The eventual shutdown of maintenance at QF is NOT inevitable. Just ask anyone who has EVER had a joint venture in Asia how it has panned out.
Your ENTIRE argument rests on the assumption that Asia is always going to be a financially advantageous location to do stuff, which, I assure you, is not a safe assumption.
By moving operations overseas, you are exposing yourself to three additional sources of risk for your business. The first is sovereign risk - which is about the attitude of the Government in the designated country towards your country and their attitude to one of their companies doing work for you.
Sunfish, your argument may hold some weight for our curent ageing fleet. The A380 isn't going to be done in H96 in SYD and the 787 isn't going to be done in HM BNE. These new aircraft will have their heavy maint done more than likely in Singapore or Malaysia. Only the A checks and line maint. will be done here. Let's just look at what's happened in Australia in recent years. Ansett. GONE! 2001 QF SYD HM. GONE! 2005 QF HM MEL. Downgrading. A330 HM BNE. PENDING. AVV HM. Lots of outsourced labour onshore.
The second is the business risk associated with relying on an overseas facility. This is about what happens to you if they go belly up. This can be ameliorated if there are numerous suppliers to choose from, so that any failure can be quickly fixed by substitution.
Plenty of 3rd party MRO's out there. HAECO, SAECO, GAMCO, etc. QF will use anyone who will take them.
The Third is commercial risk - which is about competition and your ability to choose another supplier if you believe you are being gouged.
These risks must be managed if you are to succeed in outsourcing, and there are an infinite number of ways you can screw it up.
QF doesn't worry about risk management. It tries to kill a mosquito with a cannon. Throw money at it, and it has to work eventually.
So here's one for you QF 94, what happens to QF when all those little guys in your Malaysian MRO decide to have their little EBA session? You all ready know the answer - QF is F***ed.
Don't believe the bull**** about Australia being expensive either. As Asian living standards rise, their cost advantage disappears.
Sunfish, Malaysia doesn't have the same "enterprise bargaining" as we do in Australia. They have access to all the cheap outsorced labour they can get. They're surrounded by much weaker economies than their own, and have a willing foreign population to come in and do the work for a fraction of the price. Australia is not expensive for its labour, just that the Asian labour is much cheaper and better exploited.
Don't think for one second that I am in support of what QF management is doing or what their agenda is. I despise what is happening, but unfortunately, EBA or not, unfortunately the path taken is not going to be changed very easily, if at all.