"Firstly, I’m not an angry FO but an angry Captain who over 40 years has watched one of the most innovative and top ten airlines in the world be turned into a second rate carrier"
That's the issue - in 40 years the business has changed out of all recognition - in 1980 it was Friends and relations traffic to/from Europe with a few well heeled tourists. Now it 's half a billion tourists slopping about in all directions from everywhere to everywhere. You had a 747 fleet that did long haul with an occasional stop- now you have thousands of 737's and Airbus's going point to point. The real cost of flying has plummeted and no passenger looks at anything but the cost anymore. Some of the world's largest airlines have just disappeared - PanAm, TWA, NW.................. QF management have to deal with the world as it is, not as it was. Sure they 've made mistakes but they're still there and so are you - count your blessings mate, it could be a lot worse........