I am of the understanding that the ultimate goal is to have QF as a brand name only then everyone else is just a sub contractor to that brand aka Wal-Mart. It's also how BHP and Rio work too, however they are not in a service industry. That way Geoff won't have to worry about things like staff, safety manangement, maintenance etc as that is all the sub contractors problem. If they can't get the job done then you just get a new contractor. That way you outsource it all to the cheapest bidder. It's already happening in IT, mining and oil are going that way too.
It's all good in theory until they crash one and people lose confidence in your airline.