but this spin by QF was in particular bad taste
Try working for them!!!
It is a lucky break that Elaine decided to drop Asia and give Longhaul to Emirates. We now fly over Iraq for example - and that country is full of lovely characters. Previously we flew over Afghanistan cruising at 30,000' with the ground at 20,000 - in an active war zone, with Military traffic always heard.
Basically all operators fly over war zones to get where their passengers want to go. Qantas had a lucky break, but listening to one parliamentarian who had obviously no idea other than Wirthless company propaganda made me choke on my weeties when he kept saying 'Qantas has avoided that area for months as part of policy'. That statement is a total fabrication. The facts are there but all they did was concoct a story to fit facts that almost certainly would have been ignored at the time.
Malaysian was incredibly unlucky - for it could quite literally have been ANYONE.