Shon7, it is Qantas management saying that "Qantas International" is losing money. However, they produce no accounts for "Qantas International", so it is a "trust us" statement. I don't buy it, show me the data, and the assumptions in the accounts. Don't just take this statement at face value, when it is un-testable. This is the crux of the issue, if something is repeated enough does it becomes the truth? Propaganda 101.
Lets
for the sake of the argument take at face value that "Qantas International" is losing money. Is it because of:
- Inefficient aircraft (old aircraft)
- High maintenance costs (old aircraft)
- Labour practices
- Internal accounting practices
Which makes the biggest contribution to the loss? If you have two internal airlines, one with new aircraft, one with old, I wonder which one will make the losses?
The truth is there would be only a few executives who know on a genuine like-for-like basis, the comparison of the profitability of any of the internal operations. As Sunfish has so adequately demonstrated, there is little to no expert aviation accounting outside the airlines, an hence they are effectively a law unto themselves.
This is why the "Group" structure is so useful, all the segments can be thrown in, mixed around in a big stew, with the final profit figure ladelled out in the ASX statutory accounts along with the "trust us" profit & loss for the internal divisions.
To what end? To negate The Qantas Sales Act and set course for a rollicking deal-a-thon and immense personal wealth.
