The rot at Qantas started with JBT. He engineered appointment as CEO from the Boardroom, ousting one of the most decent men one could meet. Once CEO, he oversaw privatisation that led to a conga-line of highly paid, short term trough dwellers that paved the way for todays's wreck that is Qantas. He inherited a robust company but left it a mess, just as he's supposed to have left TN.
Rumour had it that a certain light aircraft was maintained and stored at the Jet Base at Mascot.
As for JBT's alleged comment about there being only half the QF payroll was working, there are many who'd be asking "how would he know" as he was never seen wandering the corridors of QCA/B/C in the years that he was CEO!
Obviously, some think the world of JBT but sometimes all is not what it seems.