In the real world the “success” of JS is all about low price. The “success” of QF is all about still controlling is it 70 or 80% of the Australian market, and neverending protection on key other routes. It appears to my untrained eye that they have used that route protection to close down their full service flights, not face any competition because they had the slots locked up, and then introduce their low price carrier e.g. Japan.

But that's not my big issue, that's just taking commercial advantage of government stupidity, at both ends.

The big issue is that their brands stink and their brand promises are trash and the brand behaviour is so far from stupid it is idiotic. Anyone travelling QF on any day of the week will have the same stories, some parts good, some parts bad, some parts appalling, all completely unpredictable except that noone will be at the jetway to open the door when you land on the last flights into Melbourne or Sydney – you'll wait 10 minutes for that.

Both JS and QF are all about what's good for them, keep hammering the passengers, keep letting them know how lucky they are to be allowed to be a customer, keep telling them what you won't do for them, keep restricting and taking things away and cutting out everything and then putting it back with a fee.

So in this “competitive” commercial world, why hasn't Virgin cleaned up, if QF and JS are such a mess? Actually it is the same reason – the brand promise is great and on the surface it's happy and bright. But the brand depth and brand behaviour is the same trash. Try with any of them to change or amend bookings, or to do something a little different, or to even ask questions about what options might be available, or to find out when and if your luggage might arrive. It's all the same for all of them – appalling.

Let's face it – air travel these days is mostly a pain in the butt.

Consumers are hostages to bad service whereever they turn. So price is the driver – but also apathy prevails and people stick with QF and its offspring as it has a kind of patriotic ring. I'd predict that QF has measured and reported on a high level of “satisfaction” among its travelers and FF members, and this is taken to mean loyalty which it absolutely is not.

Their TV ads, take the latest QF campaign, promises that travel on business with Qantas is “a breeze”. That is the whole message. I mean really, that's as bankrupt as advertising can get and I thought that the world had moved on. There is no hope of delivering on that promise, and the behaviours during any customer engagement cycle simply destroy the message completely. The others live in the same yesterworld of fake advertising that proves your point yet again – “stuck on stupid” legacy or not in Australia.

Walter