Packrat - No arguments. Dixon has severely trashed the Qantas brand. But if you think things are bad now, just watch Joyce in operation once he is officially handed the golden hatchet next week.
LL - AO was a half baked and badly thought out attempt to run a low cost operation. It was never going to succeed.
Regarding foreign based tech crews. How would this REALISTICALLY work for the domestic J* operation.
Speculation is one thing, but look sensibly at the mechanics of trying to do it - Where are these crews coming from to achieve a significant cost saving and make the entity cheaper? Having had some experience in this area with crews from certain countries where standards are, shall we say, dubious, it just wouldn't work DOMESTICALLY in Australia.
You're stuck with this J* arrangement LL - The question doesn't need answering, we are now Air Mini-me.
J* in 2009 = Qantas in 2020. That's the reality.