PLEASE TELL ME THAT ISN'T TRUE
I wish I could tell you it's not true, but from what I see, IT IS TRUE!!!
The "bottom line" for this year is second only to individual bonuses for this year.
Terminating heavy maintenance saved money for a year or two, now it's coming back to bite. What's the cost of cancelling / delaying flights for up to a day, accommodation for 400+ people, and / or ferry flights.
Cutting staff / not training saved money for a year or two, until you don't have the manpower to get the aircraft maintained / dispatched on time. What's the cost when unlimited overtime still doesn't provide the manpower required. The schedule breakdown reverberates through the system the whole day. CityFlyer becomes CityMule - sometimes it will go, sometimes it won't - there is no way of telling.
Attaching safety to bonuses ensured a focus was placed on safety. It has also resulted in all sorts of behaviour by managers to ensure an LTI is not recorded.
QF corporate culture protects / increases this years bottom line, and hence bonus, while it makes the chances of next years QF5 SinFra 26Jan getting away on time even slimmer.