would all the pilot group try and negotiate all new conditions to save there colleagues?
That would be completely pointless. The management would never allow this to happen. They don't want Australian employees, the end game is to outsource overseas. What will happen this Thursday is just a transition stage of a much grander plan. To try and negotiate lower wages in order to save jobs would not fit in with this plan.
Maybe this $300 million dollar loss could be a one-off hit from the cost of Project Marlin that has been placed on the balance sheets in order to hoodwink the government and Aussie public into thinking they are in dire straits. How else does one explain the recent sharebuy back and its apparent poor timing?