Gaunty,
I am not saying the fare paying public should not know who they are flying with; what I am saying is that I believe that a standard set by CASA should ensure that a crash such as this shouldn’t happen, regardless of who the actual operator of the aircraft is.
Cross charter, code share, etc are a fact of life and a CASA accredited AOC should be sufficient justification to consider the airline safe. If not the AOC should be removed and that can only be achieved by constant diligence by the authority.
As to” brokering”, this crash doesn’t really relate to “brokering” in the real sense BUT even if it did I can’t see that it should have any bearing. Brokers are only dealing with aviation companies that CASA has authorised to operate and thus are deemed to be of a suitable standard.
As to “one universal AOC” as being the logical conclusion, I have to disagree; each operator still exists as an individual identity no matter how they are contracted.
I note your term “minimum acceptable standard” but that term should not be seen as being just above “just above dangerous,” as I am assured that the two standards are quite some distance apart.