While 'cost of living' might be a factor in job acceptance or otherwise, surely it is 'cost to the company' which determines the competitiveness of various employment packages.
No doubt J* and
VB are cheaper than QF on many counts, especially when QF spin is regurgitated, as in today's Australian, without comparative analysis of real bottom lines. Min guarantee hours/month, no shorthaul overtime, CAO exemptions, heavy crews with S/Os vs multiple Capts and F/Os narrow the gap between QF and others
a lot.
In short, the Dixon/Joyce/etc spin supported by sloppy investigative journalism manifested in an uncritical acceptance of management pronouncements is not serving
any Australia-based pilots well at present. I'm just surprised that after the years of being called 's*#t c*+ks' by all and sundry, now that AIPA is attempting to take a stand on several issues which may eventually benefit more than just AIPA pilots, they get a different crowd of nay-sayers calling them the same thing!