But the people who lease the plane to Jetstar charge a Lease Charge.
(even if the said aircraft is sitting on the ground )
This charge effectively includes depreciation (that the lessor suffers) and purchase cost (interest and dividend/profit)...
Thus it is much easier for Qantas to be EBITDA or cashflow positive, compared to Jetstar
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Thus the other way of looking at the statement that QFi is cashflow positive but can't cover depreciation
is that if QFi sold all its aircraft to a Lessor today (or put them in a standalone vehicle) and charged a market lease rate,
then QFi would be cashflow negative
So, Qantas borrows money to buy an A320. They incur costs such as interest, depreciation, maintenance etc. The A320 is leased to Jetstar. In a true arm's length arrangement, Jetstar's lease payments would cover Qantas' costs plus a margin, and Qantas would make a profit from Jetstar.
The thing is, what's in it for Jetstar? If you were running Jetstar, wouldn't you cut out the middle man, borrow the money to buy the A320 yourself and save the margin you are paying to Qantas? Or even outsource the leases. Afterall, they outsource many other parts of their business outside of the group, why not aircraft leasing? Who here believes that QF mainline, whilst apparently having one of the highest cost workforces coupled with a high dollar, just happens to have to most competitive aircraft lease rates in the world? Unless, of course, the leases aren't really at market rates and it's just another way to shift costs between QF and JQ.
This also further highlights one of the biggest problems with management (and there is a long, long list) and that is consistency.
One day we need faster depreciation ... the next depreciation is breaking the back of QF Int.
One part of the group needs brand new, leased aircraft ... the other needs 20 year old, clapped out gas guzzlers that are owned.
Not one dollar will spent on mainline until it returns a profit ... but we can afford to spend millions to park aircraft for unproven Asian franchises that have never turned a profit.
If management ever hope to regain any credibility with staff, investors and the public they need to have a consistent strategy which is applied to
all parts of the group.