I hope QF adopt the mask on the Neos and 350s. Would go really nicely with their livery.

Alan Joyce spoke on Perth radio this afternoon, some key points

PER-GET returning to double daily
Reaffirmed that PER-LHR will get A350-1000's
PER-FCO, while currently seasonal, would like to be able to go year round
PER-CDG, discussions still ongoing
A321XLR's could up more routes to Asia, though no actual destinations were mentioned
PER-JNB, keen to restart, discussions ongoing
Keen on adding more JQ services to PER

https://www.6pr.com.au/how-qantas-1-4-b ... assengers/

qf789 wrote:

Alan Joyce spoke on Perth radio this afternoon, some key points

PER-GET returning to double daily
Reaffirmed that PER-LHR will get A350-1000's
PER-FCO, while currently seasonal, would like to be able to go year round
PER-CDG, discussions still ongoing
A321XLR's could up more routes to Asia, though no actual destinations were mentioned
PER-JNB, keen to restart, discussions ongoing
Keen on adding more JQ services to PER

https://www.6pr.com.au/how-qantas-1-4-b ... assengers/

Year round CDG and FCO simultaneously… with what aircraft? The 3 787’s coming in are being allocated to JFK and SFO + FCO seasonally

I take it MEL will definitely see the A380 back on the LAX route to free up some 787 frames? I wonder what other 78 route could move to an A380

With 8 788s having a strong chance of moving from JQ to QF as the 321s arrive one would think QF wide body capacity won't be an issue
It was done with the A330s prior, so there is a precedent

If you look at where JQ 788s fly, most routes can be easily replaced by 321s
Bali in particular has a seat cap rather than a cap on flights, so simply adding frequency won't be an issue
Some longer routes may simply revert to QF like Hawaii

Deano969 wrote:

With 8 788s having a strong chance of moving from JQ to QF as the 321s arrive one would think QF wide body capacity won't be an issue
It was done with the A330s prior, so there is a precedent

If you look at where JQ 788s fly, most routes can be easily replaced by 321s
Bali in particular has a seat cap rather than a cap on flights, so simply adding frequency won't be an issue
Some longer routes may simply revert to QF like Hawaii

On a lot of JQ routes the 787 range / capacity is needed. Currently the longest A321LR flight is CPH-IAH on sas which seats on 157.

JQ has 232 seats, and would put Thailand, HNL, Korea, OOL-Japan out of range, DPS is slot restricted so its not as easy as adding flights, and JQ carries a lot of freight on the 787s too. The A321XLR may change this slightly when that arrives in FY26.

Deano969 wrote:

With 8 788s having a strong chance of moving from JQ to QF as the 321s arrive one would think QF wide body capacity won't be an issue
It was done with the A330s prior, so there is a precedent

If you look at where JQ 788s fly, most routes can be easily replaced by 321s
Bali in particular has a seat cap rather than a cap on flights, so simply adding frequency won't be an issue
Some longer routes may simply revert to QF like Hawaii

Interesting, I am of the opinion that the JQ 788s will go to QF, with 11 it seems to small a number to split the fleet but given JQ have the 788s already I guess it is possible that a small number 3-4 remain at JQ for 3-4 longer or highest capacity routes.

Can a crew bunk be added for QF for routes like BNE-US? I guess 788s could replace the longest A332 routes with a less premium configuration, maybe 30J 14W 200Y or something?

QF looking to keep PER-JNB permanently is not surprising. With no SAA it's an easy money maker. Hopefully they can come to an agreement to make it happen.

If some/most JQ 788s eventually move to QF, chances are the interior will be gutted and refurbished into QF standards with a crew bunk fitted/installed for long haul/Y heavy routes like BNE-LAX and SYD/MEL to India routes.

Chipmunk1973 wrote:

qf789 wrote:

Results are in

$1.43 billion underlying before tax
Has exercised 9 purchase rights for A220-300 for delivery F26 and FY27
Sourcing 5 A319/320 for Network
3k to add 2 A320's
Add 3 A321p2F's
exercise options for another 12 E90's from Alliance

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media ... ar-result/

I would never have envisaged an A319 in QF colours, not even a neo.. I'm guessing they're looking at a cheap acquisition by going for the A319/320ceo. I wouldn't expect this aircraft would remain for too long in the inventory. Maybe ~ 4-5 years?

The A321F (P2F) fleet seems to be growing at a fast rate too.

The other thing that interests me is that I can't recall a time when QF has been so actively Pro Airbus. In the case of the A319/A320 purchases, was the B73H/B73G not an option? Makes me wonder how the "Widebody" replacement is playing out!?!?!?!?

Doesn't seem that long ago that all you saw in QF colours was a 747 and a 767.

Cheers.

The QF group fleet is majority Airbus. A little over half of narrowbodies (all of the various JetStars plus the WA A320s) and all but the 789s (and 763F) in wide bodies.

Kent350787 wrote:

Chipmunk1973 wrote:

qf789 wrote:

Results are in

$1.43 billion underlying before tax
Has exercised 9 purchase rights for A220-300 for delivery F26 and FY27
Sourcing 5 A319/320 for Network
3k to add 2 A320's
Add 3 A321p2F's
exercise options for another 12 E90's from Alliance

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media ... ar-result/

I would never have envisaged an A319 in QF colours, not even a neo.. I'm guessing they're looking at a cheap acquisition by going for the A319/320ceo. I wouldn't expect this aircraft would remain for too long in the inventory. Maybe ~ 4-5 years?

The A321F (P2F) fleet seems to be growing at a fast rate too.

The other thing that interests me is that I can't recall a time when QF has been so actively Pro Airbus. In the case of the A319/A320 purchases, was the B73H/B73G not an option? Makes me wonder how the "Widebody" replacement is playing out!?!?!?!?

Doesn't seem that long ago that all you saw in QF colours was a 747 and a 767.

Cheers.

The QF group fleet is majority Airbus. A little over half of narrowbodies (all of the various JetStars plus the WA A320s) and all but the 789s (and 763F) in wide bodies.

JQ have
11 788s
85-90 A320/321 from what I can see?

QF
10 A380
26 A330
75 738
14 789
20? 717

It’s not currently as skewed as one might think. A350s coming in, and QF going A220/321, it will be a little more skewed towards Airbus in future but one would think some additional 787s in the mix as well but eventually all Airbus narrow bodies.

Latvian operator SmartLynx has received its Foreign Air Transport Operator Certificate from CASA to operate flights to, from and within Australia. It will allow the airline to offer wet lease of aircraft to international airlines and tour operators. At the moment the CASA approval is only for their 6 A330's but they are working on adding other types to their certificate with includes 737MAX, A320, A321 and A321P2F

https://simpleflying.com/smartlynx-rece ... rtificate/

Embraer is sending the E195-E2 to the Avalon Air Show starting next week along with business jets Phenom 100EV and Phenom 300E

https://embraer.com/global/en/news?slug ... f-aircraft

Qantas 787-9 VH-ZNL was moved out of the factory on 21/2 at PAE for EME rework

http://paineairport.com/images/kpae20514d.png

The ATSB has wrapped up its onsite probe and Coulson and its insurers are working with the government agencies to remove the wreckage. The final report should be released by Q3 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfpJWcrg8so

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/in ... o-2023-008

QF87 diverting to BNE. Looks like it's dumping fuel NE of Rockhampton. Is it a fair to guess non medical reason as otherwise they would have diverted to Cairns?

gpasternak wrote:

QF87 diverting to BNE. Looks like it's dumping fuel NE of Rockhampton. Is it a fair to guess non medical reason as otherwise they would have diverted to Cairns?

Mechanical hence the change of aircraft -QPJ to -QPD.

Flight QF87 from Brisbane to Seoul
https://fr24.com/QFA87/2f521d06


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Former VH-OQF

Jetstar A321neoLR VH-OFU performed a taxi test and RTO at XFW on 24 Feb, first flight should be in the coming days

https://aibfamily.flights/A320/11292

EK413 wrote:

Former VH-OQF

The A380 to the left is VH-OQE. There was a photo on here during the week doing the rounds showing both together

Crazy how quickly they've been stripped of parts.

mrkerr7474 wrote:

EK413 wrote:

Former VH-OQF

The A380 to the left is VH-OQE. There was a photo on here during the week doing the rounds showing both together

Crazy how quickly they've been stripped of parts.

Looks like this one was in the new livery too.
I really do wonder what metrics they used to determine that 12 was too much for the QF fleet, considering the capacity constraints. Surely they could of just kept them in storage longer instead of deciding to straight up retire them?

QF12 LAX-SYD diverting to BNE, presumably it’s crew related as it departed LAX 5 hours late

https://twitter.com/aa380fanclub/status ... 94D7tze5lA

Can be attributed to the bad weather in LA yesterday. Lots of delays in and out of California on Friday night and they probably held the flight for connecting passengers.

getluv wrote:

Can be attributed to the bad weather in LA yesterday. Lots of delays in and out of California on Friday night and they probably held the flight for connecting passengers.

Certainly part of it attributable to weather, but certainly didn't wait 5 hours for connecting passengers resulting in huge numbers then missing connections in SYD.

qf789 wrote:

QF12 LAX-SYD diverting to BNE, presumably it’s crew related as it departed LAX 5 hours late

https://twitter.com/aa380fanclub/status ... 94D7tze5lA

Tomorrow in the news:
Qantas crew 'walk off the job' mid flight, diverts to Brisbane

evanb wrote:

getluv wrote:

Can be attributed to the bad weather in LA yesterday. Lots of delays in and out of California on Friday night and they probably held the flight for connecting passengers.

Certainly part of it attributable to weather, but certainly didn't wait 5 hours for connecting passengers resulting in huge numbers then missing connections in SYD.

Will pax clear customs and be rebooked to final destinations ex BNE?

evanb wrote:

getluv wrote:

Can be attributed to the bad weather in LA yesterday. Lots of delays in and out of California on Friday night and they probably held the flight for connecting passengers.

Certainly part of it attributable to weather, but certainly didn't wait 5 hours for connecting passengers resulting in huge numbers then missing connections in SYD.

There’s probably less people with connections in SYD than there are people connecting through in LAX.

I’ve been on many QF departing flights from LAX to know QF waits if there are several connecting passengers with delays. If you look at the arrivals board there were plenty of AA flights that were delayed.

getluv wrote:

There’s probably less people with connections in SYD than there are people connecting through in LAX.

I’ve been on many QF departing flights from LAX to know QF waits if there are several connecting passengers with delays. If you look at the arrivals board there were plenty of AA flights that were delayed.

You're making a lot of assumptions here based on anecdotes from your flights. Flights can vary a lot over time and route networks evolve as well. Your experience may not not relevent even to the next day, nevermind today.

From my own experience working in operations, airlines have a good understanding of the implications of various factors and have predictive tools that help them understand the situation. Firstly, when there is weather uncertainty around (like there was at LAX) it makes it far more difficult to predict and the general rule of thumb is to not be too cute. One takes the opportunities available, but it becomes high risk to wait.

But secondly, let's consider the logic: there was weather around causing departure delays of one or two hours, which would have allowed a delayed arrival (maybe one or two hours) into SYD. Everyone else on LAX-SYD/MEL/BNE got in to SYD/MEL/BNE (6 flights) alright, worst was an hour delayed. They all likely had a number of connecting passengers at LAX as well. But now you're suggesting that QF chose to wait an extra 3-4 hours for connecting pax, knowing that the flight will now time out and require a re-routing to BNE, at best adding another two 2-3 hours, but probably more if there were operational challenges at BNE or difficulty repositioning crew to BNE in the morning (very likely given that by the time this choice got made there were probably no more flights to get crew to BNE). So even if there were more connecting pax at LAX than SYD (we don't know this, but let's assuming this), I still don't see how they'd choose to inconvenience all pax (SYD terminating or connecting at SYD) to wait to LAX connecting pax. If the number connecting at LAX were so large (unlikely) to compromise the flight, it would have made more sense just to cancel the flight and operate it at a later time once the crew had reset at LAX. Based on my experience, this suggests that an initial delay was likely weather related, but further delays were more complicated. You simply don't choose to wait 5 hours for connecting pax.

qf789 wrote:

Jetstar A321neoLR VH-OFU performed a taxi test and RTO at XFW on 24 Feb, first flight should be in the coming days

https://aibfamily.flights/A320/11292

Is this plane will deliver straight to Avalon for the Avalon International Airshow coming this friday? The Avalon airshow facebook said Jetstar A321neo will be there this weekend but doesnt say which aircraft will be there.

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

YSSYplanespoter wrote:

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

smi0006 wrote:

YSSYplanespoter wrote:

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

There’s always two sunbathing in Canberra as well. Not sure about Melbourne and Brisbane, but I assume it’s similar. Not really sure why, but the 717 utilisation has seemed really low since Covid (and the E190s arrived). They probably could retire 10 and not see much impact to the network.

RyanairGuru wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

YSSYplanespoter wrote:

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

There’s always two sunbathing in Canberra as well. Not sure about Melbourne and Brisbane, but I assume it’s similar. Not really sure why, but the 717 utilisation has seemed really low since Covid (and the E190s arrived). They probably could retire 10 and not see much impact to the network.

Planespotters.net lists only two as parked.
NXD in MEL since 17/02 (so just over a week)
NXQ in XSP, presumably for maintenance.

This morning JQ30 BKK-MEL diverted to ASP, a rescue flight is currently way on it’s to MEL after VKE positioned from MEL to pick them up

https://twitter.com/7newsaustralia/stat ... bwK2ybA_xA

qf789 wrote:

This morning JQ30 BKK-MEL diverted to ASP, a rescue flight is currently way on it’s to MEL after VKE positioned from MEL to pick them up

https://twitter.com/7newsaustralia/stat ... bwK2ybA_xA

& causing a great deal of headaches in the JQ International network with JQ1/2/3/4/7/8 cancelled…

Mind blowing how 1 diversion & 1 out of service for wing repaint send the network into meltdown…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

smi0006 wrote:

YSSYplanespoter wrote:

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

The first B717 is retiring in March and 8 will be gone by the time the first A220 enters commercial service in November, from then on it’s roughly 1 B717 out each month. The remaining B717s will be gone by September 2024, they are planned to be retired in order of which ones are due for heavy maintenance but subject to change. In Sept 2024, 9 x A220s are planned to be in service.

E190s, Qantas and dash 8s will cover more flying, in fact the B717 stops flying to BNE completely from August and has a drastically reduced schedule to HBA from June.

Utilisation is low due to a lack of tech crew (especially in SYD). All 29 ordered A220s are to be operated by Qantas subsidiary National Jet Systems, assuming they can crew them (NJS tech crew will shortly become the lowest paid jet airline pilots in MEL, SYD and BNE, along with the majority of their cabin crew who are the lowest paid cabin crew in Australian aviation).

aircountry wrote:

qf789 wrote:

Jetstar A321neoLR VH-OFU performed a taxi test and RTO at XFW on 24 Feb, first flight should be in the coming days

https://aibfamily.flights/A320/11292

Is this plane will deliver straight to Avalon for the Avalon International Airshow coming this friday? The Avalon airshow facebook said Jetstar A321neo will be there this weekend but doesnt say which aircraft will be there.

No it wont be OFU as that still hasnt done flight testing, it will have to be OFS which had its customer acceptance flight last week and should be ready for delivery

SIGWX wrote:

Utilisation is low due to a lack of tech crew (especially in SYD). All 29 ordered A220s are to be operated by Qantas subsidiary National Jet Systems, assuming they can crew them (NJS tech crew will shortly become the lowest paid jet airline pilots in MEL, SYD and BNE, along with the majority of their cabin crew who are the lowest paid cabin crew in Australian aviation).

Why? Are their wages being reduced for the A220 or are you meaning this because they will fly hardly any hours, or?

Nothing wrong with anyone being the lowest paid, someone has to be, and eventually they can move on to the other carriers if they so desire.

Of the other operators in those cities, Rex 737 crew are negotiating a deal that will push those crew past NJS, Alliance pay more with the regular overtime
and CPI raises they get and VA is still more even with their post administration EBA. JQ and of course Qantas are miles ahead.

Plenty are moving on to other carriers now, hence the spare B717s. The talk is that Qantas will need to buy some game changing tarpaulins to cover their logos on brand new A220s parked in Canada due to lack of crew in about 2025 if things continue this way.

Alliance and Network having major issues sourcing and retaining crew also. Nothing wrong with being lowest paid as you say, unless you’re a business that wants to crew their aircraft.

Jetstar at it again, many cancellations and operational issues.

You would think after nearly 20yrs operating they would be a little more reliable.

vhebb wrote:

Jetstar at it again, many cancellations and operational issues.

You would think after nearly 20yrs operating they would be a little more reliable.

I honestly don’t understand why QF don’t take over the HNL & ICN flying to provide some slack in the B788 fleet. Otherwise only other option downgrade the DPS flying to A321NEO’s.


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tristans wrote:

RyanairGuru wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

There’s always two sunbathing in Canberra as well. Not sure about Melbourne and Brisbane, but I assume it’s similar. Not really sure why, but the 717 utilisation has seemed really low since Covid (and the E190s arrived). They probably could retire 10 and not see much impact to the network.

Planespotters.net lists only two as parked.
NXD in MEL since 17/02 (so just over a week)
NXQ in XSP, presumably for maintenance.

Of course they’re not parked, they just have very low utilisation with aircraft not flying for extended periods of time. You would not really expect to see 7/20 717s on remote stands at any given time if they were flying at anything approaching a full schedule.

qf789 wrote:

This morning JQ30 BKK-MEL diverted to ASP, a rescue flight is currently way on it’s to MEL after VKE positioned from MEL to pick them up

https://twitter.com/7newsaustralia/stat ... bwK2ybA_xA

It all seems to have started out innocently enough with a diversion due to medical emergency which is no one's fault. Unfortunately, from then on, it was a bit of a mess. First a technical issue delayed the departure; then there was the typical lack of communication with pax about what was going on. Finally, it was announced that a plane had been sent from MEL to pick up the passengers but this wasn't quite true as the plane hadn't actually left MEL at that stage.

Due to no international facilities in ASP, pax were kept on the plane for 7 hours. Some requested the ability to walk around the aircraft in small groups supervised by NT Police but this was denied. After a few hours, complimentary IFE was given to all pax and muffins distributed as food. Eventually, a small room in the terminal was cordoned off for pax to go to until the MEL plane arrived.

To make matters worse, a lack of luggage handling equipment in ASP has meant the luggage was not transferred with the pax so it will arrive separately later this afternoon.

Obviously ASP on a Sunday is a poor location for these sorts of things but medical diversions are unavoidable. I am surprised though that QF/JQ doesn't have a contingency plan in all Australian ports to activate in these rare situations to ensure the comfort of passengers such as someone to provide emergency meals of some kind within a few hours.

SIGWX wrote:

smi0006 wrote:

YSSYplanespoter wrote:

Rumour going around that QF are retiring around 10 of the 717s in the coming weeks/couple of months. What are they going to be replaced with until the A220s come? The E190s perhaps?

They do seem to have 5 parked up at SYD often. Not sure their utilisation? Maybe some of the operational spares QF keeps about? Aren’t 5 A220 due this year? Maybe they have major maintenance coming up? Wonder what finding parts for the 717 and F100 is like these days too.

Will the A220 be on the National Jet AOC? Or maybe Sunstate? I remember Eastern only has Q200 & 300 at one point, all the Q400 were Substate. Not sure if that’s still the case.

The first B717 is retiring in March and 8 will be gone by the time the first A220 enters commercial service in November, from then on it’s roughly 1 B717 out each month. The remaining B717s will be gone by September 2024, they are planned to be retired in order of which ones are due for heavy maintenance but subject to change. In Sept 2024, 9 x A220s are planned to be in service.

E190s, Qantas and dash 8s will cover more flying, in fact the B717 stops flying to BNE completely from August and has a drastically reduced schedule to HBA from June.

Utilisation is low due to a lack of tech crew (especially in SYD). All 29 ordered A220s are to be operated by Qantas subsidiary National Jet Systems, assuming they can crew them (NJS tech crew will shortly become the lowest paid jet airline pilots in MEL, SYD and BNE, along with the majority of their cabin crew who are the lowest paid cabin crew in Australian aviation).

This is directed at Qantas management, not at you, but to say we can’t fly the 717s as we can’t get enough tech crew, but we’re going to use those same crews to fly the A220 seems like circular logic.

I’ve heard reports of a toxic check and training culture in NJS as well, with reportedly 70% of upgrade checks being failed by ex RAAF senior check pilots who are accused of giving ‘jobs for the boys’ (in this case being other ex RAAF pilots) This is leading to civilian NJS pilots either not bothering to upgrade or just leaving for opportunities elsewhere.

Alliance has announced to the ASX that it has entered into an agreement with AerCap to acquire another 30 E190s previously operated in the US. With MESA recently announcing it was ceasing contract flying for AA, it is fair to assume that they will be the source of these aircraft.

Were Alliance to keep its existing F100 fleet, it would end up with over 100 aircraft including 63 E190s but it is likely that some of these acquisitions will enable the gradual retirement of the F100 fleet and even Alliance admits that some of the E190s will be bought and then scrapped to supply parts for the ongoing fleet. Deliveries of these planes commence from September.

vhebb wrote:

Jetstar at it again, many cancellations and operational issues.

You would think after nearly 20yrs operating they would be a little more reliable.

What could they have learned in the last 20 years that would have helped them this weekend? Genuine question!

Passenger has heart attack and indication from persons providing assistance on board was to get the plane on the ground as soon as possible. Crew got the aircraft on the ground in 30 minutes. ASP doesn't have permanent customs and immigration. Border Force requires four weeks notice to staff a flight. Emergencies are handled, but Border Force has to make arrangements with NT Police or AFP for flight processing. I imagine these take time on a Sunday morning. And it's not as if either NT Police or AFP have large amounts of resources available at short notice in ASP. Similar challenges for ground handling.

I'm not sure what the alternative is?
* Carry on to an alternative port where these may be available? That's likely Adelaide several hours away.
* Have permanent Border Force? Not something Jetstar could solve, and it would come at considerable cost.
* Could they communicate better? Sure, but crew on board are dealing with limited information in a fluid and dynamic situation. Staff at operations are scrambling and trying to work a fluid and dynamic situation. It's also a Sunday morning and getting action from multiple players from Border Force, to NT Police/AFP, to maintenance, to catering, to ground handling, finding alternate options for passengers including rerouting with other airlines and/or finding a replacement aircraft and crew. Coordinating all of this is challenging, nevermind on a Sunday morning when a bunch of people are not answering their phones. Sometimes communication isn't their priority. Nobody is likely intentionally misleading anyone, but the situation is fluid and dynamic, errors get made under pressure, people misspeak or mishear things, etc.
* Could they have spare B788s waiting around as cover? Sure, but this comes at considerable cost and they're a LCC. Most airlines don't have significant numbers of spare aircraft waiting around, particularly not newer expensive aircraft, or when they don't have a particularly large fleet to spread that cost over.

EK413 wrote:

I honestly don’t understand why QF don’t take over the HNL & ICN flying to provide some slack in the B788 fleet. Otherwise only other option downgrade the DPS flying to A321NEO’s.

It's not as if QF have a huge slack in their A330 fleet. While they may have the block time on the A330 available, crewing them is likely a more significant challenge.

JQ have already shifted a bunch of DPS flying to A321neo from B788. JQ 31 and 35 on MEL-DPS is now A321neo, as is JQ 39 on SYD-DPS.

tullamarine wrote:

Obviously ASP on a Sunday is a poor location for these sorts of things but medical diversions are unavoidable. I am surprised though that QF/JQ doesn't have a contingency plan in all Australian ports to activate in these rare situations to ensure the comfort of passengers such as someone to provide emergency meals of some kind within a few hours.

Why do you think they don't have a contingency plan for this? I think people underestimate how even the best plans can be difficult to implement in remote locations.

The other day there was a great story about some diversions and Qantas got Maccas for everyone onboard because there was no catering available (was it the Newcastle diversion last week or the week before?). Easier said than done in a remote location. There's one Maccas and one Hungry Jacks in Alice Springs. I think you'd be surprised at the response you may get to asking them for food for 330 plus people on a Sunday morning. It's a town of 26k in a phenomenally remote location with difficult supply chains, even 330 extra people can be tough to handle.

evanb wrote:

vhebb wrote:

Jetstar at it again, many cancellations and operational issues.

You would think after nearly 20yrs operating they would be a little more reliable.

What could they have learned in the last 20 years that would have helped them this weekend? Genuine question!

Passenger has heart attack and indication from persons providing assistance on board was to get the plane on the ground as soon as possible. Crew got the aircraft on the ground in 30 minutes. ASP doesn't have permanent customs and immigration. Border Force requires four weeks notice to staff a flight. Emergencies are handled, but Border Force has to make arrangements with NT Police or AFP for flight processing. I imagine these take time on a Sunday morning. And it's not as if either NT Police or AFP have large amounts of resources available at short notice in ASP. Similar challenges for ground handling.

I'm not sure what the alternative is?
* Carry on to an alternative port where these may be available? That's likely Adelaide several hours away.
* Have permanent Border Force? Not something Jetstar could solve, and it would come at considerable cost.
* Could they communicate better? Sure, but crew on board are dealing with limited information in a fluid and dynamic situation. Staff at operations are scrambling and trying to work a fluid and dynamic situation. It's also a Sunday morning and getting action from multiple players from Border Force, to NT Police/AFP, to maintenance, to catering, to ground handling, finding alternate options for passengers including rerouting with other airlines and/or finding a replacement aircraft and crew. Coordinating all of this is challenging, nevermind on a Sunday morning when a bunch of people are not answering their phones. Sometimes communication isn't their priority. Nobody is likely intentionally misleading anyone, but the situation is fluid and dynamic, errors get made under pressure, people misspeak or mishear things, etc.
* Could they have spare B788s waiting around as cover? Sure, but this comes at considerable cost and they're a LCC. Most airlines don't have significant numbers of spare aircraft waiting around, particularly not newer expensive aircraft, or when they don't have a particularly large fleet to spread that cost over.

Yes, some of this was out of JQ's hands but that doesn't excuse the appalling communication which Jetstar seems to excel at. You claim communication is not a priority; it should always be a priority. People can understand and cope with stuff-ups and delays. What they can't stand is being left in the dark. Once again, I feel sorry for the customer facing staff whilst management in Mascot and Melbourne hide behind their computers and either say nothing or management speak gobbledegook. Combining Jetstar's lack of competence in this area with both federal and NT public servants who feel the best way to advance a career is to do nothing was always going to be a balls-up.

You say Jetstar are limited in how they can respond because they are a LCC ignores the often advertised fact that they are part of the Qantas Group. AJ was proudly standing in front of a sign advertising both Qantas and Jetstar during last week's results announcement. QF can't disown them when it suits them and should step in to support, what are after all, their customers.

tullamarine wrote:

Alliance has announced to the ASX that it has entered into an agreement with AerCap to acquire another 30 E190s previously operated in the US. With MESA recently announcing it was ceasing contract flying for AA, it is fair to assume that they will be the source of these aircraft.

Mesa didn’t fly E190s for AA, in fact don’t fly E190s at all, so they’re not the source. YV flew CRJ900s for AA, and they’ve already been re-contracted by UA.

The only airline in the US with 30 E190s is JetBlue.