Jetstar was initially sold as a blocking move to prevent some other operator from starting up in the LCC market sector. At the time industry pundits pointed to every other LCC subsidiary of a legacy carrier eventually harming the parent carrier.
Only the consultants thought it a good idea to host an agent of "creative destruction" . More of such innovative bull****e can be found in the management press of the day. Another obvious fallacy was something called "first mover advantage" used to justify rushing into ill-considered Asian franchises.
Master Caution I agree with most of your points. I would like to see JQ International fold and have all the aircraft return to QF. Possibly they could run a small fleet on Phuket and Bali.
I cannot see QF domestic ever replacing Jetconnect...their cost base is too low, especially for the NZ domestic sectors.
As far as rebranding upscale the Jetstar offshore operations: Hmmmm. Cunning plan. The LCC space in Asia is rapidly becoming a disaster for all the players, but even SQ is bleeding in the full service sector. As is MH and Thai. There may not be enough revenue to warrant staying in business there at all.
Anyway...all of this is moot with the current board/executive and top two layers of yes-men.