MightyAuster:
What a load of crap Sunfish!
Playing the Devil's advocate here - QANTAS is trying to compete with the likes of V Australia, whose maintenance base is in LAX, with SIAECUSA - look them up...
In actual fact, QANTAS could potentially have their B744's and A380's main Line Maintenance base in LAX tomorrow, if they choosed to use SIAECUSA, as that company is already an FAA approved repair station for those types. Remember guys, as far as CASA is concerned, VH registered aircraft can be maintained by any approved Contracting State. Doesn't have to be in Australia.
Auster, It isn't as if
VB is claiming to be 100% Australian or "The Spirit Of Australia".
What Qantas is doing is trying to claim it is an iconic Australian Airline while at the same time doing its best to replace Australian workers with cheap foreigners.
The natural response to that is to either remove QF's Australian privileged position and treat it as just another airline, or make it live up to its claim that it is unique because of its safety reocrd which is function of Australian attitudes to aviation. You don't get to have it both ways.
To put it another way, ever looked at whats written on the inside of a McDonalds hamburger container? That stuff about all Australian beef??
QF is really vulnerable to
advertising if it keeps going this way. If it loses its Australian - ness, then it loses its one remaining point of difference with every other airline - and thus its product will be judged for what it is - stale and over priced.