Flew Tiger on the Queens Birthday long weekend and cant fault the crew or aircraft at all.

But for my 6'2" frame, it was a very uncomfortable 55mins from MML to PAD . The seat back pitch was amazingly upright. My back started hurting after only 10minutes at the gate!! And before you say "Well why didn't you just recline the seat back" - well with the tiny seat pitch, even reclining 10degrees back would have put me almost on the guys lap behind me.

If you are a midget then I see nothing wrong with the service....

When does MEL-SYD start (or has it already??)
b.

I have a 6ft 5in frame.... Tiger was excellent

I heard that Tiger was going to recruit Capt and F/O's for a July start. Maybe for ML or SY basing??

Has anyone been called or have they heard of guys/girls being called for a sort of immediate start?

It's hard to tell in this climate what the hell can and will happen...

I posted the following in another thread (“Jet* Does it Again) the other day (see below) . . . and correctly I got slammed by Mstr Caution and Green Globlin on my comments about ‘airmanship’.

I did try to defend myself on those grounds, but I was still wrong.

But perhaps the general point is relevant to this thread?

Cheers

Pedota

My wife and I are long term and frequent QF customers. My FF number is so low that QF staff still comment about it and my wife retains her ‘gold’ status.

Last week we needed to go to Perth and we chose Tiger based entirely on price - less than $400 total (not each). It even wasn’t worth using points at that price.

A sample of one does not make a case about anything, but I think the industry’s business model is in the process of changing forever.

And I can report that the whole Tiger customer ‘experience’ was fine . . . easy to use internet ticket purchase; capable and helpful check in staff; brand new A320; hard working and competent cabin crew; great flying and airmanship; and quick baggage retrieval.

There was a minor delay on one sector but the staff provided accurate and timely information – we were all kept in the picture and they worked double speed to turn the aircraft around in minimal time.

We took our own food . . . but frankly airline food is rarely worth eating at any time. And of course our Qantas Club cards were left unused.

We have used airlines like Ryan Air and EasyJet in the UK and Europe and have been very pleased. Sure, you get the occasional delay – but you also get those on High Cost Carriers.

I will select the lowest fare that fits my schedule . . . pretty much like anything else that I buy . . . as there seems little point in paying more for essentially the same thing.

Cheers

Pedota

There is of course one essential difference between Tiger and the rest here, and that has mainly to do with their ability to "repair" schedules. It means nothing most the time, however, if QF, VB etc have to cancel a flight, you will still usually get to your destination, usually the same day. Because of limited routes, frequency, aircraft and structure, Tiger generally can't, and won't. That's one of the intangibles you pay for with the other airlines.

You are partly right porch but your post should read Qantas and the rest. Because only Qantas have the amount of flights/capacity to get you to your destination in time for most appointments.
I got caught out a year or so ago with VB going to Syd from ADL to join a cruise leaving at 5pm. My flight left at( or supposed to) about 9.30am but due to technical difficulties (no cabin crew) it didn't. The next flight was about 12.30pm and was full the next after that got to Syd about 5pm so useless to about 10 of us. Luckily for us that amongst us was a travel agent that had connections somewhere because she managed to get 10 passengers bumped off the 12.30 flight so we could make the ship. When we flew out at 12.30 the 9.30 flight was still sitting there so I don't know when they finally got to Sydney. Qantas meantime had flights to Sydney about every hour so if it had happened to them they would still have got us there in time no drama. I learnt a valuable lesson that day. If you MUST get somewhere on a given day pay the extra and go Qantas or go a day before and blow any savings on accomadation. For any other cases however where it doesn't really matter if you are late go Tiger etc and enjoy the savings.

Pedota I've read that post of yours before, and really how dare you, how very dare you try to identify any aspect of airmanship...'SkyGods' read these pages you know...and they contribute to threads such as 'annoying and most unusual' habits of Pax, including having to suffer the utter indignation of other airmen (airpeople) making themselves known to them..really :=
:}:}:}

Pedota - Take a chill pill my friend, I would hardly call it a slamming!

I simply asked the following after your initial post.

I think that was a reasonable question, (as to) how you determined airmanship of the crew whilst you were seated in the cabin as a passenger.

And when you replied

Then, my second post then complimented you on how much you had observed on the particular flight!

Mstr Caution . . . again you are right and I take and swallow that 'chill pill' as recommended. Thanks for your latter post. But I think you will agree I did get a slamming from Green Goblin!

Back to substance of the thread . . . this matter has got me thinking.

Porchmonkey, you are right about the capacity QF and VB to “repair” schedules. And to Mostlytosses’ point, I agree that QF can do it better than VB.

That said, it is not always that simple - the cancelled flight to remains cancelled until replacement aircraft/crew or whatever is found and not many passengers can get moved to the next flight at peak times. An airline like Tiger with so few aircraft in Australia will have more difficulty recovering from a delay.

Having made the decision to travel on Tiger I decided to read up on them. The ‘about us’ section their web site is interesting. They have an impressive heritage . . . the key investors are Singapore Airlines, Indigo Partners LLC (headed by Bill Franke, former CEO of America West and many other aviation interests) and Irelandia Investments Limited (ie Ryanair) and Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd (ie the Singapore Government).

If this collective group don’t know a thing or two about running aviation related businesses then I’ll go ‘he’.

Tiger started with two aircraft in 2004 . . . and it they now have more than 70. That’s like VB growth and it will be interesting to see how the airline grows both here in Oz and in SE Asia.

Tiger’s ‘business model’ is described on their website . . . read Ryanair – a very successful operation.

My point still is . . . we are witnessing a paradigm shift in this industry. The business models that supported ‘full service airlines’ are fast dissipating. Perhaps customers are no longer willing to pay for stuff they don’t understand (ie full service) and increasingly the will choose the lower cost and ‘essentially the same’ services.

Michael Pascoe wrote in today’s Fairfax (The Age - Qantas - it's worse than it looks) papers that QF announced to the ASX that its international passenger numbers down 13.5 per cent to 527,000 while Jetstar international passengers jumped 51 per cent to 205,000.

As I see it, we are living in a new world where the choices in travel are but a mouse click away. There is no way that we are going back to ‘full service airline’ model as the standard operational model . . . it just not make sense anymore. We of course expect safety and reliability (that’s what airlines do, right?), and at the end of the day it is but a mode of transport.

I mentioned this on another thread (I apologise to those who have already read it), perhaps some people are waking up the fact that part of the 'full service' means paying for unfunded liabilities like pension plans and unused frequent flyer points incurred in previous years by previous passengers?

But then, perhaps I have said too much . . . I probably should just jump back into the cheap seat, enjoy the ride and shut up!

And I genuinely don’t mean to criticise or annoy anyone – it just isn’t my style.

Cheers

Pedota

Pedota, when I drive down the street & see everyone from CEO's down driving a Kia or Hyundai I will know that LCC is the only viable aviation business model.

Tiger Start the MEL-SYD run on Friday (3rd July)

Later on in the month i think the 31st they are doing ADL-SYD.

Tossas, did you hit them up for AD-ML-SY? One extra sector, better times. Most times they'll do that if capacity permits. That's also something Tiger can't offer, yet, for the same reasons. Sometimes you have to think outside the square.

Pedota, I hear what you say regarding numbers and such, but you need to take them with a grain of salt. While QF's international numbers might be down, to say that JQ's number are up 50% is not comparing apples to apples. It's the same as Tiger saying that they have grown 15% when the other airlines in OZ have stayed the same or contracted. Going from 2 to 3 a/c gives you a growth of 50% Yet if QF add 1 a/c their growth would be something like .005% As someone once famous said, Lies, damn Lies and Statistics. How much of JQ's growth come as a result of being handed routes from big brother? As I said, apples to apples, if you're going to quote numbers. Not having a dip at you, the company spin doctors from ALL the airlines love to quote bull**** numbers.

Good points Porch Monkey . . . all taken.

The Michael Pascoe article referred to above (The Age - today) quotes this about statistics. . .

As a 1970s professor of statistics allegedly used to tell his class: "Statistics are like a bikini, ladies and gentlemen. What is revealed is suggestive, but what is concealed is vital."

Cheers

Pedota

Absolutely. I work for one of them, and I trust them as far as I can kick them all, collectively.:ok:

Would anyone be kind enough to advise how many Perth there and back overnight flights a pilot could expect to do each month?

Is there a fixed roster pattern?

Thanks.

From October basically none are to be operated anymore. They will be run earlier in the evening and arrive back in Melbourne at 1am~

Is the current Melbourne Tiger terminal temporary or is that "it"? And which terminal are they using in Sydney?

Skybus,

Thank you very much indeed. All we need now is an Adelaide base..........