Your quite right Shon 7 of course they go for the cheaper airline, no different to me going to Bunnings then the more expensive privately run hardware shop down the road, but for some inexplicable reason I still like the hardware shop down the road, and admire the bloke for still battling Bunnings up the road. And they are the same, they use a cheaper airline to go to Bali, but expect QF to be always there, because its supposed to be there, its part of the countries fabric, and the minute it gets threatened they all start yelling lay off it. The point I am making is Joyce has been placed in the unenviable position of not just running any old airline that he can close down when it starts to fade, and bring in a young fresh airline that is more economic to run, but a airline that is married to the country it represents, and thereby lies the problem. Joyce and probably Dixon would probably just like the close the whole box and dice down, and make the far more economical JQ the new National Carrier, Joyce after all was not born here, so would not have the same affection or loyality that QF attracts, and Dixon is only ever attracted to a dollar, but had the sense not to go to far with QF before he found himself drawn and quartered, far easier to hand it over to someone who has little idea and take the flack. So doomed if he does and doomed if he does not is Joyce, dealing with a top heavy aging airline, that is so firmly entrenched in the country, he cannot destroy it, as much as he would love to, so all that is left is dismantle it slowly, destroy its engineering capacity, making life difficult for its pilots, destroying moral amongst its cabin crew and ground staff, taking it off lucrative routes, and failing to buy the 777, but keeping aged uneconomical aircraft flying and slowly but surely it will die and natural death, that cannot be blamed on its board or CEO but a natural death caused by a changing world, that a old fashioned company like Qantas cannot possibly keep up with, and JQ the new kid, economical, with the newest aircraft, cheap labor both on the flight deck and behind it is the way to go. This is obvious to even blind freddy, but now its up to its staff to halt his progress, for QF is a fine airline that deserves better, and is worth fighting for, and hopefully its staff will eventually win, Joyce will go and someone who has the companies future as heart, who is prepared to take it into the future as a vibrant, experienced airline will take his place. One can only hope.