The comparison between BA and Qantas is interesting, but not for the reasons given.
There was a time when BA had a competitor called Virgin that was running rings around it, but not anymore. BA went through a fair bit of pain to restructure itself, but is now expanding rather than contracting and made a profit of €477m in the last quarter. Virgin Atlantic is due to report three straight years of heavy financial losses.
The big difference between BA and Qantas is that BA decided to favour the 777 over the 747 in the late 90s. Since the end of the joint-venture between BA and Qantas BA claims that the financial performance of LHR-SYD over Q2 and Q3 of this year improved by £30m compared to the last financial year. A big factor in this is BA's decision to replace the 747 with the 77W.
Almost every new/reinstated long-haul route BA has added over the past few years (Seoul, Chengu, Tokyo Haneda, Buenos Aires direct, San Diego) has been served with the 777.
Last edited by Omnipresent; 5th Dec 2013 at 20:30.