I think most objective commentators agree that QF Longhaul salaries, especially on the A380, are over-inflated and the basis by which they are calculated is less than optimally efficient in this globally competitive industry.
(As an aside, the median Australian salary is less than $70K:
What?s the typical Australian income in 2013? | | MacroBusiness)
I personally know several A380:
Captains earning more than $400K,
First Officers earning almost $300K,
Second Officers earning more than $200K,
and Flight Attendants earning more than $100K.
ALL OF THEM agree that they have a very cushy job and don't work very hard.
Reducing these salaries and
increasing the productivity required to earn them would undoubtedly provide assistance in stemming the flow of red ink from the company's bottom line.
It won't be enough, however, to make QF globally competitive.
QF must somehow find a way to
reduce its cost base to a level closer to, or ideally less than, its competitors.
As many posters have observed on the previous pages, this involves a much more dramatic restructure of the business than just getting front line crew to take, for example, a 30% paycut and work a lot harder.
It will take massive systemic change, along with the life-altering hardship that will mean for many.
Despite the pain for many, I truly hope that it can be achieved so we see this icon survive.
PG
PS. Despite all the obstacles to profitability in this cut-throat industry, the responsibility for a potentially fatal under-performance by QF International remains squarely with the Board and the Senior Management. The main institutional investors are clearly complicit.