I attended some months ago a session on the future strategy of Qantas and the direction it is taking. May I say at the outset the session was not a Qantas initiation but organised by a group to analyse the Qantas direction. The main thrust of the talk was about the "BRAND" and how the Qantas board and senior management see the brand. What was clear is that there is a push by Qantas to move the company towards a "NIKE" situation where the Brand is the only substantial thing the company owns. Marketeers control every facet of the airlines operations. Marketing budgets are up around the level of total payroll. Outsourcing and contracting are continuing unabated. And the hierarchy truly believe all Qantas staff is paid too much (except themselves). Qantas sets its goals years out and what we are seeing today is nothing what it will be like in 2, 5, 10 years. The FA issue with basing crews in London is just a piece of the jigsaw, next will be the Tech Crews. Eventually the only thing Australian about Qantas will be the name. You will board a flight in London and be greeted by Biggles rather than Crocodile Dundee, irrelative to the Marketeers as long as the Brand is projected more and more. Qantas in the future will be an entity in name only with very little Australian substance. What needs to be asked is "Is this really the Spirit of Australia"?