I think Ben Sums it up well here
Jetstar long distance load factors drop into unsurvivable bracket
Jetstar long distance load factors drop dangerously low | Plane Talking
Commentary Among the very poor traffic and yield figures in the
latest Qantas guidance to the ASX in monthly traffic stats, Jetstar International continues to fly enough empty seats to kill itself, or if nothing gets done, the parent company.
In May it flew with 31.2 per cent of its seats unoccupied. For the low cost model, which is predicated on high occupancy figures, this is lethal if not corrected. It has shown no signs of being effectively corrected in recent times, even though Jetstar has abandoned various routes and sharply reduced frequency on others.
Yet this is the part of Qantas that is putting into service what will be a fleet of 14 Boeing 787-8s while returning a smaller number of what are largely borrowed Qantas A330-200s.
The Qantas occupancy by-fare-paying-passenger stats in other parts of its operation also reported falling numbers, apart from Qantas long haul, which showed a monthly improvement. Qantas domestic, once supposed to be the cash cow of the group, flew with 29.6 per cent of its seats empty in May including those flown by its Qantaslink brand.
As for the mainstream media.... it will take them a while longer to catch on... can't risk a front page full colour Qantas ad... they too are doing it tough.. and money talks...
http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-e...701-zsrko.html