Strong Aussie $
I just watched the ABC interview and paid particular attention to the part about the strong AUD being a problem for Qantas. There were only a few words said in a blink, but I got the gist of what he was on about in relation to Qantas International.
His beef – Qantas home-base costs, expressed in US dollars, have increased a lot over the last few years. This puts Qantas International in a weak position against the Americans, and any other airlines that have home currencies pegged to the USA dollar...Emirates.
Using salaries as an example, as the AUD strengthened, the cost of the Australian based employees rose in terms of USD. Someone employed in early 2010 (when the AUD was weak) for AUD100,000 cost about USD60,000 – now they cost USD105,000 (a 75% increase in USD terms). For the USA dollar based carrier, that employee is still USD60,000.
Fuel is contracted in USD, so fuel paid for with revenue collected in Australia is a positive (they collect revenue in several currencies, but I imagine most of it is AUD). Of course, this didn't support the 'poor me' argument, so it wasn't mentioned.