Qantas' promising continental shift

We were told Qantas was losing money on it's Australia-Europe services. Some doubt that statement but let's accept it. So Qantas arranged a deal with Emirates then sought ACCC approval for that (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 4).
Having got the sought approval Qantas has now announced they will re-deploy resources - aircraft and crews - to a new increased, presumably profitable, Australia-Asia service.
I'm even prepared to accept for the sake or argument Qantas's estimates that the new services will be profitable.
However one thing mystifies me. So far as I know there is no law which requires Qantas to fly anywhere, so I ask why, if the Australia-Europe trade was losing so much money for so long they did not simply cancel the service and save money?

I live in Adelaide, so what can I say....Bummer. (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 4.)

Some years hence ( probably sooner than later ) Qantas will simply become a name tagged onto Emirates flights to placate the public; the ACCC and the politicians. It will cease to exist as an actual international carrier (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 4). And perhaps that is no bad thing. Qantas flies ancient planes manned by cabin crew that are poor in comparison to other carriers. The overall experience of flying with Qantas is not enjoyable anymore.
It's heyday is well and truly over.. and I say that reluctantly because over 50 years I have spent some wonderful times in all classes on Qantas jets .. but not wonderful in recent years.
When the death of Qantas, as a true world airline, is chronicled the major villians will be shown to be the ACCC ( who obstructed every effort by Qantas to meaningfully merge with Air New Zealand and/or Singapore Airlines and move on into the new world )and the intransigent unions.
The current CEO will also have a lot to answer for.
But the unions, the management and even the ACCC could have been neutered had there ever been a decent Federal Minister (responsible for aviation) who had a vision to make sure Qantas survived as a "national champion".
There has been no such visionary in Canberra.

Undoubtedly Qantas has been losing money on its international routes. It was on Geoff Dixon's watch that Qantas rejected the opportunity to go with the Boeing 777 which is now the preferred airliner for most international operators. The 777 uses about 1/3 less fuel than early 747s and has 40% lower maintenance costs. Qantas uses the improved 747-400 but they are still far less efficient than the 777. On a long haul flight Sydney to London the extra fuel cost is huge.
To David Burnett I say the blame belongs on Dixon's shoulders. Compared to Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific and 53 other 777 operators Qantas is saddled with antiquated inefficient aircraft that it has to continue leasing up until 2021. Alan Joyce inherited a poisoned chalice and is fighting with his back to the wall with higher costs than his competitor airlines that operate the 777. Even the tiny Air NZ operates 13 of them.
To John Parkes I say Qantas has contractual commitments by way of leasing aircraft, terminals etc. To shut up shop and cease operations would leave Qantas with legal obligations to pay these expenses and no income. That may well place them in a situation where future losses would be greater than if the airline continues operations. Furthermore its defeatist and poor business strategy to give up on a business that is incurring losses. A good business manager and enterprising board should rise to a challenge and take steps to reverse losses. This is the normal approach.
Alan Joyce's approach by code sharing with Emirates rather than Brit Air is step in the right direction. It provides travelers better access to Europe. Furthermore the new scheduling for the European travel now allows Qantas to schedule its flights into Asia at times that are more compatible with travelers needs in the Asian region.
None of us knows what limitations and strategies Alan Joyce deals with but so far he appears to be managing Qantas far better than Dixon ever did.

Re-orienting the network towards Asia? Doesn't seem that way in Adelaide where Qantas are basically abandoning us, while other airlines are increasing the number of flights (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 5).

Qantas resembles Dagwood of yesteryear, chasing after a bus that has already departed (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 5).

To Mark Williamson, ditto for Perth. No flights to HK or Singapore not even codeshare with BA or Cathay (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 5). Why waste FF points using Jetstar and not get cabin service. Qantas is becoming more like the Federal government only interested in the South Esat states.

Qantas has added a new phrase to the airline vocabulary - "increased dedicated capacity" (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 5).
The definition of increased dedicated capacity is "we'll have more seats available to Asia from many Australian cities because we've moved all of our passengers who previously transited Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong through to Europe, to our other airline - Emirates."
Qantas once again shows how it plans to be the first airline in history to contract to greatness.

Living in Cairns Qantas has not bothered to improve our international connections. in fact we now arrive in bangkok at 1am , maybe now going via dubai (Qantas' promising continental shift, February 4). jetstar from cairns goes via darwin hence a milk run and avery expensive run at that, jetstar stands for budget service but premium prices.i know north queensland is a small market but cathay pacific seems to run full loads at less price than jetstar. as a qantas frequent flyer i get very disapointed because i am forced to fly cathay due to better connections better arrival times and price. maybe this ceo is a very bright man but i very doubt he has got a clue. i am a firm believe you look at all your operations and try and make them viable and that includes cairns.