I don't believe Qantas would discriminate on the basis of age. As much as I dislike management it is a very good place to work. I read a lot about Emerates and Cathay on here and judging by the comments from their crew I would say Qantas will get a lot of highly qualified pilots wanting to come home. My own feeling is that the 787 will be so successful that they will purchase many and that it will become like 1983 to 1989 with much recruitment and promotion.