The first thing Deloitte will do is a full set of management accounts that are warts and all honest. Until they are prepared, no body knows what the state of play is. There may be some surprises. This accounts will have a rigorous contribution analysis (Revenue minus variable costs) to indicate which fleets/sectors, etc. are paying their way by making a contribution to fixed costs as well as profit. I you don’t do that first, you might chop off the wrong bits.
I can think of two reasons
VB wasn’t bailed out and “foreign ownership “ isn’t one of them - remember these pricks are buying submarines from France.;
1. QF and the rest would have formed a queue behind it.
2. The economic high priests in Treasury and PM&C hold that Australia can only afford one airline - because of the economy of scale arguments they were taught at ANU.
Of the two reasons, (2) is more deadly because these bastards will stop at nothing to prove that their theories, on which they have built their careers, are correct. They are the reason we have so little manufacturing here. They were taught we are a farm and a mine under the doctrine of competitive advantage. Their next battle will be to prevent forgiveness of AsA and other Commonwealth charges which
VB will inevitably ask for on the grounds that “it sends the wrong signal” to industry. I pleaded with some of these clowns for a bailout when Ansett went under and was told to go back to my cubicle and shut up for exactly this reason.
Qantas will be doing everything in their power, ethical or not, to support the acolytes of (2). That has probably already started with private briefings to selected public servants on “The structure of the Australian Airline Industry Post Pandemic” which will of course be self serving and have no place for
VB. Watch out for new “talking points” from the likes of GT, Ministers and Public Servants, they will come from those briefings.
Qantas will be practicing matrix marketing management aimed at Government right now with the lunches and the odd Chairman’s lounge invitation thrown in - when social distancing makes it possible of course. They will know exactly who all the decision makers are and will assiduously play off each against the other to get what they want.
The reason AJ is silent is that he is working hard to grease the skids under
VB, as he should as a responsible CEO.