Qantas is getting an AOC for its domestic operation. Why? One can only speculate.
Since it was announced around 15 months ago it has become a complex Herculean effort costing, according to one middle manager about 6 months ago, a substantial 7 figure sum. This has now, in all probability, become a solid 8 figure sum.
CASA is not established to do this quickly or easily and has told QF so. They also told QF that the words QANTAS means nothing to the process of getting an AOC.
This explains why the 767 has been dropped from the initial plan, because every one of over 1000 delegations has to be re-done and approved.
So what was probably a "brilliant" arcane brainstorm by upper management has turned into a long, costly, slog which is still nowhere near complete.
But the good news is that another layer of management has been duplicated!