Jetstar Load and Trim

[Capn Bloggs]

I'm curious how Jetstar do their load and trim with pax sitting where ever they want ie no allocated seating. Do they wait until everybody has sat down, then do a zone count for the trim? If not, how do they do it?
TIA!

[EngineOut]

Having been a load controller in a previous life, I was wondering the same thing, because we used to plan the load by blocking seats from check-in (you would know the rough number by tix sold) and load bags and freight in different compartments to balance it up, so that when everyone had checked in it would be well within limits.

I imagine a tailmounted engine aircraft such as a 717 would be quite tail heavy when empty and nose heavy at max weight, which would make it tricky for those 50-70% load factors with lots of empty seats.

[Icebreaker]

Bloggs,
Its quite a easy system really.
Dependent on the pax load, certain rows are blocked off by the F/A's as directed by the Pilot. It works in trim zones. (on a bigger scale of course but say like a PA28 that if you load pax forward to aft you will be in balance).
That takes care of trim.

All the pilots then have to do is the load, which is given to them as actual pax numbers, underfloor load and of course fuel.

Works well I hear :ok:

[grrowler]

And I've been wondering why they have opted for this system? Maybe I've missed something obvious and I'm guessing it's financial, but I can't figure out how it saves any time or money by omitting a seat number on your ticket. Anyone in the know?

[Icebreaker]

growler,
the D-I-Y load control reduces the requirement for a load control department in the airline (or minimises)...therefore wages etc, communication costs etc but another reason is the turnaround time saving. People just get on, find a seat and sit down - no longer climbing over each to get to their allocated seat (after they find it and then the little ol lady who sits in the wrong seat requiring relocating). Guess also an IT saving from card readers, load allocation programs etc.