Originally Posted by qfguy
Watch this space but in the next day or so you are going to see flights (747-400's) starting to operate with only 13 cabin crew due to cosmetic config changes
.
The key is in the cosmetics. For those outside QF, cosmetics normally involve downgrading a zone to be sold as a lower class to match booking demand. e.g. sell First as Business and Business as Economy.
It can also mean taking a zone completely off sale in order to accommodate crew sickness up-route, or run a series of flights with reduced crew if commercial demand is low on all affected sectors. Doesn't affect service standards, just saves accommodation/allowances when revenue is down.
Been around as a practice since the 70s.
Not necessarily a conspiracy issue at all.