Bruce Buchanan ( ex Boston Consulting Group) used to say (2011) that annual 'growth rates in Asia (and I am paraphrasing) would see JQ requiring hundreds of aircraft by 2020'...
Sadly with the JQ franchises not performing like they proclaimed, the narrative has changed. Bruce however moved on to cosmetics we are told!
Thus, Alan will have to put the aircraft somewhere...It will likely be Qantas. It seems with the plans for Asia on hold, it has been a little too much tip and less iceberg..
The standard Industrial relations play is to wait for an economic downturn, roll out the A320 threat (ignoring the costs of introduction and complete re-write of everything domestic) and open 'negotiations' The implied threat of course is that the aircraft will go to Jetconnect, Cobham, Network or Qantas Link(Have we missed one?)...Pilots need not worry if they 'give up whatever they can' to get flying...It's old and tired, but it worked.Wash, rinse and repeat!
This is standard IR play, any study of US carriers and the IR strategies show this nexus clearly. Even US carriers are changing the way they view pilots. Given carriers in the ME and Asia are screaming for qualified pilots will it dawn on Australian IR that demographics drive the market and the more they try to screw the pilots the more qualified pilots look at other options..Getting a pilot's licence at the required standard is a time consuming and expensive business. Pilots sadly in Australia are looking overseas. A career path is all most pilots ever really wanted and fair reward for the cost and time taken to secure those skills..
