V-Jet, QANTAS is a company that happens to be an airline. The expertise to run a company should be at the board and CEO and senior management level. The expertise to safely transport people by jet aircraft lies further down the food chain.
It can be argued that serious mistakes have been made at the company management level (think the failure to or delay in aircraft replacement, the on-going cannibalisation of QANTAS due to JetStar, the disposal of profitable routes to an alliance competitor). It can even be argued that some of those mistakes MAY have compromised the safe operation of their aircraft (I am thinking of the sacking of in-house engineers) but I would be very doubtful if that has been done without a full analysis of the safety aspects of the change.
However, the company has announced a return to profitability which is more than most full-service carriers can do. You say,
NO-ONE HAS ANY TECHNICAL OR AIRLINE EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER
, at the Board level. They don't have to, the advice they will take from the various management levels of QANTAS (which is where that expertise should be) is what is required. What the board has to bring to the table is their own perceptions of what is required for a successful business, apply that to the advice they will be given by management and provide an overall direction for senior management.
From what I have seen of Todd Sampson (albeit only on television) he is someone who can bring a unique set of skills, other than just marketing, to the QANTAS board and that is to be encouraged.