We can blame the governmentS, we can blame the CEO, we can even blame the unions, and rightly so because they all have a role to play in the fall of our national icon, but, at the end of the day, we, the consumer at large are to blame for the failings of Qantas.

I say this because how many of us, myself included, are guilty of flushing out the cheapest flights.

As I have said for years, for every action there is a reaction, and this is the reaction of supporting a foreign owned competitor.

Just like the car industry, we have made our bed, now we have to sleep in it.

rehctub,
How much does Qantas pay ? The CEO, a Senior Captain, Purser etc, how much for doing jobs that say Virgin doesn't pay as much for ?
How many monoplies has Qantas got all over the country ? How many other airlines have gone to the wall because of Qantas. i don't have the answers but I'm sure some OLO'ers would have them.
My friend is a senior FO with the other Airline & he is on 115 grand/year for a 777. I'm sure Qantas jet jockeys get way more than that. Having said that the other airline doesn't offer any lower fares either but I suppose it might just get them over the finacial line.

Twice in my life I have traveled with QANTAS, the first time through ignorance and the second through necessity at all other times I have avoided our "Icon" like the plague.

So many other airlines give much better service and courtesy to passengers than does "our very own".

Come on Rechtub! take a breath.
The Irish fool has done great damage to the brand name.
And more creating too much service in some areas to try to kill a competitor.
Too you must not ignore the high Australian dollar.
Above all Australians no longer trust the safety of this fleet as you can see by only one in four using them to leave this country cheap but throwing cash to flog an opponent is silly.
Quantas is not Qantas any more its brand killed by an over paid idiot.

A mate was recently in Perth for 6 days. A bunch of them had flown their Jetstar, on individual tickets. He discovered he needed to be in Brisbane the night of the day he left Perth.

As he has done before, he contacted the airline to change the ticket to Brisbane, rather than Sydney. He expected a surcharge, $50, perhaps $100, but not what they wanted.

The surcharge to merely change the destination from Sydney to Brisbane was $490, sixty dollars MORE than the fare if he bought a new ticket from Perth to Brisbane. He did query this, but was assured that was the price.

Of course he flew to Sydney, walked across to virgin, & flew to Brisbane for $79.

He has flown quite a bit with Qantas, but this was definitely the last time he will ever fly with Jetstar, or Qantas. He assured anyone who would listen he would "bloodily well walk" before he would use the company again.

I don't know how much of such foolishness comes from the CEO, bean counters, or staff attitude, but avoid Qantas is the advice I hear everywhere.

rehctub,
I have absolutely no idea how the leprechaun manages but whichever way it's done he's getting paid way too much. I think the real problem with Qantas are the shareholders, their demands are pushing for more profits even though the airline business has reached its peak so far as making profits goes. The real fault lies with the mum'n dads investors & the frequent flyer nonsense & the over-the-top wages & fringe benefits pushed up by Union demands.