In actual fact the salaries were on a par with Qantas except for the flight attendants who were paid less than their QF counterparts. Ansett failed solely due to mismanagement.
Z Force, you hit it on the head there, and the pilots were actually costing a lot less post 89 than before, but let's not get into the pre/post $hit fight here.
Richard Cranium, you're no d1ckhead after all.
The minister for QF, John Anderson, insisted that ANZ buy Ansett (and he could have just as easily stopped them in the national interest) so that they wouldn't kill QF stone dead as would have been inevitable. SIA was and is a great airline from a marketing point, and QF wouldn't have stood a chance.
The pollies had to keep the gravy train gold passes on QF going. It'd be too tough if they had to pay for their own tickets, especially on the most generous superannuation in the country.