Thursday, February 11, 2010

Scheduled Jetstar flights may be cancelled at short notice if Jetstar feels like it

Not enough passengers, you don't fly

JETSTAR has told passengers not to rely on being able to fly on the date their flight is booked.

As stories came in about cancelled flights last week between Darwin and Bali, the latest in a long series of troubles for travellers, the airline admitted it sometimes cancels flights "for commercial reasons", the Northern Territory News reports.

Other carriers do not guarantee flight times - Qantas and Virgin Blue say as much in their terms and conditions. However Jetstar is more explicit. Customers booking flights on the airline's website see a box titled "important information" that warns them their flight might not go on time. "The airline does not guarantee it will be able to carry you and your baggage in accordance with the date and time of the flights specified," it says.

"Schedules may change and flights may be delayed or cancelled for a range of reasons ... "Flight times do not form part of your contract of carriage with us."

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway admitted there was a perception Jetstar suffered the most cancellations, but said this was an "urban myth". He said of 57,918 scheduled Jetstar flights last year, 57,288 of them flew. He said the 630 cancellations was the lowest rate of any airline in Australia.

But Mr Westaway said flights had been cancelled because not enough tickets were sold. "Sometimes flights are folded in for commercial reasons," he said. "For instance, in down seasons ... in times of down periods where the market has contracted. "All airlines do it to a degree."

SOURCE

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