Absolutely, Wirraway. The deployment of Skimpy is an important part of the long-term security of their domestic business.
As for the shareprice, Qantas stock is hugely underpriced at the moment, and it's probably a very good time to buy. A quick look at the current major analyst recommendations on QAN shares has 4 of 13 analysts saying HOLD, 7 with MODERATE BUY and 2 with STRONG BUY - I can't find any other largecap stock with these sorts of recommendations at the moment. That basically confirms the general feeling that once the dust settles over the ACCC etc (a few months away, given the appeal will take some time) the price will normalise somewhere between $3.50 and $4 in the near term, and then mid $4 thereafter. Obviously a hard one to call, but everyone agrees that the stock is well down on what it should be.
Interesting, Waste Gate - the formula's a pretty good one in that case, as management seems to be very happy with AO's model. I'd imagine Skimpy would continue to build on the AO savings by making increased use of third party/contract services in engineering, sales, catering etc, rather than 'slashing and burning' their staff remuneration further.
ED