Flight cancelled; aircraft flies route anyway
I noticed Jetstar flight JQ983 last night from Perth, Australia to the Gold Coast was cancelled, however the aircraft then proceeded to fly the scheduled route (presumably empty) under the positioning flight number JQ7993 and made an "on-time" arrival on the Gold Coast at 0600 this morning.
I understand they would have had to position an aircraft there for the morning, but I'm curious why the flight was cancelled then the route was flown anyway.
The only thing I can think of is a member of the cabin crew called in sick very late, too late to get a standby in? Would this be a common occurrence that the flight crew fly empty if they don't have enough staff in the back? Am I answering my own question, or could there be some other reason?