Anthill
I think your post sums up precisely what is wrong with the Qantas Group.
You said the return fare on QF22 was actually less than the JQ flight to Japan.
Group marketing is a total shambles. Where the two airlines share common routes they are being promoted as interchangeable and expect the punter to accept that, while on the other hand selling JQ as a bottom feeder product. Sometimes the turd polish rubs off.
This is also happening domestically.
Getting back to international for a moment, I am constantly getting emails from some of the travel websites promoting fares on QF to HKG for return fares of AUD 690 or thereabouts. They are doing themselves no favours by downgrading the value of their own product while crying that they cannot get a premium.
All the economic arguments about cost do not wash with me for the very simple reason that QF management has destroyed the network. QF has less flights out of Australia each week than many of the foreign competitors, including my own company. They are trying to spread fixed overheads over a depleted network and then trying to blame it on unit costs.
As many have said on this thread, it's a tough gig out there in aviation land and to survive you can never shrink your way to profitability. Margins are razor thin so you have to have minimum critical mass and provide the travelling public with a network they can use, and on a/c that can make a dollar for you. Pilots' salaries are a miniscule portion of the overall equation.
You most definitely cannot survive by charging equivalent or less than your LCC bastard brother (who is leeching off all your so-called legacy costs).