I know we like to feel that as pilots we are the centre of the universe, or at least the centre of the airline but perhaps this announcement has a broader audience.
Joyce loves to talk about the free publicity Qantas gets in global media with his “game changing” achievements and I expect that is the real purpose of this announcement. Sure enough it’s been reported far and wide and didn’t require a cent of marketing spend. That the message might subtlety influence the pilots would be simply a bonus.