Qantas' labour cost base is higher than almost all of its competitors - especially those in Asia, Middle East, New Zealand and South America.
A convenient part truth. Which part of the labour unit cost do you refer?
The data sets we use would show you are extremely choosy.
If you want to argue semantics, Qantas has an average stage length that means the longer the flight the lower the CASK and the labour cost whilst incremental increasing,
is of a lesser order than say RPK growth. . Qantas factor productivity in key work groups, which we assume is the implication from your statement, are mid range and when adjusted for stage length are better than average.
When we include fuel in the CASK and adjust the unit cost, and hold the stage length constant, Qantas is very inefficient. Want to guess why?
Very good, they burn more fuel per RPK because over a given stage their fleet burn 64% more fuel.
Qantas 'worst major airline' for fuel efficiency on trans-Pacific flights, study suggests - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Qantas need a new fleet