I think unless you work in Finance it’s pretty hard to understand what the figures really mean. Certainly, anyone can see QF is in a much stronger position, they own everything and have lots of profitable ancillary businesses. QF vs VA group isn’t even a comparison. The only bit you could compare, as they look similar (I think), is the B737 operation.
My contacts say that over the past few years debt has been getting paid down. Again, I’m no expert. There was a lot of expense associated with the transformation of
VB to VA and they would have had to borrow significantly to do this.
The group is obviously still finding its feet after 10 years of significant change. Obviously the likes of TT are inefficient at the moment as they’re half way between a paused fleet transition.
I think the new CEO is moving in the right direction. If it was an emergency the A330 would have been cut on the spot. Obviously he feels they can manoeuvre the company into a position without cutting a fleet, losing slots and cutting pilots.
I would have thought recent announcements would indicate he’s clearly get the priorities in order.