Jet Star & Qantas lose big time to Virgin Blue.

[Oz Ocker]

Well Jet Star, and Qantas youses 'ave done yer asses as far as me daughter and 'er partner are concerned.
Now loosin 2 people might mean sfa to ya, only thing is the partner is the Q'ld head of a major overseas compeny thats got branches in all states in Ozzie (and the rest of the world).
The story as she told me.

They was booked with jet Star, ta fly from Bris ta Hammo Island (that place where Dicko reckuns there all snobs who oughta buy there own airline anyway), and then take a boat ta Hyman Is.
There was more than 30 in the group booked.
So approachin departure time the announcement comes across, sayin the plane thats serposed ta do the run is still in the newcastle area - bad weather I think she said - an that the flights gunna be delayed by quiet a while.
Well natcehrally everyone wonders orf to have a cold one, or a cuppa, or somethin.

The announcement is made sayin that a Qantas plane is available but that ya hafta be at the bordin gate in 5 minutes, so orfs they rushes.
Now because 'er partners the orgynizer he wants to try ta find out how many in the group is still missin, so he goes up ta the gate person, tells 'em who 'e is, an asks which ones has already checked in?
"we carn't tell ya that for sercurity reasons." 'e gets told.
"Well" sez 'e, "if I give you the list of names, can you tell me how meny still have not checked in?"
"Sorry but the Qantas computers carn't talk ta the Jet Star ones" 'e gets told. "Also the ones who get on this flight mightnt get their bags today on this flight - they might be on a later flight, or even tomorra."

Well they gets on, and the partner then has ta walk up an down the rows of seats to see how many made it. Only 20.

Me daughters flown with Virgin Blue a cuppla times now, and she sez that although evryone likes ta take the plss outta them for the games they play, at least the cabin crew gives the passengers some attention, which was a lot diffrent to the INDIFFRENCE of the Qantas cabin crew.

The flight back was with Jet Star, an they both decided ta buy the onboard "snacks" for sale.
She said she got the very last snack - a cuppla dry old beef sandwitches for $5, and her partner got a few misrable corn chips with some Cheez Wiz (or sumthin simlar) - an that only half the passengers 'ad been done at that time. "What about the others?", asks my sweet little girl. "Well weve run out, so they miss out." was the reply.

NEVER again with jet Star or Qantas, they both agreed, Virgin Blue next time.

[beachwave40]

Maybe next time you can learn to speak in english, then more people could understand your problem. But mayb thats how they all talka like that outs west.yaha

*Never knew that Jet* sold Corn Chips. Never seen them onboard unless you are refering to pringles.

[blueloo]

Did they let your sister take her Pig shooting rifle on board?

[Arsey Eight]

Yawn.... :eek:

Wind up alert. And secondly, who really cares. Go have another beer 'ay cobber.

[Oz Ocker]

Aint no windup pal.
Check the stats from last week end.
Any of the ground staffers readin this will tell ya its all true.
Its all straight fact.
Pringles, dingles - she sayed corn chips. Whatever they woz, she also said it came like a kids playskool lunch.
The company involved is avery well nown car maker.

[handgun fellashio]

Lease your own aircraft and buy some Maccas...oh and get out a little more.

[QF skywalker]

I think your daughter is well outnumbered by JQ and QF lovers after the MEL airport (evacuation of terminal after funny smells in building) debacle a few months ago involving Virgin Blue.

What a c_ck up that was. So badly handled. And still people are carrying on about it.

Just goes to show every airline has it's bad and good days.

[Pappa Smurf]

Lucky the Virgin plane wasnt held up--------wouldnt have had an alternative.

[Oz Ocker]

Funny smells in terminals aint got nothin ta do with plss poor inflight service and ground handlin..
Wasnt jus me daughter who got plissed off neither, it was 30+ other folks as well.
And a corperate account thats gunna go to VB.

[Howard Hughes]

Me daughters flown with Virgin Blue a cuppla times now, and she sez that although evryone likes ta take the plss outta them for the games they play, at least the cabin crew gives the passengers some attention, which was a lot diffrent to the INDIFFRENCE of the Qantas cabin crew.

Now lets not confuse Indifference with Professionalism!!

I always thought a flight attendants number 1 priority was SAFETY, they are not there to play games with the pax!!

Let me ask you this, did the daughter arrive safely? If the answer is yes, sounds like a job well done to me...

Cheers, HH.

[QF skywalker]

During the c_ck up down in Tulla I saw with my very own eyes cust serv staff at DJ rolling their eyes at pax. ( Personally I don't blame them - they had a tough day ) Also saw one standing on the back of a ute with a megaphone saying 'All flights cancelled - we can't fly ya anywhere today ' The poor girl was being 'booed' by people. I dare say there were people in the crowd vowing to never fly virgin again also.

Sh_t happens Oz ocker - unfortunately it was the day your daughter chose to travel. Would she rather have waited for the JQ a/c to turn up ? or was she happy with the kind offer of the QF a/c with entertainment, full meal service( hence why the crew are sometimes too busy to face paint and sing to the pax )

Anyway what I am saying is that there is probably a equal number of complaints about each airline. I am sure you know that.

Cheers

P.S - How old is your daughter ? Is she a good looker ?

[Upgraded]

With regards to the corn chips -

Jet* serve up a truely miserable version of nachos - consisting of 1cm square corn chips, a "cheesy" spread and salsa. The kind of out-of-the-packet rubbish you get at 7-11

For approx $5, I remember.

[Capn Bloggs]

Why do you ask Skywalker? You want to Leia?

[QF skywalker]

She sounds like a good sort - jus hopin she don't speeek like er old man.

[1013]

Oz Ocker.

I couldnt make heads or tails of what you wrote but finally got the gist after 3 reads or so.
Basic English will suffice next time pal.

I have flown both Jetstar as well as VB.
At least QF made the effort to get a substitute aircraft to ease Jetstars problem.

I was caught up in the Melbourne Airport Virgin Blue debacle some months ago and that was appalingly handled by all accounts by both staff who were obviously out of their depth (smiling just didnt make the problem go away) as well as confrontational pax that hated being smiled at and told to go away (but very nicely).
I not only heard boos, but also some pretty nasty abuse.

Seeing the poor VB staff break down crying only made it quite clear they lacked the training to handle this mob situation.
It made me wonder how the company would handle a real emergency with injuries??

No, I didnt like the Jetstar experience (ground handling/ticketing) but will fly them again if it suits me as they were great once we got away and seemed professional - especially the Tech Crew.

As for VB, yes I will fly them again if it suits me also as that affair was a "one of" in my book.

When it comes to the chequebook and suitable timetables the travelling public have short memories.

[Australia2]

I dont see too much of Aus domestic travel these days, doesn't sound like I'm missing much !!

Glad to be out of the whole circus, you can have it.

Oz2

[ozangel]

Without straying too far off topic regarding the virgin issue in melb, do any of you really think QF or JQ could have handled the situation any better? Or any airline for that matter?!

It was a very busy day for passengers - and I dont think any amount of staff training could have handled it better.

I can honestly say I wouldnt like to be in the position of ground crew in Melb that day...

Delay management is something a lot of airlines dont handle well - and its not just limited to Virgin.

Sky, going by the dialogue...

http://www.littlebritain.tv/characters_main/vicky_pollard/img001a.jpg

"No but yeah but yeah but yeah no but yeah no but yeah... ...but no because I'm not even going on the pill... ...because Nadine reckons they stop you from getting pregnant."

Im sure shes your type :E

[Buster Hyman]

Moving accounts will not achieve much, no matter how big they are. The problem is that all 3 of them are pretty much the same nowadays...in regards to Customer Service.:(

[speeeedy]

Oz Ocker,

So is Steve going to tear up the deal that QF has with Nissan, based on your, and your daughters advice???

Don't you think he should consult H.O. in Melb first!!!!!

[1013]

Having recently flown with all 3 airlines and having no allegiance I can speak about them candidly.

The service you get at QF is great domestically in my opinion.
When you fly with a lower-cost carrier you essentially get what you pay for.
Both VB and J* still provide a much higher level and standard of service that you get whilst flying with a premium cost carrier in the USA.

The level of service in the USA on the main carriers is crap at best (and that's being kind).

Recently we flew with AA from LAX to Dallas FortWorth and were lucky to get our "boxes".
The coffee was unidentifiable to say the least (and I'm no coffee snob either!).
I'll drink anything warm and caffeinated but this stuff tasted like it had a crayon dipped in for colour!
A main meal was out of the question and the Flt Att's moved so damned slowly like they were on Mandrax!!
Having a 55+ average age probably didnt help either.

Also flew with Delta and had a similar experience.

No wonder their system and airlines are in such disarray.

As Woomera has suggested, get out and smell the roses guys.
If you experience the level of service elsewhere you'll never complain about our Australian airlines ever again.

[Oz Ocker]

speeeedy mate, if ya finger aint nowhere else at least its on yer pulse. (yer a name dropper aint ya sweetie).
Last time I looked Australia was a democoracy. 30+ other peoples also got the right to decide how theyre gonna travel with there famlies next time to - and ta tell there frends.
Like dominos.
An me daughter dont "advice" to no one.
Me to.

So 1013 says he flew with crap in the US.
Is Australia tryin to do more worse?

What the f_ _ K Once upona time we usta try ta be the best.
Now were makin excuses fer bein not quiet the worst!!

Cmom Aussie, cmon.

Be seein youse round!

[handgun fellashio]

You got friends?!!!

[Pappa Smurf]

I thought the car industry was going well this year
How come no charter and opting for a low cost airline.

And i bet the big boys in Japan travel with Aust. Airlines

[Pete Conrad]

Duelling banjo's anyone?......."folks are dumb were we come from"

"Larlene, quit messing with your brother and come on in here for dinner"

[Chief Chook]

Once upona time we usta try ta be the best.
Now were makin excuses fer bein not quiet the worst!!

Once we used to TRY to be the BEST.
Now we (are) making excuses for being not QUITE the WORST!

Your spelling might need some polishing up, Oz Ocker, but your sentiments are PRECISELY spot on.

[guccigal]

"Larlene, quit messing with your brother and come on in here for dinner"

good one PC - reminds me of "Cletus" from The Simpsons

[Three Bars]

Guys,

Some of you are a bit slow on the uptake. I'm sure that all of OZOcker's posts are carefully written to sound like his nickname "OZOCKER" - get it? It's his schtick!

Anyway, OZ, you said that Australian airlines used to try to be the best. I remember that era too, when airlines advertised their service and their meals, their staff and their attitude to service. Now, all you get is that "we are cheap - we must be good". CHEAPNESS is now a virtue and the public is to blame.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. If you want to pay crap, you get crap. Sadly, this is where the world's airlines are now.

[Enema Bandit's Dad]

Well if she's anything like her old man, she'd fit in well at Virgin. After all, they do fly the barefoot yob brigade around don't they? :yuk:

[Kaptin M]

its well known that the economy passengers dont make the company money, its the business class ones who do.So THAT'S the reason Virgin Blue have been going out backwards from Day 1 of their operation :bored:

[Animalclub]

qfcainer Perhaps you've never heard of Yield Management. I've seen jet aircraft in Australia be configured all Y class and make money.

[pullock]

I agree with OZ Ocker's sentiments, and am once again amazed at how aviation people's opinions can be so blind reading the above posts.

By comparing Virgin's airport emergency situation, with Jetstar's normal operation you aren't comparing equal situations.

Comparing normal ops every day service between the two low cost carriers, I know who I wouldn't ever fly with - EVER.

Recently, a friend of mine flew on Jetstar as her travelling partner had paid for the ticket. When she checked in an hour early to please the airline, she was told that her flight had been cancelled, and that all pax had been telephoned and advised, in spite of the fact that neither she nor any of the PAX in the line around her had received a call. The travelled on the next flight, which in turn was delayed. All up it took her EIGHT HOURS to travel SYD - OOL - she would have been better off to drive
:ok: . On the aeroplane, she was amazed at the lack of professionalism displayed by the cabin crew who gossiped between each other all flight so PAX could clearly hear, at the same time ignoring the PAX.

Crap wages and poor conditions results in high staff turnover, and that impacts the quality of any business.

Australia is a very wealthy country indeed, yet our airlines are striving to reduce their service to below third world standard under the miss guided belief that cost is all that matters. It's not.

Why would you drive to an airport in a nice car, having left your nice house that is probably worth at least half a million dollars, enter the airport and get treated like crap for between two and ten hours because you flew on a low cost carrier, then arrive at your destination and go off to your five star hotel again to be treated like a king ??

The Low cost carrier is something that we will look back on in th efuture and wonder what they were thinking!!

[Ultralights]

the simple reason its like this with LCC's. is everyone wants to fly for the price of a BUS ticket!

Simply you get what you pay for!


my only gripe with LCC's is the full service flights are being replaced by these tightarse services leaving no option!

i WILLINGLY pay for Business class service! because i enjoy my flying, and the service! but that is rapidly dissapearing!

Bring on Ozjet!

[pullock]

I completely agree with you Ultralights, that's why my business partner and I pay for business as well. The sad thing is that it's only available with one airline in Australia, and increasingly less so.

I hear that QF are intending to increase the number of business class seats domestically though.......That's good news. Ozjet will be even better news me thinks.

[OZcabincrew]

Exactly Ultralights, the reason everything has gone LCC now is because everyone wants everything for nothing! If they fly QF, they complain it costs too much and on a MEL-SYD they didn't get a full international service with all the smiles in the world from the crew. Unfortunately these days everything is about saving money, airlines are operating on minimum crew these days to save a dollar, so unfortunately the crew don't have time to talk as they're too worried about trying to get the service done in the time given and while they're doing that they have a j/class wannabe in row 24 asking for the crew to hang up his jakcet for him and find somewhere to put his suitpack! Believe it or not guys, 99% of crew would love to spend time going that extra mile for the passengers and smiling all the time chatting etc, but another thing is that sometimes you might have caught the crew at the end of a 10 hour day and that's not your problem, they chose their own career, but just take some time to think about it.

People you have to realise, these days even though the crew may want to spend time talking to passengers and smiling etc, they literally don't have time to do all the little things that they would be able to if they had an extra Flight Attendant. Per CASA rules, in Australia there must be one Flight Attendant to every 36 passengers, if not, the plane doesn't take off, it's law. In New Zealand, they have to have 1 Flight Attendant to every 50 passengers, so even worse! but then again NA crew get paid next to nothing. The current government want to introduce NZ's policy into Australia, so just think if this happens, there will be no service whatsoever on any Australian airline as there won't be enough crew to do it! So please don't support the governments change to the current conditions.

At the end of the day, there are crew at every airline that should've retired or never got the job in the first place and there are crew which are fantastic! I fly with Flight Attendant's which are great at what they do and the passengers are genuinely over the moon. Cut crew a little slack and realise they are human also. Yes if they don't like working with the public, they're in the wrong job, but if you see they're not smiling every second you turn around, then that's ok. and if they don't answer your call bell within 5 seconds, it's probably because they're in the middle of stuffing their lunch down their face. yes crew do need to have a break, we're not robots.

I work for Qantas, but i have also travelled Virgin Blue once or twice and hated it! I don't find them professional (being hit by a flying toilet roll) and definately not safety focused after getting a passenger to do the safety demo. Could you imagine as a business traveller who might fly 2 or 3 legs a day and hearing the same jokes over and over on each sector! I would much rather Qantas. Also i would rather fly Qantas for the experienced crew aswell, Virgin have 19 year old Cabin Managers who have only been flying for a year! Do you feel safe now?

Oz Ocker, your daughter and son in law sound like the type who want everything for nothing, Virgin can have them, they're more trouble than they're worth, trust me i know the type! an airline is an airline, unexpected things happen that you have to allow for and if you can't realise this then you definately should drive, that way you have no one else to blame but yourself if something goes wrong.

ps- Pullock, i haven't heard anything about Qantas increasing it's number of j/class seats at all? I know what it's like, j/class fills up in a second, especially with Qantas Club members who use their points in the QF Club on the day to upgrade. This is why it is so hard to use F/F points to upgrade as there is usually every other frequent flyer trying to do the same thing.

Also, i really hope that OZjet works out, especially for the people that have recently been employed to work for them and also because competition is healthy. From what i hear some of the people recently hired as Flight Attendants are a bit worried as the airline founder doesn't have a good reputation with airlines, they seem to disappear while under his direction. Hopefully though it works out for all concerned.

Happy landings!

Oz

[Legal_Counsel]

Like lemmings they follow. :}

[oldhasbeen]

My dear Ozcabincrew, you almost had my sympathetic ear until you let loose with that tirade against VB. You, like the rest of us, are paid decent wage to do the job for the time that you are on duty. Do you think that doctors ( except maybe imports with sub-continent ancestry residing in Oregan ) can use the excuse " we maybe at the end of a ten hour shift" or for that matter tech crew who have had five sectors up and down in the wet season at the end of ten hour shift saying" stuff it I'll only do half my job now". You're paid to do a job.Do it or get out!:{

[ratpoison]

Exactly oldhasbeen. I would rather a keen fresh 19 year old getting me out of the plane than an old, burnt out, fat, arrogant mama with an attitude from Quaintass.

Ozcabincrew

Please dont tell me that VB cabin crew actually have a laugh and joke with the passengers and enjoy their day out. How disgusting. How on earth was this allowed to happen in aviation. !!!!!

[OZcabincrew]

My dear oldhasbeen,

i wasn't whinging about a ten hour day at all, infact it doesn't bother me. I probably didn't word it the best. The point i was trying to get across is that crew are human, not robots. Sometimes we do have long days and i totally agree, if you can't handle it and get into bad moods and still can't do your job properly at the end of the day, then leave! I agree completely.

ratpoison,

To be honest, i wouldn't care who was getting me out of the aircraft in an emergency, as long as i get out. You obviously have a preference in this situation, i and i'm sure most people certainly don't. I would like to see how the 18/19 year old Virgin Blue Cabin Manager handles this situation compared to the 55 year old Qantas CSM who's been flying for 25 or 30 years. Yes, Qantas does seem to have this reputation/stereotype for being hard, cold, old, too serious and too professional, which is the case with some people, but certainly not the majority. People are always quick to bring up the negatives and very rarely the positives and people just love to jump on the bandwagon.

I do admit, at Qantas there are a few people which should no longer be there. They're miserable to passengers and believe it or not, they're also miserable to work with. Hopefully though you will start to see a change as there are a lot of younger, enthusiastic crew now online, but also still a lot of fresh and enthusiastic older crew who have been with the company for a while. There's bad apples in every business. At least i take satisfaction in knowing that i go up there and put in 200% every time i go to work and i can say the same for a lot of my colleagues.

Oz

[ratpoison]

Oz,

Point taken and well said. Let's all hope that there is new blood coming up through the ranks. Yourself and stated brotherhood are becoming a thing of the past. I travelled recently from the SYD international terminal to BNE as a pax on a 767 and the cabin crew were a bloody disgrace. It reminded me why I got out of the Company years ago. However, keep up the good work and possibly the tide will turn, eh !!!

Rat

[Sunfish]

Two posts caught my eye. The one about QF not making any money from economy pax and focussing instead on Business class.

The one about VB pax being "Barefoot Yobs".

I respectfully suggest that if QF really believes this then its days are numbered.

It is very, very, unwise in a business to cross subsidise different products. What happens when the price differential between Business and economy gets too great and Business pax switch?

If I was ever working again for an airline and heard staff calling pax "Self Loading Frieght" or "barefoot yobs". They would be fired on the spot.

The SLF and barefoot yobs pay your miserable salaries and don't forget it.

[cunninglinguist]

Flown with Jet* numerous times, cabin and tech crew first rate, food and drink as u would expect, second rate, you get what you pay for.
The strange thing is, every single time I check a QF fare against a VB fare they are within cooee of one another, except with VB you get Jet* service, yet nobody seems to mind paying basically full fare on VB??? ( and $30 for the exit row )
Jet* is really the only low FARE carrier in in Oz, as opposed to Low COST.
VB is just Ansett without the service, dont kid yourselves folks, the Duopoly is alive and well :ok:

[Legal_Counsel]

Yes, I would tend to agree with that and that is possibly another reason why I like flying Qantas.

[coitus interuptus]

I think Virgin are now calling themselves "value based" more than "low cost".

WRT the fare comparison, yes many times the QF fare is very close to or sometimes cheaper than Virgin. Bear in mind the QF fares you pay today are much less than you were paying 5 years ago (due soley to the introduction of DJ) so lets not be too quick to espouse the values of our beloved legacy carrier.

I don't go much on these QF v's DJ threads as they never appear to achieve anything other than a couple of frustrated or bored airline employees venting their spleens. Factual or otherwise, I really don't think anyone cares what we think!

OZcabincrew. What is your opinion on the two evacuations QF have completed in recent times? I.e Bangkok and the B747wheel fire in Sydney. The crew actions and the general competency of the procedures.

[Next Generation]

I would like to see how the 18/19 year old Virgin Blue Cabin Manager handles this situation compared to the 55 year old Qantas CSM who's been flying for 25 or 30 years.

So how many evacuations or emergencies have those 55 year olds done compared to the 18/19 year olds. ANSWER - probably the same amount -- NONE.

I think a young fit person would be more able to assist in a genuine emergency, whereas I can see myself having to help the 55 year old out the door.

And at the risk of introducing fact into the argument, the majority of flight attendants are not 18/19 year olds.

[Johhny Utah]

It looks like Virgin management have managed to lose out big time themselves anyway - latest news reports this morning have DJ making an $11Million LOSS for the latest quarter, due largely to not having fuel hedged at more reasonable prices than the current ~$65+ per barrel.

Perhaps they should concentrate on some of the key aspects of managing an airline, and making a profit, rather than "...trying to keep the air fair".:rolleyes:

[cunninglinguist]

Good point Coitus and very poignant, am definitely not a QF lover tho.

NG, you can stick the 19 year old ;) have seen the young'uns and the oldies operating under pressure, will take the oldie any day.
A 19 year old has no experience in life yet alone airline ops, maybe after a few years of EPs and dealing with different situations and I would have a different opinion, evacs are'nt the only emergencies that happen on A/C.

[onlyemirates]

Bad joke after bad joke continually on VB. Pax up during the safety demo, you bet ya. The stories I have heard of Virgin's demo is just outrageous. Guys just right to Civil Aviation Authority, get them to kick their butts.

Virgin is going down hill big time, that is why Branson is fuming.

Rumour has it that a group of CC have forwarded a letter to him based on what's happening down under, as of course he should be interested, still a major stake holder in VBA stock, now trading as low as $1.59. How nice it is that on radio last month I heard of a CC from Virgin that got terminated for stuff he did not even do. Apparently he was one of the most popular guys in his class and one of the oldest. Virgin just terminated him. He said the training was an absolute joke. Trainers did not know anything. Trainers were back stabbers and watched every move and gave warning letters for every little detail. If they did not like you, or you did too well at your exams and were a smarty pants, that was reason to start at looking to dismiss you. Trainers were helping the young ditzy blondes and not others. Exams....hardly I recall him saying that the answers are fed to the ones that were struggling. During a familiarization session up at Head Office the CEO Brett Godfrey was mocking gay people. If only all the CC new about that. Then he made a joke about Ansett going under, until he asked whether there was any former Ansett employees, he soon shut up. What a great CEO!!

Did anybody hear this on the radio? If so, what channel was it on.

Virgin has put class after class after class simply because they can't keep their CC. One person mentioned that of the 40 or so people at interview day, all but 3 were hired. That tells you something.

Why in the hell would Virgin put through 5 trainings in the past few months, with only one plane delivered? 5 times 30 = 130. Where have all the rest gone?

Business market....VB has no hope! Ladies and Gentlemen girls and boys......you really think businessmen want to hear this crap and safety demos done by pax as Oz Cabin Crew has stated.

We'll see how quickly the CC will start leaving once their annual profit sharing has been cut, their commission for cart sales cut, their working conditions cut. Hmmmmmmmmmm

Stick with Qantas, Emirates and Jetstar. Jetstar is expanding good way to get into International.

I mean 5 times 30 = 150 I\'m a ditzy blode perhaps I should apply for VB, but then again I\'m too old....18:p

[Wheeler]

C'mon, is there really any significant difference?

If it is differentiation in service that sells air tickets, this lot might make some sense!

We are getting what we pay for... (and asked for)

[ditzyboy]

"On the aeroplane, she was amazed at the lack of professionalism displayed by the cabin crew who gossiped between each other all flight so PAX could clearly hear, at the same time ignoring the PAX."

pullock -
Not denying that the event occurred. But every airline has a dodgy crew from time to time. As a point of information the group of cabin crew that are now Jetstar (formerly QFLink and Impulse) have consistently ranked top in the QF Group in Customer Satisfaction ratings. They have done so since Impulse joined the QF fold - despite becoming the 'low cost airline everyone loves to hate' (and drop in pay and conditions to boot).

The schedules changes at Jetstar are really something else, however...

[go_dj]

ABC News Online
Last Update: Friday, August 26, 2005. 12:17pm (AEST)

Jetstar faces renewed communication breakdown complaints

Jetstar passengers have complained they were not notified of the cancellation of an early-morning Hobart-Sydney flight until they arrived at the airport this morning, just days after the airline promised better communication with its customers.

Jetstar says the cancellation was the result of a mechanical fault that saw the Hobart-bound plane stuck in Adelaide overnight.

Corporate relations manager Simon Westerway says the airline tried to get the plane to Hobart last night, but was unable to fix it in time for Adelaide's 11pm AEST airport curfew.

He says the timing made it difficult to notify Hobart passengers.

"The difficulty is, when do you commence calling?" Mr Westerway said.

"We had dispensation to try to get the aircraft out by around midnight last evening.

"There's always a balancing act in terms of: do you start making call-outs at one, two in the morning, or will you try to manage the situation as the sun rises?"

The Australian

The blue shaking up Virgin
Steve Creedy
August 26, 2005

CHRIS Corrigan looked less than comfortable as he clutched a glass of bubbly and posed for a picture with a smiling Richard Branson at Sydney\'s upmarket Bondi Icebergs club on April 3.

The photograph, emailed to reporters the next day, was designed to illustrate that the two executives had buried the hatchet after a hostile takeover battle and were ready to co-operate in the new era of a Corrigan-controlled Virgin Blue. But even at that stage outsiders could sense the unease between the two men.

"They just looked like a real odd couple," said one observer who was in the bar.

"Neither of them looked comfortable."

This week Branson again moved to bury the hatchet - in Chris Corrigan.

It was payback time for the bloody nose that Corrigan had given Branson during the airline\'s float, and the hostile bid to take control of Virgin Blue.

Monday\'s carefully choreographed attack by Branson on Corrigan\'s stewardship of Virgin was the first public broadside in a campaign the British entrepreneur says he had been planning since late last year.

Complaints included the failure to hedge against rising fuel prices, and delays in introducing a frequent flyer plan and attacking the business market.

Branson particularly blamed Corrigan for the fuel problems, which added $150 million to Virgin\'s costs and have seen it punished by the market with a succession of profit downgrades.

Branson says that as a way of protecting his position in Virgin Blue he originally began speaking to Toll boss Paul Little, even as Corrigan outmanoeuvred him to launch a bid for control.

Little was not yet ready to move, but about six weeks ago he rang Branson to tell him the game was afoot, and the two reached an agreement about the future of Virgin Blue last week.

"We wanted to be involved in the running of Virgin Blue, and because of our airline expertise we felt that it was important to Virgin Blue as well," Branson said. "So when Chris actually made the bid to take over Virgin Blue we put a brave face on it, but we were trying to see if there was some way of getting back into a situation where we could have a reasonable say over its future."

An irate Corrigan camp hit back, describing the comments as "laughable" and noting that Branson had never attended a board meeting. (Virgin Group has two board representatives, David Baxby and Patrick McCall, while Branson has the advisory role of "lifetime president".)

"There never have been, as Richard claims, any strong debates on the issue of fuel hedging," Patrick spokesman Paul White said, "as all the board members, including his own representatives, have always agreed the position."

The exchange is a new low in the relationship between Branson and Corrigan, which has had rumours of conflict since Patrick\'s $500 million acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Virgin Blue in March 2002. It was obvious from the start that the two men - the flamboyant, publicity-hungry British entrepreneur and the reclusive former banker - were cut from radically different cloth.

Industry sources say there were strategic differences from the first days and that the gung-ho Branson was always destined to fall out with the more cautious Corrigan.

But it was not until 2003 that a row about how much of Virgin Blue should be floated brought differences between the two into the public spotlight.

Branson had wanted to float 30 per cent of the company and raise new capital representing up to 20 per cent of the airline. Corrigan fought the Branson plan, arguing that the move would significantly dilute Patrick\'s shareholding and that its agreement with Virgin only required it to sell a stake of 5 per cent.

The issue went to arbitration and Corrigan won - but he was unable to stop Branson from taking the airline public.

Branson took advantage of strong demand for the December 2003 float to sell his stake down from 29.1 per cent to just over 25 per cent at $2.25 a share, pocketing an additional $84 million in the process. But in doing so he set the scene for Patrick\'s move at the end of last year to take control of the airline.

Patrick offered $1.90 a share but Branson attempted to force up the price by buying stock at $2.06 and claiming he ran an associated company - supposedly requiring Patrick to match his bid under the Corporations Act. Corrigan hit back with criticisms that Virgin had failed to respond adequately to the threat of Qantas\'s low-cost offshoot Jetstar and needed to modify its business model to concentrate on domestic operations.

The British entrepreneur lost again when ASIC ruled in Patrick\'s favour and a last-minute stampede of sellers gave it 62.4 per cent of the company.

Since then, Virgin has restructured its management and is working on a new strategy aimed at attracting business travellers away from Qantas.

The strategy is already addressing some of Branson\'s criticisms - for example, a frequent flyer program is expected later this year - but apparently not quickly enough for Branson. Having nailed his colours to the mast, Branson says he is confident his bid will succeed. If that proves to be the case, it will effectively allow him to buy back for as little as $1.40 the shares he sold at $2.25 and give him 40.6 per cent of the company.

"But if we don\'t succeed, we just hope Chris will do certain things at Virgin Blue that we think need to be done," Branson said. "It does need some airline expertise which Chris has not got and we need to try to get certain issues fixed."

The deal still has a long way to go and it could be months before there is a resolution. No one is counting Corrigan out, and obstacles include getting the deal past the competition watchdog.

But Branson can be reasonably sure of one thing: no more chummy drinks at the Icebergs.

[oldhasbeen]

........... well there's an enlightened and articulate individual if I've ever seen one!:yuk:

[coitus interuptus]

QF cainer what a remarkable outburst. You certainly have a command of the English language. I believe Vb made a NET profit of $150M last year and going for about $100M this year. But you keep denigrating if you feel the need. It obviously makes you feel better.