Contention: If so many people want the full service why do the QF 738s into HBA and OOL struggle to get a decent load for most of the year? Discuss.
The reality for these ports is, yes
some people do want the QF trimmings (a cookie and IFE with Deborah Hutton) however never enough to sustain the service. The likes of JQ, and lets not forget DJ who until recently also championed themselves on price (until undergoing their "new world" revolution), have grown the market into places like OOL bringing all the first timers and bus travellers into the air, whether we like it or not. Furthermore all the once-every-two-years families are now jetting off annually for their holiday, if not more often with the lower fares. It is these folk, a vastly larger population than the people demanding full-service into "leisure" ports, who drive the market for JQ to a lesser extent DJ.
If there was money to be made offering full service into these ports you would have expected Tiger to enter the Aussie market offering exactly that. Yet we see TT going straight for the punters pocket. Whether we like it or not the most lucrative airline market in Oz at present is the domain of LCCs.
And before people take to Jetstar with an axe for the umpteenth time about the Qantas/Jetstar changover in port XYZ remember the key reason why this even happened in the first place. QANTAS wanted to make MORE money. So take it back a notch on the smartarse jibes, refrain from taking out your frustrations on the hardworking staff at JQ. Many are proud of the product we offer (it may not suit you personally, but what JQ offers is great for many people) and although our airline is young many of us are not johnny-come-latelies to the industry. We come from QF Mainline, Gulf, Ansett, Rex, Emirates, United, Kendell, BA, Qantaslink/Impulse (from which we were born) the list goes on. So you may believe it or not, but many of us understand the service you once got into OOL, HBA, HTI, heck some of us used to be the ones offering it to you!
But the landscape has changed by no less than a bit of marketing. Qantas
saw an opportunity for an LCC and if it wasn't QF to do it someone else would be flying a fleet of 24 narrow bodies (with 9+ to come) chockers around the country. As employees we have adapted to evolve with the industry. There was/is no choice. Some consumers it seems are still struggling to do so.
To perhaps expand on
Skystar320s original and brief comment. Yes, you do get what you pay for. And that shouldn't be a bad thing! Don't come on Jetstar, Virgin or Tiger expecting all the trimmings that were once par for the course and you won't be dissappointed. You will be taken from A to B, safely. We will give you a smile, and you can buy a cookie to kill the hunger pains. Its not that bad!
End of rant.
PS - Ooops and sorry for wedging myself so seriously in the middle of too funny posts
