Next thing the ALAEA would have to establish is that Qantas were not remaining competitive. I have seen so many posts here about cost shifting and stupid decisions but we need a list of as many as possible. Be good if 20 issues were raised as part of a case. I will post them here as they develop but would start with the first one that really pi$$ed me off. The withdrawal from Frankfurt.
I know that loads were always good there. I suspect it was part of the deal to get EK to hold hands with their little friend. None the less, this appeared to be a service offered by Qantas that was making money.
The excuse that they used, and I am sure there are public statements to this effect, was that it was a loss making route. I've been looking at the loads around the time of the service withdrawal. I know loads aren't the absolute defining definition regarding profit but they are a very good insight.
I've taken the number from the BITRE website. I thought I would look at the 12 months before the withdrawal. The loads to Frankfurt compared to other Qantas International destinations. Of 15 International destinations, Frankfurt had the 3rd highest loads. Why would an airline carrying 85.9% loads withdraw that service and continue to fly to many places carrying 70's and even 50's load factor?
