Good work by a cohesive pilot group, 16% is a great result.
It does make me wonder though why a struggling LCC with a questionable future would agree to such an increase. But when you think about it this is going to cost the Qantas Group a lot more than Virgin. Without doubt this will end with the Jetstar pilots in PIA, and so they should, they are without doubt the hardest working, and probably most qualified (Dual Type, Low Vis, RNP, etc etc) narrow body pilot group in the country at the moment and they earn the least. Colleagues that are working there that I usually find are conservative and company oriented are already talking about the possibility of PIA. This will cause huge damage to the Brand (I know there is not much brand value there) and also come at a huge financial cost to the Group. This will play right into the Virgin Groups hands. Smart move me thinks!
I think if you add to this the issues with the SH agreement, and the upcoming LH agreement there are some turbulent times ahead for the Qantas Group. I think Alan has called his bluff too early on this one, no one cares about a $2000 sign on bonus anymore. There also seems to be a definite slowing down of negotiations as the Qantas group waits with fingers crossed for the upcoming economic slow down. The next 18 months are going to be very interesting in this industry.