“QF staff wages and conditions have ZERO to do with any perceived ..er .. problems......”
No, they have a lot to do with the REAL problems.
“Virgin Engineers get 5% more than QF Engineers as a single example.”
As before, Virgin is NOT the airline you should be concerned about.
“The wages are NOT the problem”
There is not a business manager alive today in Australia today that would agree with this statement. Especially one from an industry saddled with bloated legacy labor costs and industrial fat.
“The QF pilot is flying more and earning less than the equivalent Cathay pilot for the last year.”
Awesome, fantastic. That’s a great example. But its just ONE example and CX is trying its best to curb labor costs also. Should we make the comparison between labor costs at Qantas and Thai/Malaysia/Singapore/Silkair/Philipines/Lan Chile/Vietnam/Air China/China Southern/China Eastern/Sichuan/Hainan/Garuda/Air Asia/Fiji/Air New Guinea/Air New Zealand/South African?
Qantas labor costs are higher than ALL of these airlines and in many cases significantly higher.
Wages represent about 20% of operating revenue of an airline such as Qantas. Crew wages (pilots about 6 and FA about 4) represent about 10% of operating revenue.
You would need to be insane to think that the business would not be focused on these costs that unlike fuel and exchange rates, can be controlled!