Omni
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.
True but to be honest I think there's a bit more to it than just airframes. Whilst we at BA had the Openskies debacle a while back we've now got a Union and more importantly two CEO's (Walsh and now Keith Williams), who whilst definitely being "hard" are prepared to indulge in meaningful debate with the workforce and have been prepared to give a bit in an attempt to keep the mainline workforce onside and a going concern. It seems to me (from afar) that those at QF have no such luxury, just an asset stripper (do I hear calls of "no **** Sherlock").
All that aside it pains me to see what's going on at QF. I lived in Oz for a while but I can't pretend to understand the deep seated politics of all this. I know you guys ( and girls) deserve better. Good luck.