People have been saying what a GENIUS bunch the current management are due to the turn around... but us idiot Pilots and Engineers (and others) have been saying otherwise. Most of us have been indicating that fleet renewal should have been ongoing throughout this period, yet is hasn’t. What would we know!?
Now, it’s seems even the Financial Gurus are cottoning on!
Snippets From the Australian Financial Review, my bolding:
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's says Qantas will have to significantly boost investment in aircraft just as it may have to resume paying company tax in 2020...
OOPS!
. Qantas has used surplus capital to fund shareholder returns rather than grow invested capital, S&P said.
well, Duh!
. We believe increased aircraft investment is inevitable for Qantas given its older fleet and large international exposure," S&P said.
Indeed it is. And so, the choice they now have, is either they renew the fleet, or the competition eventually eats their lunch.
Qantas Management may very well be furious with S&P right now. The only ammo they really had against Mainline Pilots, was to hold Aircraft orders, ‘fleet renewal’, over their heads. Now those darned investment rating/banker types have gone and told everyone that Qantas is at a point where fleet renewal has to happen Regardless.
It has taken a while, but management seemed to have backed themselves into a little bit of a corner here. Thus, I’m fairly skeptical of Managers seeking Pilot capitulation on the Network/Jetconnect issue,( because otherwise we won’t be able to defend the line against Virgin), in return for heading to the board about ordering more 787s, when, if they don’t order more 787s, the company will be unable to defend its line against Virgin (and others) anyway.