And to be fair, IATA operate a "Turbulence Aware" platform for airlines, the text for which does specifically use the expression "smooth air"

https://www.iata.org/en/services/sta...ence-platform/

Now whether there are air traffic, fuel, war zone or any other operational restrictions in place that prevent diverting far enough to find such airspace is another matter. Pilots may also have altered course slightly or slowed down to mitigate the impact in ways that passengers are not aware. 36k may also have been deemed to be the least bumpy level for an aircraft of that size. We don't know.

And any of that can make no allowance for unexpected or unpredictable events anyway, which this and the SQ incident appear to be so far.

QR appear to be one of only 15 airlines listed as part of that IATA turbulence initiative, so it does seem reasonable to assume that as a company they take it seriously. As will all pilots from all airlines.