Thanks for the book recommendation.
The problem with trust is that the modern bean counter philosophers can't assign a balance sheet value to it so they largely ignore it. Unfortunately for them, just because you can't define a thing quantitatively doesn't mean it that it doesn't exist. Trust exists; it has a value, as does reputation, but like the square root of -1 it doesn't have a number-line definition. However, like the square root of -1 it becomes surprisingly important when you're looking for an explanation, even if you can't say exactly what its value is. The reason trust has a value is because it generates sales and repeat business, even if in the short term it costs money to retain.
It is often said that publically listed companies exist to maximise shareholder value, and for the most part it is true. What is not so often said is that they generally do that by generating sales. For all their pomp and ceremony, most modern publically listed companies (and certainly all airlines) sell a product. If people do not trust that product's reliability, safety or ability to deliver they will choose another similarly priced product that satisfies those criteria. Toyota and many car companies learned this the hard way when their product failed to perform, caught fire or stopped dead at 100 kmph.
Running an airline is fundamentally no posher than running a pie van, where the punters quickly learn whether your pies are safe and good value for money. Unlike the pie van owner, you might get entry to the Australian club if you run an airline, you might be a chap, but the same merchant rules apply. If your product gets a reputation for being dodgy the punters won't buy it, and all your balance sheet tarot skills won't address the downturn in sales when they turn to a product they 'trust'.
Qantas have traded on trust, reliability and safety. They don't seem to realise that those seemingly ephemeral qualities are earned and need to be maintained, and that if they don't cop the apparently high cost practices that guarantee those things their product's value will decrease accordingly. They have also traded on blatant Aussie nationalism, but that is starting to wear thin now their overseas outsourcing has become obvious. While outsourcing may not necessarily have a negative effect on actual performance, it certainly has a negative impact on the 'We're Australian' propaganda they've successfully used for many decades. The obvious retort is 'no you aren't, and why should I trust you any more than a reliable foreign carrier?'
Goose - Golden (Homegrown Aussie Safe) Egg = Trouble + (EK/SQ/CX/MH sales)
. Pretty linear, really.