>>> Till kangaroos are extinct
by The Straits Times - SINGAPORE - 22 Feb 2006


QANTAS cannot abide being left in Singapore Airlines' slipstream on its home ground - and the Australian government is ready to retreat from a commitment to market equity in protecting its main airline. This is the underlying significance to be drawn from the Australian transport minister's waffly remarks when he announced yesterday SIA's continued exclusion from the Sydney-California route. How so? Whereas SIA flying the Pacific route would not benefit Australian tourism, Canberra would not be averse to letting in more American airlines "as US travellers prefer to travel on US carriers". This is according to minister Warren Truss' reckoning. One must wonder how the minister could ascertain Americans are necessarily more patriotic than being conscious about service, reliability and price when choosing which airlines to fly on. Translated, this really says US airlines are welcome on the route, in addition to United Airlines, because they do not pose a credible threat to Qantas that SIA would.

As of now, Qantas has two-thirds of the Pacific traffic to United's one-third. With SIA inside the tent, Qantas could feel squeeezed more than somewhat. To bolster the case for keeping SIA out, Mr Truss took a punt on travellers' perceptions in saying the SIA product was "broadly similar" to Qantas' and would not benefit Australia's tourism and travelling public. No, minister, sizeable numbers of your folks would say SIA is superior by far - and fares would come down with the competition. One study shows Qantas is charging 38 per cent more per kilometre on the Pacific run than on the Sydney-London kangaroo route.

Australia is letting its public down badly by placing the interests of one company above the national interest, says SIA in its initial response. This is a noble sentiment to express on behalf of a clientele denied, but SIA is better off plotting its own strategy to face off a government determined to keep its aviation market insular. Nothing is clearer than this line from the minister's statement: "If access (to SIA) is negotiated in the future, it will be limited and phased." SIA could be waiting till the kangaroos become extinct. It was courageous of it to say its case for competition eventually would "appeal to Australia's sense of fair play". Were this a rugby contest, Qantas is ahead by two tries and a dropped goal to SIA's unconverted penalties.