I really dont want this to happpen, but I think they are trying really hard to get rid of QANTAS. I still do understand why,
Qantas is not an airline, it is a hedge fund. The APA bid never went away, it just morphed into a capital lite LBO due to the GFC and the drying up of credit. What you are watching is a more sophisticated camouflage for the old asset strip.
Read the book "
" by Thomas Petzinger Jr - (a used copy is less than US$1+postage), documenting the US deregulation experience. A small group of executives and private equity investors walked away as billionaires, while the rest of industry ended up destitute. This book provides many templates for seizing control, and destroying airlines for personal profit.
The cash flows from the international & domestic operation are being used to construct a stable of new airlines in jurisdictions with far less transparency and control for the shareholder. There are a myriad of opportunities for "third parties" to provide services to this stable of airlines. In effect, these airlines can be reduced to clients of these service providers. Who will own those "third party" providers?
