Yeah mate, just like a new car. Needs very little maintenance. I totally agree. Must be somethin fishy going on. Probably just an opportunity to bash the poor old ngineers again.:ouch:

Was once stuck on the ground at LGW / EGKK for 4 hours.

Skipper got on the PA and described the basics of the problem (problem with undercarriage) and stated it was being worked on. Said that updates would be provided every 30 mins or when there was new news.

Sure enough, roughly every 30 mins, either the skipper or F/O got on and said along the lines of "nothing new to report, problem still being worked on and we'll let you know when we have progress". One time was problem identified, new part being requisitioned.

Then after 3 hours it was new part being fitted, it'll take about an hour.

Everyone was reasonably happy because at least there was some info flow.

If they don't like it, don't fly with J*, simple, it is a LCC and they chose to go with them :ugh:.

Apparently they have no problem filling seats in any case.

BTW Guys, the Jetstar A330s come under the Qantas system of maintenance, are maintained by Qantas and overseen by Qantas.

Bloggs, I never said you don't speak to them at all, I simply stated you don't give them false information. You tell them what you know and sometimes that is nothing.

Every time we have a breakdown we go back to the cabin and address the passengers on the cabin interphone face to face.

We usually update them in person in the terminal on a regular basis. We take control when it is appropriate to do so.

I must correct you The Green Goblin, the Jetstar A330 are maintained by Jetstar Engineers NOT Qantas engineers!
Yes sometimes J* ask Qantas to assist or carry out an "A check" for them BUT at that time the aircraft is then signed over to QF maintainance.
PV

Ixixly, many times it's not an easy matter to return to the gate. All of the gates are heavily utilised. Once pushed back, the gate is allocated to other aircraft. The last thing needed is for an aircraft to be parked and occupying a gate for an unknown length of time for no other reason than passenger convenience. It creates a bottleneck and typically causes delays through all other operations.

Folks,
While I am no fan of Onestar, Honolulu is a particular nightmare for anybody, once you have pushed back and started up --- for quarantine and customs you have "departed" .
Organizing an "instant" arrival in HNL, especially if it is a late night/early morning departure just doesn't happen, goes double if "your" quarantine staff have clocked off and gone home as soon as the last aircraft door was closed.
I am all too familiar with the "process".
Tootle pip!!

LeadSled, this is what confuses me a little, by returning the Gate, and remaining there, are they not already through immigration and security therefore no longer requiring them to be around? Or is there some funny thing with Immigration that as soon as an aircraft leaves the gate, even if they don't get airborne, and return to the gate they are now an "Arrival" and therefor have to be processed?

I would have thought that by confining the passengers to the gate or at least the "Secured Area" (Can't quite remember the terminology for an area in an airport that comes after customs and security) that therefore they would not have to be involved?

LoDown, thanks for confirming what I thought, the Gates would be the first obstacle to overcome. Does anyone happen to know how most airports charge for gates? is there a one off fee or there is it based on how long they are there? Or is based on some sort of contract where they own the gates?

US airports do not have outbound immigration/customs. The US has no regulations that require it, and hence all outbound international flights operate from normal terminals with the exact same security setup as any domestic flight. Immigration and customs only applies to arrivals.

(This is one reason you can't transit the US between two other international destinations, for example Australia to Canada, without entering US immigration - there's no "secure" transit area where you can remain separated from the normal domestic terminal.)

As far as the JQ flight not returning to the gate earlier, I suspect it's much more about gate and staff availability, and the potential to lose passengers who wander off. Although I seem to remember HNL's "overseas terminal" being deserted in the morning when QF and JQ arrive and depart, as most flights are to the mainland US and depart in the evening, so it seems unlikely gate availability would be a problem.

The US has a "passenger bill of rights" that issues steep fines for US airlines remaining on the "tarmac" for more than 3 hours. In accordance with this, airports are now set up to ensure that a gate, or at least a parking area with buses, is available for flights after 2-2.5 hours of delays. Although the JQ flight wouldn't have been subject to this rule, the delay is considered acceptable by US standards so I don't think the passengers really have much to complain about.

The question I'd like answered is how much did J* pay Qantas for the rescue mission?

Nothing. They most likely charged Qantas for the hotels and other expenses because the plane Qantas gave them (the Jetstar 330 that broke) wasn't working properly.