ea340, don't get me wrong, I wish only the best to my friends working at AC. What bugs me is the idea that this tiny extra bit is the make or break item. Qantas as the same restrictions (minus the language one) yet have been consistently profitable even though they have not replaced their 744 by 777 (that's 40-50T extra burn per crossing! eye watering!!!). The AC board has been rewarding failure; heads should have been rolling at the top but instead you see massive increases in salaries and bonuses. If your management would show leadership, every employee would embrace the "everything must change" slogan.
And yes all docs at AT are bilingual and you are right not every CC proficient in both languages but the ratio that are is way higher.
Happy New Year!