I must admit to having a high degree of optimism about QR, although my level of optimism used to be muc higher.
You are correct on the "yes men" theory - the Company is so full of them, and as I stated before, that means that management credibility is dimished somewhat as a consequence.
There are a couple of really good guys amongst the QR management team, and as far as I can recall, only one guy who has survived longer than most. This guy is, surprisingly, NOT a yes man, and will speak out as he feels necessary on issues.
Your comments about the Company's size now reaching such a level that AAB cannot possibly maintain his high level of "interference" in all issues, is perfectly true. Someone somewhere needs to tell the guy that he must approach differently and allow his appointed board to do their jobs without need for approval on every issue.
But who?
On the DOH-LHR sector a few days ago, there were some instances where the product and service were starting to display a few signs of being shoddy and mediocre. Not what I expect from QR. Inexperienced crew at the front end who didn't have a clue what they were doing.
Sad.