As this thread lurches from one thread drift to the next I would only add that if luck was the only difference between one incompetently run airline in Oz and the other then VA must have just been unlucky. I certainly don't disagree that in the pursuit of profit the staff have been put to the sword and that management are a ruthless pack of bastards but I don't think that Qantas has relied on an exceptional helping of good luck to be in the position they are in now.