The establishment of a LCC off shoot is total lunacy. Evidently the Board is getting nervous about Virgin Blue's successes, but a simpler and more logical solution is at hand.
Virgin's costs are converging with Qantas', and it was Geoff Dixon who was so delighted when Virgin gained use of the old Ansett facilities, claiming that it was yet another move away from its low cost business model. ETOPs and international operations are yet another.
Unfortunately, the Board has neither the patience or the courage to focus on improving its own product - domestic punctuality and customer service come to mind - while allowing the natural convergence of Virgin and Qantas costs to continue, but instead is bypassing this "difficult" task to establish a venture which will certainly canibilise the high yield mainline operation. These people just cannot think outside the square . . .