I mean no disrespect, but ...I've got the feeling that the QANTAS die hards are trying to hold holy something that the average punter doesn't want.
As a consumer, my choice is to either sit cramped up in QANTAS' 31" pitch economy class ... or Jetstar's 38" premium economy cabin. For that ...I'm willing to pay a premium ... and I bet there's others who think likewise.
QANTAS has seen fit not to introduce premium economy and I think it's lost a lot of custom to the likes of BA and AIRNZ on that front. The other group of people who are flocking to Jetstar are those who don't care about seat pitch but want to save a buck. They are also happy to purchase food on board ... if they want it.
QANTAS, like any business, has to accept that they can't tell today's consumer what they want ... nor tell the consumer that what they want is the wrong choice ...you just have to provide what they want.
If you don't ... you can't sit around crying about them departing in droves.