"Some of the best pilots in the world"
In the same article regarding pilot's claims, a QANTAS spokesperson (unnamed) stated "Qantas has some of the best pilots in the world ... the airline said in a statement."
So one could logically question why would they be pushing to employ non "QANTAS pilots" on QF flights? Wouldn't you expect that you would want to have some of the best pilots in the world working for your company?
To most if not all, a flight number that is QF would appear to be a QANTAS flight, wouldn't it?