Norman, who was a high-profile celebrity ambassador for Qantas for decades, teed off at the airline’s management on Sunday, challenging them to get the service back up to his expected standard, adding the hashtag #alottodo to make his point.

He also questioned whether profit had been put above “customer caring, reputation and service” and said it used to be one of the world’s top three airlines but “alas no more”.

Known as the ‘great white shark’, Norman took a fair bite out of Qantas, blasting it on his 244,000-strong Instagram account and saying he was now looking for another airline to travel. Among other things, the lack of Wi-Fi on the long haul seems to have been part of what riled him up.

US-based Norman recently attended the NRL grand final in Sydney and was travelling from Sydney to Dallas on a Qantas A380 over the weekend. A delay in leaving Sydney appears to have been the trigger for his epic spray.

“I have always tried to support my national airline @Qantas. Sadly, their reputation of the ‘never on-time’ airline (or the ones I am on – this time Syd-Dallas circa 3 hrs late departing) + an hour to get one bag in Dallas now has me looking elsewhere,” Norman fumed online.

“Maybe @emirates longer but reliable, Wi-Fi, comfort caring.

“Too bad, as @Qantas was once one of the top 3 in the world for a great travel experience.

“Alas no more #whathappened Profit before customer caring, reputation and service!?

“And not to have Wi-Fi in this day and age with the cost/ticket – #insane #dated. Ground staff excellent – Qantas Admin get to work and bring back the pride in – “The Spirit of Australia” and be a world leader in your industry again!! #alottodo”

Not surprisingly, Qantas was well aware of Norman’s dummy spit when CBD called on Sunday morning.

“Unfortunately, our flight from Sydney to Dallas Fort Worth on Saturday was delayed departing Sydney while our engineers fixed a fuelling issue,” a Qantas spokesperson told us, with no mention of Norman’s other gripes.

No doubt someone will let Norman know Wi-Fi is in the process of being rolled out on Qantas’s A380 fleet, and is available on its 787s and A330 planes.

But it might be too little too late, as it sounds like Norman will have swapped his boarding pass allegiances before that rollout is complete.

Fertile feral cats the latest headache for The Block

Renovations rarely go exactly to plan, so spare a thought for The Block which is facing a potential kitten crisis as it prepares to make over three buildings at a former psychiatric hospital site in Sunbury.

While Sunbury locals question the seemingly bargain $1.1 million price the production picked the properties in the former Caloola mental health and training precinct up for from the Victorian government, Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell has raised an unexpected further concern for The Block to deal with – the welfare of a colony of fertile feral cats that inhabit the buildings 38km north-west of Melbourne’s inner-city grid.

Purcell has called on the show’s host, Scott Cam, and Channel 9, the owner of this masthead, to meet with her and cat conscious volunteers in the Sunbury area to negotiate a rehoming of the cluster of feral cats and their offspring.

“Without intervention, this colony of unowned cats and kittens will come under serious threat when production crews start rolling in,” Purcell told CBD.

“There are a dedicated and amazing group of people who have been tending to these cats and stand ready, willing and able to capture, desex and rehome these animals – but they can’t do it alone.

“While The Block isn’t responsible for causing this problem, they can be part of the solution and this is a chance for them to show some goodwill to the community, respect for animals rather than just profiting off development.”

Purcell said she had written to Nine, which owns the buildings through a company called MicJoy Pty Ltd, and funds and broadcasts the show, and had received a reply acknowledging her concerns.

CBD also contacted Nine and we were told the network was aware of the cats.

“(We) are assessing the situation prior to their safe removal and construction commencing. We intend to keep all relevant stakeholders engaged throughout this process,” a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, someone purred to CBD over the weekend that while the cats were in the area they may not actually be residing in the buildings purchased by The Block. The twists keep coming!

Now, there have been various dramas on The Block over the years, from permits to weather to bickering contestants and the occasional cranky nearby resident, but a brewing cat-astrophe? That is a first.

Brand-new look for Wood’s Brighton East gym

There are more changes for former Bachelor star Sam Wood’s fitness empire with the huge and distinctive branding for his Brighton East gym The Woodshed taken down.

Wood has long run The Woodshed and while his name remains on the venue’s website, the name The Woodshed disappeared from the outside of the two-storey building that houses the business on the Nepean Highway, sometime on Saturday.

The branding has for years made the gym hard to miss as you travel along the busy road.

Whether it is a temporary removal or a signal further change is coming is unclear. The Woodshed did not return our call on Sunday.

Founder Wood’s presence on the gym’s website seems to have been dialled back a bit. His name, however, is still contained in the Our Story tab where it reads in part: “The Woodshed is proud to be known as Melbourne’s best training facility owned and operated by Australia’s leading Personal Trainer & Fitness Expert, Sam Wood.”

The blurb ends: “We can’t wait to see you soon. Sam and the Woodshed Team.”

Wood, however, is not seeing many people at the moment, given he is still in custody in Brisbane after being charged with domestic violence related offences in Noosa earlier this month.

Wood was denied bail by a Queensland magistrate on Thursday, as the court heard Snezana Wood, the wife of the former reality TV star, told police she feared he would kill her during an argument at an apartment in the popular holiday destination on October 3.

Sam Wood’s lawyer Mathew Cuskelly said the circumstances may entitle his client to a self-defence argument, and indicated, after the hearing, the legal team would appeal the bail decision in the Supreme Court.

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