Well put FR8DOG.

All I know is that before Allan Joyce took over from Geoff Dixon QF made profits in the half billion dollar range for many years running. He's managed to absolutely kill that company, but for some reason thinks it is OK to use the quality of the pilots to sell the product, while doing everything he can to shaft them. SO's by the way do not do that well (I was one at Air NZ, starting pay on the 777 was about $40K US at the time), and it takes forEVer to progress, as has been pointed out.

I work down here (ex N American) and all I can say is that I find the numbers in the article "interesting". I've seen managements take on employee demands (all employee groups are in the same boat by the way and the pilots are about the only ones not on work stoppages) in the press, however yeterday in the Sydney Morn Herald the issue was a 2.5% pay increase and job security (pilots contract current sticking points), which was pretty much what the other QF unions were looking for. . . not much of an ask really is it.

Meanwhile QF has lost another 20 million this past week due to the problems and they have the entirity of Oceania ticked at them; is that good management?

Mostly good comments here, but some people perhaps should show a little respect for their compatriots who are working to keep our profession professional. What happened in the US is a shame, the situation at USAir is terrible and hey, if you look at the papers it's all about the greedy pilots isn't it?

QF staff, in this case I believe, are not the ones systematically destroying the reputation of a world renowned brand. And considering I fly for Brand X (well, brand V as it were) down here I think that's saying something.

And a bit of a thanks to Vagabond for what looked like a reasonable bit of editing. Well done.