Captain Sherm, You offer a good response, except you along with all the other dreamers, seem to think that most QF S/O’s earn $150k/annum. Just because a few of the super senior ‘Pacific S/O Barons’ may get that, in no way means that it is the norm. A midrange seniority S/O’s would need to work 1200 hours a year to make that amount. Second Officers are not present on most airline flight decks and are a cheaper compromise to operating ‘heavy’ (multiples of Capt’s and F/O’s) crews, as most other international carriers do. The only way LCC’s make money is in forward ticket sales. Come the day when that income does not cover operating costs you will be left with no option other than closure.
Unless the LCC achieves a greater prominence in higher yield fares i.e. becomes more like their 'Legacy' parent, they will have no guarantee of a long term future.
J* (in its current guise) along with Tiger, are the beginning of the end of a reliable and trustworthy airline industry, not the future that we should leave for those that follow us.