Its good to mention Southwest…and its highly unionized highly paid workforce. And there’s lots of growth left in 1-3 hour markets in the US. SW is already the biggest airline in the world if you measure that by daily passenger boardings vs ASKs.
But it wasn’t always thus. 1971 they started within Texas (not covered by CAB rules) and at that time, in fact for a long time, they weren’t paying top dollars at all.
It took SW about 9 years to get to 22 737s (roughly JQ’s domestic fleet today after a couple of years of the 320) and the beginning of inter-state flying. And yes….while Jetstar has Qantas to help it start…..so did SW have it’s privileged position at Love Field. Almost every Noth American major has tried to start something to stop SW, none have really succeeded. “Shuttle by United”, “Ted”, “Song” “Continental Lite”, "Frontier Horizon", “Jazz” etc etc. Majors…aka Legacy Carriers….have to do something but the fact is that few have done it as well as QF did with JQ.
Who knows how well JQ pilot and the rest of the staff (remember them?) will be paid in the years ahead? I guess that would be a function of how well the airline goes wouldn’t it? And the collective will of the pilot body….(please refer to a bazillion Pprune threads on pilot unions in OZ)….and pilots willing to vote with their feet rather than whinge….I had a mate years ago in another world who got a phone call in the middle of a 727 class at a dodgy US freight outfit…..”Hey AJ, a mate of mine is starting up an overnight parcel service using Falcon jets…he’s going to call it Federal Express…you could get seniority number 12…what do you think?”. AJ was wise of course, like most pilots when outside the cockpit…”Never happen!!!” he replied and wrote off millions of future earnings in seconds.
Australia is in transition. From the way it was to the way it will be. Don’t judge it all just yet. Dixon and Joyce face far more implacable foes than their pilots…and the truth is they are not foes at all, quite the opposite….and they are building a group wide strategy which combines the strengths of the QF brand with JQ’s low cost ability to protect QF Group market share, and attract and expand value-driven markets. Its not a perfect process I am sure. I’ve spent years with a very well resourced Asian carrier on the 777 and yet they too are starting their own LCC to stem the tide of market share. The world is changing and if we have the Situation Awareness we are paid for….we should smell the coffee…and the roses…and get on board a changing world.
“I deserve to be paid more”…is not a rallying cry that would have me follow you over the parapet into the war…..just take it easy and stop listening to slogans. Life unfolds in our flying world and I have to tell you that for it to unfold with jobs for all is not the worst thing at all. And by the way....my cellar is full of my note from Micro-Economics 101,201,301 and 401....and that was when you went to university with a tram ticket, pencil and notebook, not online with a glass of wine and a keypad. iIf you PM me I can arrange to send you cartons full so you can study the things we "boomers" learned while you were in nappies.
As for "can't afford a house"....hmmm...maybe not in Vaucluse just yet. Lest said the better here. Save up and look to the outer suburbs as we all did.
And if you weren't aware...SW is not pefect. Recent years have seen 2 horribly landing accidents.....no Asians or other lesser pilots on board. It can happen.