"No one is disputing that it has $5b invested in it so therefore as a shareholder you would expect it to make 10% or $500m."
BP2197. Many enlightened investors (Buffet etc) would never believe they could get a 10% return from a capital intensive, low margin business such as an airline.
The only airlines to achieve this sort of return regularly are those that reinvest heavily in their product and people (Southwest etc). Southwest's long term average is still only ~8%. The Jester group comes nowhere near it (subsidised or not).
If you are looking for a 10% return on capital (or ROCE) from airlines the best policy would be to either short airlines or buy the ones that are managed properly.