Thanks GG.
That is exactly my point about Tiger and the B737.The experience of the QF crews at the time of the FJ contract was that despite our objections, the end result worked well for everyone.
Just to clarify the B747 100 issue. The story that I heard from very senior people was that VH-EEI which was a B747 100, was up for lease and Ansett wanted it for their 1st o'seas aircraft. QF got in first and then looked for something to do with it and decided to lease it to FJ to replace a 747 200.
I flew an early trip on it ex SYD and when it got back to SYD FJ wouldn't take it as it had so many problems. It then flew in FJ colours for a period on QF services while FJ took back (I think) EBG.
For a while there were 2 B747s in FJ colours ,but FJ only operated one at a time. At that stage when an aircraft was on an FJ flight, the crew were all FJ except the Qantas FE.FJ also operated B747 200s in QF colours. We insisted on a sticker over the boarding doors saying that the aircraft was operated by FJ.
QF crews operated the FJ coloured aircraft on their services with an all QF crew.
Ultimately QF got VH- EEI into great shape and Virgin Atlantic ended up with it and kept it for quite a while.
The moral of this story? With a bit of an open mind, a bit of a more strategic view and a bit of good award/contract writing, pilots can normally make a situation like the current Tiger B737 work better than a no change situation.
Wunwing