Unless you are running an airline, you cannot fully comprehend the leverage involved.
Cosmic and beyond belief.
A small change in operations - losing a flight - is an enormous amount of money. Lose a flight - 160 seats @ $300 average = $48,000. Lose 1000 flights in a day and that is $48 million. Try that for a week, and it is $336 million. There simply isn't that much in the biccie tin to cover it.
BTW what arsehole said that Qantas should be privatised?