Jetstar, the low cost, don’t care airline

Here’s what happened. In February I booked interstate flights for a function in June. In mid-April my circumstances changed and I realised I wouldn’t be able to make the function, so I called Jetstar to see about cancelling the flights. Plenty of notice, I thought, and I’d be happy with a flight credit if they can’t do a refund.

Well, they can’t do anything. No flight credit, no refund, no care, no responsibility, nada, nix, nothing. They magnanimously suggested they could look into rescheduling my flight times, but only on the same route, and that would cost $40 per passenger per journey.

Then an interesting thing happened. Jetstar emailed me to say their circumstances had changed and they would have to change the departure time of my flight home. So, I rang them and asked if they would be paying me $40 per passenger for that. Do I need to tell you what they said?

As the great British comedian Peter Cook would have said, it’s no way to run an airline. The first thing that goes out the window here is the business’s commonsense, swiftly following by the customer’s dignity.

As for Jetstar, well, all I can do is use the power we all have as consumers: I will never fly with them again, and I will advise the same of anyone who wants to listen.

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QANTAS leaves your luggage out in the rain

My husband and I returned from a recent wedding in Queensland. Our flight with QantasLink from Gladstone to Brisbane was very good. We spent about an hour at Brisbane Airport watching the torrential rain outside before our flight to Sydney with Qantas, another pleasant experience.

However, on retrieving our bags from the carousel in Sydney we noticed the outside of each was quite damp. When unpacking at home that night, I found all the contents wet, including our wedding clothes. (Imagine if this had happened on the forward journey!) Every item in my bag had suffered some sort of water damage ranging from damp to saturated.

It seems obvious that our bags had been left uncovered, exposed to the rain on the tarmac somewhere at Brisbane Airport.

I emailed Qantas for an explanation and, to its credit, a customer service representative phoned me a few days later, apologising for our inconvenience but without any real explanation of why it happened and future measures to prevent a recurrence. She sent us a voucher for dinner at a restaurant by way of recompense but I would rather have heard that they are now covering their luggage trolleys at all times.

Lynne Hutton, April 2

I read the letter about waterlogged luggage (Traveller, April 2) with a wry smile. Five years ago my wife and I had a similar experience flying from Port Macquarie to Sydney and then Hong Kong.

Arriving at our hotel in Hong Kong we began to unpack our bags to find that everything saturated. For three days our hotel room looked like a laundry with clothes drying everywhere. I complained to Qantas and received two $100 travel vouchers. It appears that nothing has changed in five years. Don't fly with them on rainy days!

Roger Pearman, April 17, 2010

Contrition! How rare! Loss of customers now clearly a worry for the incompetents running Qantas

Qantas boss apologises to frequent flyers for Easter delays. No word of what he is doing to prevent further problems, however

QANTAS Airways chief executive Alan Joyce has written to frequent flyers saying sorry for flight cancellations due to what he says were mechanical issues and not safety problems.

Mr Joyce says that despite some "sensational coverage recently, safety was never an issue" in recent incidents that plagued the national flag carrier, including over the Easter holiday. "I want to apologise if you were affected personally by the disruptions," Mr Joyce said in the letter, which reached the inboxes of the airline's frequent flyer members today.

"I know that Easter is a special opportunity to unite family and friends, and I sincerely regret any frustration and anxiety you may have experienced due to the delays."

Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said it was the first time Mr Joyce had written directly to frequent flyers since he was appointed chief executive in November 2008. The airline has experienced major disruptions for various reasons in the past two weeks.

A Boeing 747 bound for Singapore and Frankfurt was forced to return to Sydney - but not before dumping fuel at sea - on March 30 due to an engine problem. The next day, an Airbus A380 flying in from London via Singapore blew out two tyres upon landing at Sydney airport, leaving the 244 passengers stranded on board for about two hours on the tarmac. It was later identified as a braking problem. And a Qantas flight headed for Los Angeles had to return to Melbourne Airport on April 5 after pilots noticed cracks in the cockpit window.

Mr Joyce said these events "did not represent safety threats", although he did not refer specifically to any particular incident. "I also want to give you my personal assurance that you can continue to fly Qantas with confidence," Mr Joyce said. "We always respond conservatively to any mechanical or performance issue, and we always put safety before schedule.

"We hate disappointing our customers and we do all we can to rectify matters when things go wrong."

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More gross stupidity from QANTAS

Reminiscent of the way Mrs Sendyk was treated. Under media pressure they eventually crawled out from underneath their rock and did something about the Sendyk case. Presumably the same will happen here

It was the first time Brisbane songstress Emma Dean had to surrender her violin on a plane and the forced act and subsequent damage has sparked a dispute with Qantas.

The Q Song finalist and rising star in Australia's music scene said she was boarding a plane to Canberra last week when Qantas staff ordered her to hand over her instrument. "Never in 10 years of performing have I been banned from carrying my violin on a plane," Ms Dean, 26, said.

"They didn't give me bubble-wrap or another case to put it in, but just said I had to put it down below with the other luggage or I wasn't getting aboard." Reluctantly, Ms Dean handed over "Eliott", the instrument she has used for 14 years.

By the time the plane touched down, three large cracks had pierced the violin's core and Ms Dean has demanded Qantas make amends. "They must have thrown it from a distance to crack it like that and now they need to pay for what's been done," she said.

Ms Dean, who has worked with Kate Miller-Heidke, said another passenger lent her a pillow which she tried to wrap around the violin case. She said she had heard similar stories from others.

Ms Dean said she had sent complaints to Qantas and had been told to wait at least 25 days for a response.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline was investigating the incident. "Customer care and service is of utmost importance to us and we look forward to resolving this situation," the spokeswoman said. [Doesn't that bullsh*t make you sick? Why can't they admit straight out that the incident should never have happened?]

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Unbelievable: Another faulty Qantas plane just a day after the last one

Maintenance must be non-existent

A QANTAS flight from Sydney to Canberra was forced to abort a landing after the pilot was alerted to a flap defect. QF779 was delayed by about 25 minutes yesterday afternoon as it circled Canberra Airport until getting the all-clear to land, the airline said.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the pilot of the Boeing 737, carrying 77 people, was following standard procedure after an indicator in the cockpit showed a defect with one of the plane's flaps during pre-landing checks.

The aircraft landed safely and has since departed Canberra Airport for another scheduled flight, she said.

It follows a series of recent incidents that have forced Qantas flights to be grounded. On Tuesday last week a Singapore-bound Qantas flight was forced to turn around and return to Sydney Airport after an engine problem. The next day, a Qantas jet suffered two tyre blowouts while landing at Sydney Airport, due to braking problems. Two days later a flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles was grounded because of a wiring problem.

Earlier this week, another aircraft that was flying to Los Angeles was grounded in Melbourne after cracks started to appear in its cockpit window.

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Engine surge halts Qantas flight to London

The faults in Qantas aircraft just never stop. A crash seems inevitable soon

A QANTAS plane has been forced down shortly after take-off after experiencing a surge in one of its engines.

The Boeing 747 operating Qantas Flight 1 from Bangkok to London Heathrow experienced the engine problem shortly after take-off at 4am (AEST). “The captain of the aircraft shut down that engine and carried out an air return to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport,” a statement from the airline said.

Qantas said passenger were never in any danger as the Boeing 747 aircraft can fly normally on three engines. A replacement aircraft is being flown to Bangkok from Sydney and the 335 passengers on board have been transferred to hotel accommodation, Qantas said.

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Cracked windshield grounds Qantas plane

A QANTAS plane has been grounded after its windshield began to crack during a flight between Los Angeles and Melbourne.

The ABC reports the plane landed safely at Melbourne Airport but will undergo repair work to the side windshield, where the small cracks started to appear.

It is the second time this year that a Qantas flight has been grounded due to a cracked windshield.

A wiring fault on Friday stopped a Boeing 747 flying from Brisbane to Los Angeles, while two days earlier, an A380's tyres burst on landing at Sydney Airport after flying from London via Singapore. And last Tuesday another 747 landed safely in Sydney after reporting engine problems about 30 minutes into a flight to Singapore.

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THREE QANTAS planes unserviceable in one day

It seems clear proof that a lot of maintenance is just not happening

TRAVEL plans for hundreds of people have been thrown into confusion after three separate Qantas flights were grounded.

Qantas said the situations were not emergencies, and no passengers were put in danger at any time. Airlines often say that while delays are unfortunate, passenger safety can never be compromised. But for travellers eager to maximise their Easter long weekend, frustration can be hard to suppress.

An engine fault grounded QF15 at Brisbane Airport yesterday when a problem was discovered with the wiring in one of the 747's engines, the airline said. The problem was fixed by the afternoon but the aircraft was forced to stay put overnight because the crew members' shift was due to end.

The 386 passengers were sent home in taxis or put up in hotels, with the flight now due to depart for Los Angeles at 10.30am (AEST) this morning.

Sky News has reported police were called in to calm down angry passengers as the delay dragged on. One frustrated passenger was quoted as saying all aboard had been taken off the plane, then put back on for two hours, then taken off again before the flight was finally postponed until today.

In Adelaide, a flight connecting with Perth and then bound for Johannesburg was delayed when a fuel leak was detected in pre-flight checks.

Also yesterday, a Qantas flight was delayed for five hours in Perth after a defect was discovered in a wing flap. A replacement was installed and the aircraft left for Brisbane at 1pm (WST), Qantas said.

On Tuesday a Sydney-Singapore flight was forced to turn back when a pilot discovered a problem in one of the engines. On Wednesday, a superjumbo suffered two tyre blowouts while landing at Sydney Airport.

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Another Qantas drama as tyres burst on landing at Sydney Airport

"Just a few sparks" again? That is the usual rot we get from Qantas spinmeisters. It might be a bit hard to pull that one this time, though



FLAMES shot out from the undercarriage of a Qantas A380 last night when its two nose wheel tyres burst as it landed at Sydney Airport - the second emergency involving the airline in the past 48 hours. Qantas has admitted that it does not know what caused the tyres to blow, Seven News reported.

A worker at the airport told The Daily Telegraph he heard a huge roar and then flames coming from under plane. "I thought there was a serious crash, there were sparks and flames shooting out everywhere," he said. "And the noise was deafening, like cannons going off. "I really thought something catastrophic had happened."

The 241 passengers on board QF32 from London via Singapore were stranded on the tarmac for nearly two hours while engineers investigated before being bussed to the terminal to meet anxious relatives.

"We saw from the observation deck and when it touched down the left wheel burst into flames and there were sparks and fire from the left-hand side and there was black smoke and when it went down the runway it stopped," said Mr Wayne Morris, 58, who was waiting for his wife, Maria, to arrive from a London holiday. " The control tower said on the radio that all the tyres were blown.

"I was very concerned because you don't expect to see flames from a plane and after the engineers went on strike it makes you ask the question about safety."

A Qantas spokeswoman said the incident was "rare" and had not occurred with the other five A380 planes in the Qantas fleet. "Passenger safety in our number one priority," a spokeswoman told Channel Nine's Today Show. "These incidents happen with all airlines around the world."

The incident comes after a Singapore-bound Qantas 747 was forced to return to Sydney Airport on Tuesday evening due to engine troubles. Qantas last night confirmed the plane had had similar engine problems in 2007 and 2003.

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Qantas flight forced to dump fuel, land after witnesses claim flame came from engine

This is the second time recently that an engine has been observed to be on fire, only to have the Qantas spinmeisters dismiss it as a "few sparks". Why they think that lies improve their credibility is a mystery

A PASSENGER on board a Singapore-bound Qantas flight that was forced to return to Sydney Airport last night has told of fire coming from the plane. Nicola Wall told Channel Nine News today that she looked out of her window to see "flames coming out from under the wing".

A witness, Jack Martin, who was surfing when he saw the plane, said he heard a "big bang". "I looked up and saw a big Qantas plane flying and its right engine was on fire," he told Channel Nine.

Another witness, Steve, said he also spotted flames coming from the engine as he was driving from Kurnell to Cronulla. "I pulled up and watched and as it headed out to sea the flames were coming out of the engine, and ... it just flew off into the clouds," he told Macquarie Radio last night.

Ms Wall said the experience was made worse by flight attendants and the captain who did not immediately tell passengers what was happening.

Qantas could not confirm the reports, but last night said the situation was not an emergency. "We have a technical issue identified with the aircraft, we believe it is impacting one of the engines," spokeswoman Christie McSweeney said.

"It was not in an emergency at any stage. "There was likely to have been some sparks and flint, but nothing we would describe as flames and fire."

A pilot discovered the issue in the third engine soon after the near-full QF5 jumbo left Sydney at 5.10pm (AEDT), the airline said. The aircraft, which was over the sea at the time, was turned back, dumping fuel on the way to meet landing requirements.

It landed safely about 6.15pm (AEDT). The 414 passengers were removed after engineers assessed the problem and found it could not be repaired within a reasonable time-frame, a spokeswoman said. After a four-hour wait, the passengers were transferred to another aircraft, which left Sydney for Singapore at about 9pm (AEDT).

The plane is being further assessed by engineers, Qantas said.

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Qantas bosses accused of safety breach

I am posting this as part of my record of complaints about Qantas but I think that this is just nitpicking by disgruntled unionists. Prima Donna unionists are probably behind some of the Qantas maintenance problems

QANTAS engineers have called on the air safety regulator to investigate the airline for safety breaches allegedly committed by managers during a long-running industrial dispute.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia claims Qantas managers who replace them at night are taking shortcuts, hiding engineering reports and lowering safety margins, The Australian reports.

They cite the example of a Boeing 737 aircraft allowed to fly with a cracked cockpit window, increasing the risk of cabin decompression, and say there are other examples of bad engineering decisions.

The union, which represents professional engineers who check Qantas faults and sign off on repairs, says the Boeing 737-800 was incorrectly cleared to fly from Sydney to Canberra and then from Canberra to Darwin and back before it was grounded. It estimates about 400 passengers were put at risk, and claims the flight breached airworthiness directives.

"We believe these poor engineering decisions have occurred due to those management authorised persons having very little recent experience or day-to-day knowledge of the disciplines they are servicing, or the aircraft type they are supporting,'' association senior industrial officer Alison Rose says in a letter to Civil Aviation Safety Authority boss John McCormick.

But Qantas rejected the accusation. "We are very confident standards are being upheld and subject to regulatory engagement and approval,'' a spokeswoman said. "All our contingency arrangements are undertaken by certified engineers.''

APESMA members began the overtime ban in November.

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Mentally ill Qantas pilot allowed to keep flying

A QANTAS pilot suffering from a mental illness was allowed to keep flying for three years despite complaining of his urges to crash his planes. Bryan Arthur Griffin worked as a pilot with Qantas from 1966 to 1982, when he resigned suffering from severe obsessive compulsive disorder, depression and anxiety.

Mr Griffin struggled to resist an overwhelming urge to switch off his plane’s engines on several occasions between 1979 and 1982, evidence tendered as part of a worker’s compensation claim stated.

During a flight from Perth to Singapore in 1979 Mr Griffin stated that his left hand “involuntarily” moved towards the start levers” in a “torturous” compulsion, the Workers Compensation Commission of New South Wales heard. He said he “struggled with the uncontrollable limb as though it wasn’t mine” and was forced to place it under his seat belt to restrain it. “The force of the arm moving against the seat belt towards the thrust levers was so much that it made the arm sore,” the claim stated.

His “pain and terror dissipated” once he left the flight deck and smoked several cigarettes.

A similar incident happened again on his next flight from Singapore to Sydney, with Mr Griffin stating that he felt his hand was “being abused by the uncontrollable pull of the start levers”.

After complaining about these urges Mr Griffin was examined by several doctors and was declared fit to fly. He received extended leave to be treated by doctors and psychiatrists but was allowed to return to the cockpit.

It was found that his condition had been exacerbated by continuing to work for Qantas. Qantas had failed to understand his serious psychiatric problem and he should have been medically retired, a report from Mr Griffin’s psychiatrist said.

The airline has been ordered to pay compensation of approximately $160,000 for loss of earnings, plus medical expenses and legal costs. Qantas is considering an appeal.

Mr Griffin has not flown aircraft again since his resignation from Qantas.

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Passengers see 'big flame' erupt from Jetstar engine

An A320 again. Jetstar spinmeister dismisss "big flame" seen by passengers as "few sparks". Honesty does not seem to be in the genes of Jetstar employees

PASSENGERS on board a plane bound for Darwin have told of their terror when the jet caught fire in mid-air after a "loud bang". Jason Bush, 34, who was sitting behind the wing, told the Northern Territory News he was shocked to see sparks flying for up to two minutes. "We were a bit worried about the fuel line catching on fire because there were that many sparks and we thought if that happened we might not be here to tell the story," Mr Bush said.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway confirmed yesterday the airbus A320 - which was carrying 163 passengers - experienced engine trouble late on Monday night. It was enroute from Adelaide to Darwin but was forced to return to its departure port when the pilot had to shut down one of two engines. "The engine faulted ... but the cause of the mechanical failure is yet to be ascertained," Mr Westaway said. The pilots informed passengers of the issue and turned around. A fire extinguisher also had to be used.

A passenger from Darwin, who did not want not to be named, said the pilots had just turned off the seat belt signs when he heard the bang. "Passengers on the right side of the plane were saying a big flame came from the right engine then all the lights on the right wing stopped working," she said. Another passenger also reporting seeing flames coming from the engine. "There was a large explosion on my side of the plane and then I could see sparks then flames. The plane shuddered and then we turned around and returned to Adelaide," the passenger said.

Mr Westaway, who has spoken to the pilots, denied the plane was on fire. "I can confirm some sparks may have been seen by some passengers," he said.

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Left in dark

My husband and I left Honolulu for Sydney, flying with Jetstar on January 23. As we reached altitude the flight attendants closed the shutters and turned off the main lights.

Being in the middle of three seats I had no light above me and I had to spend 10 hours and 45 minutes in the dark. I called the flight attendant but he had no explanation and walked away.

I have not been able to contact anyone at Jetstar to discuss this matter.

- Eva Neeter

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