As much as some people find it distasteful - welcome to the real world.
Directors and Executives of companies are responsible to shareholders - not employees.
It is their job to produce the best possible result for their shareholders - not the employees.
Everyone says that they don't deserve it because luck went their way - it may have, but the bottom line is what counts.
Think of the alternative - if Ansett hadn't gone down last Sep and SIA had tipped some cash in - what would be left now? Would Qantas still be here? Would it be struggling under the costs of excess capacity in a hugely shrunken international market, whilst fending off massive discounting in a domestic market with 2 strong competitors?