Sorry about the thread drift:
5. Name me two LCCs that the above-average* punter would aspire to fly on again. One is Southwest, which perversely does not hate its staff. The other is a mythical being, like a unicorn.
Tigerair!
Having been a long time QF Platinum FF, there was a definite "not happy Jan" moment when my company booked me on Tigerair a few months back, but bugger me, the flight was on time, nice clean new aircraft, and great friendly happy cabin crew... and only $49 (plus an extra $14 to get a better seat)!
Flights since have been the same all good and nothing over $119.
I don't know what they are up to, but credit where credit is due, they certainly appear to have lifted their game.
Back to the thread...
It is interesting to compare Qantas with the American legacy carriers, that were forced into painful restructuring... their staff knew what the alternative was after the once mighty Pan Am disappeared, so mostly (even if begrudgingly) staff got with the programs... they were also forced to pull some capacity out of the market.
In the case of Qantas the changes have been too little, too late, and taken too long... ripping a Band Aid off slowly hurts!
Also the two brand strategy I don't think was a bad thing, but both brands needed sound strategies... containing Virgin was not strategy!!... the QF brand strategy defending 65% 'line in the sand", compared to say ANZ's focus on product with a close eye on costs, was insane.
ANZ is also keenly aware of its importance to its nation's economy... and it shows (as do EY, EK, SQ, CX, even take a look at how FJ has turned around). Somewhere along the way QF has lost sight of this.
Qantas' future? Bring on Chapter 11!!! [Oh wait that is America!]