I too lay a lot of blame on the travelling public! All Joe Blow cares about is how much he pays for his ticket. The travelling public want more and more and want to pay lesss and less to get it. Airlines seem to be prepared to race each other to the poor house to comply - a sort of "let's see who goes broke last" approach.
The public MUST realise that the margins for an airline are miniscule. QF returned a profit of $450m last year (on revenues of over $5b) and of this, $405m was from fuel hedging. Deregulation in Australia has failed!! Two strong airlines have become one, with a small player in the wings. The public may get worse service to regional areas and a price rise on mainline seats is inevitable. The public MUST realise that airliners provide a service which must be paid for - it is not a right or a public utility.