Im am genuinely surprised that people are surprised that QF have dropped the number of places they have. And it’s not just Skytrax surveys that suggest the trust in the brand has dropped.
Remember the vast majority of pax rating an airline are not WP’s sitting back and enjoying the F lounge.
Anecdote 1 - relative who hasn’t flown QF for some time on an SYD-MEL dinner flight suggested the three pastries in a box were hardly “dinner” more like a snack. (QF are good at creating high expectations, their marketing team is arguably the best in Australia, but they seem to fail in meeting those expectations )
Anecdote 2 - from my sister who before this year had never flown j. Now has on UA and QF to US in separate trips - comment was UA was more comfortable and better overall experience.
There are also a number of posters on here who have suggested the AA experience domestically for years a poor cousin of QF - now is better than QF.
These are all just anecdotes, but they do add up And that’s without getting into baggage handling or offshore call centres.
