It is not the Pilot or Cabin Crew costs that are much difference between QF and VA it s the ground crew where there is a big difference. QF ground crew are mainly employed under the QGS rates which are lower than VA, There are 5 ports that are VA staffed and cost substantially more per person than he contracted ports. That is where any new owner will make labour cost changes plus there will be a lot less than before the virus. Most are saying half at best will return.

So we are now suggesting that the ground crew should join the race to the bottom ? The whole industry is a mess .

It has to return to a position where going flying costs MORE than a Uber to the airport.

It has to return to a place where we don’t see ‘Aviation Guru’ GT saying .... this xxxxxx will result in lower airfares..

The race to the bottom HAS to stop ..

An Airline should be a a complete thing.. from check in to catering to engernering .. to pilots and cabin crew..


They should all be employed by the Airline the work for at proper wages.

Rant over

Everyone will be taking haircuts in the post COVID world not just the Pilots or the Ground Crew. 20% less activity will mean that most businesses will be loss makers unless they can cut their costs by at least 30%. You may not see it in the cost of your latte but that is the way it will go in most industries particularly Tourism and support industries. Rolls Royce is having nightmares as the smarter ones in their 1,000 customers want a 20% cut to the TCA costs of their engines on A330's and A350's (not to mention the untimely end to the A380 and their engines on it) causing them to be instantly in a loss making position. There will be a lot of jobs going in Airbus, Boeing, GE and Rolls over the next few months. Race to the Bottom. Nope it is going to be who survives through this one and the recessions that are occurring around the world. Proper wages are a matter of relevance in the market. There will be many unemployed experienced Airline Pilots in the Asia Pacific area for the next few years. The employed ones will be the lucky ones.

In a perfect world I agree. It would make for a much better airline. However if that were to happen you would just be held hostage by all the service unions and there is nothing you can do about it. You can't fire them. You have to either endure strikes and shutdown your entire airline or negotiate higher wages. Problem with paying high wages for low skilled jobs is that all the licensed and skilled labour looks at what the non skilled labour gets and starts wondering why they are getting ripped off. Basically this is what happened to Australian manufacturing and is still happening in rural areas with manufacturing and processing. Plants are still being shutdown because the costs are to high.

This is the only sensible post here.. except for mine of course ;)