I agree with you. It takes time and effort to work out where you think you want to be going. It takes time and effort to work out how to say it.
The usefullness of such statements is in the next part of management - driving decisions to the lowest level possible. The best tool for that is a vision and mission statement that allows people to ask "Is what I propose to do consistent with our goals/mission/vision?" If it is then do it. If it isn;t then ask or reanalyse. It ain't rocket science.
In the 70's the Qantas FA's seemed to be empowered (that word again) to do whatever they needed to do to make passengers feel at ease. I saw it first hand and it made me feel proud of our national airline. Not any more.
The sound of an Australian voice from the flight deck (wether QF or any Asian airline) was a signal to unwind and relax. I still remember landing in an MAS 737 at Penang in a storm, with an Australian pilot. We learned later that the preceding flight had not been so lucky.
To me, Qantas is Australian Pilots, FA's and engineers. The rest can go f*ck themselves. If it ain't Australian, it ain't Qantas.