Qantas to Jetstar : This does not compute
"Australian Financial Review"
Qantas to Jetstar : This does not compute
January 7th, 2004
Costs at Qantas's new carrier, Jetstar, look set to escalate before the budget airline even takes off following Jetstar's decision to use a different reservation and check-in system to that used by its parent.
It is understood that Jetstar, which will launch its fare and route structure later this month and start selling tickets next month, has opted to use a software system called Open Skies.
Open Skies, which was developed by information technology group Navitaire , has long been the software system of choice for low-cost carriers Virgin Blue and JetBlue are both customers because, although it is not as robust as other systems, it is a lot cheaper.
It is not, however, necessarily compatible with the check-in and reservation systems used by Qantas. Its reservations software is provided by large travel global distribution systems supplier Amadeus.
Because the two software systems do not ``talk'' to each other, a passenger travelling domestically with Jetstar but then wanting to connect to a Qantas international flight would have to check in again and possibly change terminals in the process as well as re-check in all baggage.
Although it would be possible for Qantas to allow travel agents using Amadeus's GDS system to link through to Jetstar's system, several difficulties could arise.
Not only would Qantas have to spend money developing bridging software to allow the link but, sources said, it would also need to charge travel agents a small fee.
Amadeus Australia general manager Paul Martin said if Qantas decided not to link Open Skies with Amadeus, passengers could be inconvenienced.
``Your baggage [from a domestic to international flight] wouldn't go all the way through,'' he said.
``Qantas has been pretty decisive about the fact they want to run Jetstar as a totally separate airline in order to keep costs as low as possible, but that may force them to make some decisions now which may not be best in the long term.''
Other industry watchers said that, should the two reservation and check-in systems be kept separate, Qantas might lose customers to rival airline Virgin Blue, if the low-cost carrier could offer comparable fares on Jetstar's routes.
Airline players and equity analysts predict Qantas will cannibalise its existing domestic customer base with the launch of Jetstar.
Australian Federation of Travel Agents chairman Ian Carew-Reid said his organisation was meeting with Qantas over the coming weeks to nut out such issues.
``We want to ensure that travel agents aren't disadvantaged because it'll cost more to book via a travel agent rather than with Jetstar direct via the internet,'' Mr Carew-Reid said.
Qantas Airlines executive general manager John Borghetti said Qantas and Jetstar would be competitive regardless of what systems were used.
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