Jetstar's flight flop dumps Tassie again

[Wirraway]

Wed "The Mercury" Hobart

Jetstar's flight flop dumps Tassie again
By CLAIRE KONKES
August 18, 2004

ANOTHER Jetstar flight cancellation left passengers out in the cold yesterday morning.

The cancelled 8am flight to Melbourne was the fourth flight to flop on the Hobart to Melbourne run this month.

Hobart taxi driver Darren Coulson said he was not surprised to see people leaving the terminal shortly after they had arrived.

"As a taxi driver you hear about Jetstar all the time when you are sitting at the rank," he said. "People are really frustrated."

Mr Coulson said he spoke to a woman in her 20s who was a carer for another woman in a wheelchair.

"Jetstar told them to be at the airport an hour earlier, which meant they got there at 6.15," he said.

"It was the carer's first time in a plane."

Passengers were told to wait for the 10am flight, he said.

Mr Coulson said passengers he took to the airport complained about the unreliability of flights and the check-in desk closing 30 minutes before the flight.

"Sometimes people are refused and their ticket is not refunded, when the plane is still on the ground," he said.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said yesterday's flight was cancelled when a plane scheduled for Queensland was grounded for additional maintenance.

Mr Westaway said folding two flights with unfilled seats into one flight was a standard procedure for airlines with a grounded plane.

"We choose flights so it disrupts the least amount of people," he said.

Flights to and from Hobart were picked yesterday morning, but if the problem happened on a Monday morning, Hobart would not be chosen because flights out of Hobart then tended to be full, he said.

Mr Westaway said Jetstar did not consider the closing of the check-in counter draconian.

He said check-in staff also prepared flight paperwork and operated the departure gate. To keep the desk open longer would require extra staff and that would push fares up.

Mr Westaway said Jetstar had the best on-time performance for any Australian carrier in July this year, with nearly 93 per cent of planes arriving on time.

The Mercury

=============================================

[sinala1]

Sometimes people are refused and their ticket is not refunded, when the plane is still on the ground," he said

Hate to state the bleedingly obvious, but the plane is still "on the ground" right until it takes off!! And you can bet your a*se that NO airline in the world will let you check in when the aircraft is taxiing out for departure... Surely you would think with all the publicity JQ's 30 min check in closure has had, people would be turning up E-A-R-L-Y so that they dont miss it?!? :confused: Is this me thinking logical here (bad sinala1, naughty sinala1, dont apply logic what ever you do)

I don't work for JQ or any QF affiliate, but personally I am getting jack of Steve Creedy's passion for turning a miniscule mole hill into a mighty mountain. This man really needs to learn what is real "news" and what is just pure sensationalism. Suggest seeing as he is an "aviation writer" he spends some actual time researching "aviation" as opposed to what would just make for good reading....

Rant over.:E

(ps I realise this article was not written by steve creedy, but I have just previously read a few of his "articles" and his name stuck in my mind whilst making this post)

[Spodman]

Many moons ago in Meekatharra I observed a Holden ute pull up as the Skywest flight to PH was starting. Burly mining-type gent leaves ute in no parking area and runs into terminal. As the flight starts to taxy same gent bolts out of the terminal with agent in pursuit and stands in front of Jetscream on the taxiway. He seemed a bit surprised to get a ride in police car rather than the travel he intended...

[OZBUSDRIVER]

"Sometimes people are refused and their ticket is not refunded, when the plane is still on the ground," he said.

sinala1 mate,I think the cabbie might be implying that people are refused even though their flights did not leave. i.e rescheduled, cancelled, repaired or whatever. On the ground could mean many things to the unwashed.

Frankly, even if I was a day early I do not think I would like to spend my money on such a policy as jet* hopes to peddle.

Regards

Mark

editted for errant comma;)

[schweinhund]

If there's just one person pointing their finger at you and telling you that you are wrong, then you may feel that you are still correct in what you do.

But if 100 people are pointing at you then you should really stop and take notice.

Jetw@nker, you guys perhaps should take note that there are a hell of a lot of people pointing their finger at you.

You are a cheap contemptible organisation which should be shut down.

[ditzyboy]

"Big bad Jetstar doing wrong by the poor old Tasmanians..."

Time for the media to pick a different storyline... :hmm: When people get over the whole "Jetstar" thing I wonder what's gonna fill the papers???

Loved the Taxi Driver quote! :} Can always rely on your cabbie for an opinion on A N Y T H I N G.

[planemad2]

ditzyboy,

The Cabbie was not expressing his personal opinion, he was quoting what frustrated Jetstar passengers tell him.

I too am a Taxi Driver, and I hear these same stories every day from passengers going to and from the Airport.

IF the taxi passengers of Australia are anything to go by, Jetstar's days are very numbered.

[commander adama]

You are a cheap contemptible organisation which should be shut down.

schweinhund.

Big baseless statement from a nobody. You are as pathetic as CLAIRE KONKES.

Looks like either Pete or his other stupid mate have registered a new name.

How's Flightsim going champ. But hey times have chaged since the Commodore 64.

[Capt_Zoolander]

Here we go again!

Jetstar management have to understand that they are not running a "International" operation where the "Punters" know they have to turn up hours before departure. I suspect the real reason for the closing off the flight 30 minutes before departure is that the "multi-skilled" staff have (or will have) to do everything.

(1) Clean the Aircraft Cabin on arrival
(2) Run over to the terminal to check in the "punters" and their luggage.
(3) Run over to the gate lounge to supervise the no seat allocation boarding
(4) Repeat (1) to (3) at the next port

Welcome to your future, unfortunately some of you have contributed to this, by agreeing to work for peanuts without union representation

p.s. while you are working your "butts" off ,your management will be slapping each other on the back and collecting their bonuses for your hard work.

Good Luck


:cool: :cool: :cool:

[Spotlight]

C-Z

Pretty accurate summation missing only that the baggage handlers are doing 15 to 20 turnarounds a shift in Melb compared to QF's 10.

Young blokes but quick burnout and high turnover with very little safety culture flowing on.

[schweinhund]

I was going to ask you if you are always this abusive, adama, but then I had a look back through your posts and I see that you are. What is your story, bucko?

Zoolander struck the nail on the noggin'. Management are laughin their arses off at you mob. Thats until you spear one into the dirt, then they'll scatter and take their bonus' with 'em.

And just who the frick is this Claire sheila when she's at home?

[pullock]

When Virgin became the second carrier after the demise of Ansett and Impulse, it was Virgin setting new lows in airline standards in Australia, taking up the excess PAX who could not get on QF or who couldn't pay for QF.

Slowly the market warmed to Virgin as a replacement for Ansett, being a pragmatic compromise between QF and Greyhound. Virgin grew as a company in safety and service maturity to a point where the market and Virgin were used to each other and Virgins model began to show Australia that they were a valid airline.

Recognising the market danger that Virgin posed, whilst at the same time realising an opportunity to drive an industrial relations wedge in to their workforce, and using leverage against an ever more reluctent regulator to bulldoze safety with economic rationalisim, Jetstar was born.

Jetstar offers a truly rat class product at middle class prices, on the guise that people will take whatever is dealt them so long as the ticket price is low enough. Well at this stage, the ticket price is too high and the product too poor. What has worked in Europe with it's massive population base just won't necessarily work here.

I would wish any new entrant to the industry in Australia the best of luck, as it is competition that makes things better for everone - right ????

My problem is that Jetstar has caused a reduction in the quality of product without a real reduction in price. If I am going to compromise my confort and safety by flying a third rate airline I expect to pay a good deal less, whilst maintaining the option of paying for superior comfort and safety by having the option to fly a first rate airline.

This is where the problem lies - Jetstar is an attempt by a parent airline to increase yield on it's routs by reducing quality of service, and it is this, that the public and media are reacting against, and it is this reaction that will guide the future of Jetstar, and if Jetstar (read QF) doesn't react to market demands, then the writing is on the wall I am afraid.

[Capt Claret]

pullock

How do you compromise your safety by flying Jetstar?

[commander adama]

But the same w#nkers don't post the 94% on time performance as compared to 88% for both Virgin and Qantas.
Typical tall poppy syndrome. Australia is stuck in it!!!

[planemad2]

What is the point of bragging about a better on time performance, if you are at the same time upsetting the majority of your passengers?

Pretty soon you will have 100% of your flights on time, without any pesky passengers to slow you down.

[ditzyboy]

planemad2 -
I think you've borrowed someone else's line there, Buddy... Busted! :) Also I do not dispute that your customers with nothing better to do whinge about their experiences. Just playing up to the old saying that Australians are whingers. Always so hard done by...

And you will be glad to know (or maybe not) many people still get off and say that they enjoyed their JQ experience. Some whisper it and make sure no one is watching! A lady told me a couple of days ago "Jetstar s h*ts all over Virgin..." So charming, our customers.

CaptZoolander -
The bulk of JQ's workforce is unionised.

pullock -
The airfares ARE cheaper and there is MORE cheap seats. I know a couple of people doing the inventory. You only need to look on the Net to know that is the case. Check out fares for next week. You can still get $65 fares. (Of which $25 is TAX!). Now ten years ago you couldn't even dream of that sort of thing! Why is everyone so quick to forget how CHEAP air travel is in Australia these days!?

I think it is funny. If a QFLink 717 was late people generally didn't care. They'd still get off saying "Thanks for a great flight..." Now if we are 20 mins late on the SAME 717 people generally go through the roof! It's coz for the media Jetstar is flavour of the month. Take another big lick, everyone. It's what's selling their papers.

I'm hanging out for the day the media find something else to put under the microscope. Whilst JQ isn't doing itself any favours most of this PETTY stuff isn't newsworthy and just stirs agro amongst the masses.

[planemad2]

ditzyboy,

I was just answering your point about being on time more than other Airlines, IF I used similar wording to someone else, I am sorry, although I cannot see where I did?

I hear all sorts of things all day long in the cab, as would all Taxi Drivers, some things I don't even want to hear.

With Airport jobs, I hear all sorts of things about people's travel experiences.

I hear stories about Qantas and Virgin Blue, sometimes a bad experience but mainly good ones.

However I have only ever heard people complain about Jetstar, never once heard anything complimentary at all.

IF this upsets you, then I am sorry, but it is the truth, and I cannot change it.

[Pete Conrad]

commander assdama from Capricka - you just don't give up do you?

Was it the verbal reasoning or the OPQ that you failed at QF?

Once again, assdama rears his size challenged member.

assdama, how bout you get a job with one of the "big boys" as you put it.

Get a life pal.

[Capt_Zoolander]

Ditzyboy said,

"CaptZoolander, the bulk of JQ's workforce is unionised"

I say, better join another union, perhaps the TWU may help you out!

:cool: :cool: :cool: