Originally Posted by
Mr Approach
It is inconceivable (to me) how a competition regulator could possibly approve this acquisition.
Alliance not only provides aircraft and crews to Qantas's main competitor, it also provides competition to Qantas and Virgin on FIFO and other charter contracts, such as transporting football teams around.
Qantas, at one swoop, would have driven up costs for Virgin, mining companies and anyone else that wants to hire an aircraft bigger than a Navajo.
Did the Morrison Government really provide all that taxpayer money to Qantas during the pandemic so that Mr. Joyce could spend it all on getting rid of his competition?
Never mind the ACCC there should be an outcry from the taxpayers!
The thing is that the ACCC looked into Qantas's first strike in taking the 20% slice of Alliance for three years, and ultimately cleared it, knowing full well that Qantas bought that stake with a view to taking over Alliance. The end of that investigation gave Qantas tacit approval, and although the ACCC will drag their feet in approving the full takeover, it will more than likely pass.
In a year or so once the takeover is completed, the landscape will look very interesting, but there are alternatives to QQ out there. Cobham has been scaling up the Q400s and E-Jets in WA and is up for sale, Airnorth has added frames and must surely be looking for some sweet, sweet charter revenue. Australian Corporate Jet now has an ERJ-145 and could add more pretty cheaply, so that could take up some of the more ad hoc work.