The issues raised by previous poster where:
a) TAs given incentive to book JQ over QF (I assume this means fare parity between QF and JQ, as commission would be based on % of price)
b) Pax being directed to JQ for award seats over QF due to the cash component of the award.
For Australian domestic routes, I doubt TAs make much money either way booking QF vs. JQ due to low costs.
You do know that Syd-Mel is one of the world's busiest corridors don't you? Making a small amount per ticket multiplied by thousands becomes a good amount each day. If I make 5, 10 or 25% more by selling a lower cost ticket to my customer AND make more for myself out if it. So across the industry as a TA looking to make customers happy which would you book for the 55 minutes flying time in an economy seat? Or SYD-OOL $47.50 or $95 and I make more from the $47.50 fare and have a happy customer?
So it's really only the few flights to HNL etc. that matter. I'm guessing that's a small % of available passenger seats. In the grand scheme of millions of flyers the QF/JQ moves each year, this isn't that big of an issue.
Do you mean the millions of flyers on SYD-MEL, MEL-ADL, SYD-BNE, MEL-BNE that don't make much of a difference either way (as you said above). You've fallen into a circular argument here.
For award seats, whilst QF awards seats might cost more, so does the cost of providing those seats (higher cost base of QF vs. JQ etc.),
Believing what you're told without question (or actual physical & verifiable proof) led many of us to believe in the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy. With many of Q's spin releases I actually give more credence to the Tooth Fairy personally.
When did you ever hear a high profile person admit they had done something wrong before say the ICAC played the video tape, audio tape or produced the thank-you note? back to the main game...
HOWEVER a large part of that cost base has been deliberately created. Staff costs are 20%-30% or so in the equation or thereabouts - the difference in salary et al between JQ and Q works out at less than the fare for ONE SEAT per flight on average. (Just do some simple mental arithmetic - eg Syd-Mel air crew cost per day difference (Q-JQ) divided flights per day for that air crew, just google the data it is there).
Fuel costs on the other hand are running around the 40% of all-in operating cost - now given I have the proof (media release, IATA data) that Q IS NOT allocating the fuel surcharge on a true cost or actual cost incurred basis then charging up to 6x the fuel surcharge vs JQ for a flight yet JQ maintains the profitability gap over Q suggests some very interesting accounting is at play. Seemingly a magic pudding.
Such unanswered questions could well be the reason that you'll look long and hard for any active Australian Fund Managers holding a single share in Qantas. There are several who have owned other overseas airlines over the last 20 years. For example, one used a business cycle approach, whenever the world economy was improving they'd purchase certain carriers who flew the LHR/NY corridor and Goldman Sachs. Historically (pre-2007) the share charts of certain airlines that flew many premium business travelers to/from NY could be overlaid on GS.
Another big chunk of all-in-operational cost is the maintenance/reliability cost. The older the plane the LONGER it is out of service for scheduled maintenance, the more frequent unscheduled maintenance issues, and the higher cost per maintenance service both in relation to time out of service as well as cost of labour & parts. The apprentices in heavy maintenance (when there was such creatures in Australia) were younger than many of the Qi planes they were working on.
So if you take 2 or 3 or 4 economy fares from a Q flight and move them to a J flight it makes a much bigger difference, in fact many time greater a difference than the different labour costs.
On commissions - there are different levels in the industry and types of commissions paid at those levels - but simply think of it as wholesale and retail. A TA company receives volume related 'benefits' for selling $$$ of fares by airline WK say but does not reward its staff at the retail level (looking the customers in the eyes, or hearing their breathing over the phone). Other TA companies do.
Now for example imagine a large franchise TA that issues JQ fares but not Tiger for example, its staff do not get paid a commission for J sales but are expected to achieve a certain level none-the-less. Yes it does make a difference on what figure the commission is paid on.
so we don't know anything about the actual profitability (or relatively loss) of a JQ award seat vs. a QF award seat.