Heartbreaker.

Mr Joyce you are tarrying with my emotions, you are playing with my heart and you need to understand the deep empathy felt for the national carrier by anyone over 30. So I beseech you, in the inimitable words of Elton John, "don't go breaking my heart".

For many it was the first tentative step overseas, often to the Mother Land to consume copious amounts of alcohol in the epicenter of all things Australian, Earls Court. For others it was the trek to Asia, for navel gazing, conquering the odd mountain and the occasional puff on locally grown flora. Some only went as far as our most eastern state, across the Tasman, to engage in all things extreme and woolly.

Regardless of the first destination or rationality for leaving, everyone wanted to do it on the national carrier for reasons including safety, on time performance, onboard staff but more often than not, because until you stepped off the plane, you were still in Australia. That's an incredibly strong feeling of national fervor and commitment towards a brand experienced at a highly emotional level for travellers departing or returning home.

So when Mr Joyce talks about shutting down the airline, stranding 70,000 passengers and waging a war in the national press having a positive effect on the brand, it makes many experts wonder about the end game and the survival of an iconic brand. No one disputed the need for hard decisions regarding the ongoing union conflict but no brand expert would consider it an exercise in retention or loyalty putting a brand under so much stress. Some polls gave conflicting consumer views indicating they were willing to put up with the union squabbles a while longer. When one poll asked ‘Which of the following is likely to cause more damage to Qantas’ reputation?’ 59% of Australians nominated ‘Qantas’ decision to ground all planes’ versus just 32% who opted for ‘industrial action by workers’. This caused many of the major branding experts to identify a downward trend in the value of the Qantas brand with Brand Finance putting a figure of $100 million taken off the brand value of the airline.

The emotional attachment to a brand is often hard to explain and hard to measure but the bad taste left with an end user abused for financial reasons can cause irreparable damage. A brand purchase is often wholly reliant on the benefits, obvious and subliminal, that delight and exceed expectations, which leads to commitment and in the top brands, evangelism. It's that evangelism that Qantas could count on in years past, as travellers dabbed tears on hearing Peter Allen serenade them home. It's that evangelism that Qantas could count on, when stepping on board, was stepping onto the great southern land. It's that evangelism that Qantas needs to find again with the families, the students, the trekkers, the ordinary traveller who think its fun to eat tiny meals with tiny utensils.

The top end of town, the business community, is more pragmatic and has commoditized Qantas down to schedules, seating, mileage rewards and lounge access. This is the target audience Mr Joyce is referring to when he indicated the shutdown was good for the brand as the emotional quotient in this community is often replaced with corporate fare deals and on time performance. So on one level the shut down worked but on so many other small emotional, passionate and effusive levels it broke our hearts.