Moa999
A very significant component of the management and administrative overhead of JQ is paid for by the 'Qantas Group'.
Aircraft and spares purchasing, aeronautical charges and regulatory affairs and product development to name just three areas.
Additionally, Qantas mainlines management overhead in this area is now the highest in the world. Massively overstaffed, and each staff member earning salaries that are in the multiples of contemporaries in Australia and the rest of the world.
Some of the flight operations salaries are absolutely outrageous - close to a million per year for former CP ' The Fat Controller' and nearly 800K for 'the Rutting Chimp / Hailstone'
Agree with some of your points on operational costs, but cost issues are not just confined to this area also.