The fundamental problem here is that
a) they went cheap with engine maintenance during COVID and it’s massively bitten them in the ass, and
b) the pilot shortage is real and there’s no avoiding it for them.
Don't forget that a heap of engineers walked out the door for much the same reason the pilots are leaving. So the backlog of maintenance is hamstrung by a lack of engineers as well as flying stymied by lack of pilots.
I think the whole dynamic of retain staff, or reduce the business is hitting home. Rex is in the simple position of not having looked after it's staff, now that they have options they will leave in droves until the company does something, the staff will not initiate negotiations as they don't care about the future of a company they can leave behind for greener pastures. It is entirely in managements court to offer something of an olive branch to make up for years of adversarial IR practice. Either move now, or shut the business down while it still has some cash, as the staff bleed will not abate anytime soon. I think shareholders will be very interested as to what management has done to retain staff... it might be worth a few of the free shareholders turn up to the AGM and query this.
If I had the cash I would do what management did at the start and buy out and revive the old Kendell and Hazos part of the operation, re-hire all the disaffected pilots on better lifestyle oriented contracts and upgrade the fleet. Offer better recognition for long term employees and make it a decent lifestyle choice for older pilots, not a flow through tube for new pilots (and other staff). Flick off the QLD and WA routes and focus on the main engine of the company in SE Aus.