I agree that the assets invested in QAN could be invested better elsewhere but only because that is true of all airlines.
But you need to enter into those calculations the cost of terminating all the contracts that an airline has entered into, e.g. fuel hedging, aircraft leasing, employment (redundancies), etc.
The cost of terminating leasing alone would be a killer. That's why QAN has billions in cash: the cash is required to be on hand as a condition of obtaining all these liabilities.
The cash left over after these liabilities are paid out would be very little.
You cannot close the business and take the cash elsewhere. As long as there is cash, after a liability is paid out, then the next liability in line (i.e. in priority) takes that cash, and so on.
The difference between QAN and other airlines is that it DOES have cash, i.e. it is solvent.
QAN Price at posting:
$1.06 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Not Held
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