I agree. RedQ was the front for a jet connect style operation based in SE Asia with them operating 787s in Qantas colors. They would have also been a raging success ontheir own branded flights because QF would have code shared with them on multitudes of flights to Europe. The catch is that QF would have paid a premium for 90% of the seats whether they were used or not and RedQ would have been declared an outstanding success while QF international continued to struggle- thus requiring more work to go offshore.
It's no shock if Qantas were having trouble finding someone to partner with them though. It's always been a dodgy call.
As to the Returnee, it was mentioned by a few at the revue last night but no reasons were proffered. Hopefully the 'tude' won't be present when he returns.