Jetstar fined $2 million for misleading customers

JETSTAR B787-8 VH-VKD (CN 36229)          File Photo

Jetstar has defended its record after a $2 million fine for misleading customers about their entitlements to refunds for some delayed or cancelled flights was formalised in court. The Federal Court found Jetstar made “false or misleading representations” about customers’ rights, in breach of Australian consumer law, between April 2017 and March 2018. A spokesperson for the Qantas-owned airline said it had acted in conjunction with the consumer watchdog, and had reviewed its compliance programs, websites and booking systems. “We take our obligations under Australian consumer law seriously and it was never our intention to mislead customers about the circumstances in which they could claim refunds,” he said. “We worked closely with the ACCC during its review and in July last year made changes to our website and our conditions of carriage, to make sure it’s clear when customers are eligible for a refund.” Jetstar has also has indicated it will offer refunds to customers affected by the misleading statements during the relevant period. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in its findings said Jetstar had declared “some fares were not refundable”, and in some instances, refunds would be offered only if passengers bought a more expensive fare.  It also suggested consumer guarantees under Australian law did not apply to its flight services. The Federal Court has formalised the order for Jetstar to pay $1.95 million in penalties. ACCC chair Rod Sims said the Federal Court’s decision was a warning to other airlines of future legal action and multimillion-dollar payouts, if they committed similar breaches. “Jetstar’s representations were false or misleading because all flights come with automatic consumer guarantees that cannot be excluded, restricted or modified, no matter how cheap the fare,” Mr Sims said. “If a flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, passengers may be entitled to a refund under the consumer guarantees.

Businesses simply cannot make blanket ‘no refunds’ statements, because they can mislead consumers into thinking they can never get a refund under any circumstances.”

The ACCC flagged the hefty fine late in 2018, when it said Jetstar had agreed to the penalty, following a crackdown. At the time, Jetstar and its competitors – Tigerair, Qantas and Virgin Australia – all agreed in court-enforceable undertakings to review their refund policies, compliance programs, websites and booking systems in response to ACCC concerns that each had made false or misleading representations about consumer rights.




Story sourced from here
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/05/30/jetstar-fine-budget-airline-refunds/

A few from my backyard

Since we live only 4.5 nautical miles from Archerfield Airport (ACF/YBAF) we often get light aircraft flying over the top of home. Archerfield is also a way point (GLENN) for inbound commercial aircraft into Brisbane so they either fly very close to home or they fly right over the top of our house. Below are some photos taken throughout the day. 

SINGAPORE AIRLINES B777-312 9V-SWU (CN 42235)

OVER FLYING BRISBANE YESTERDAY
SINGAPORE - AUCKLAND

CESSNA 172 VH-DNV (CN 172S8945)

CIRRUS SR22 VH-FOJ (CN 3553)

QANTAS B737-838 VH-VXD (CN 29552)



VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YFN (CN 41009)







CESSNA 172 VH-LFV (CN 17272795)

 BOEING 737-838 VH-VXK  (CN 33481)


VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING737-8FE VH-VUD (CN 34015)





Air New Zealand to announce long-range Boeing 787

AIR NEW ZEALAND B787-9 ZK-NZE (CN 34334)           File Photo

Air New Zealand is expected to buy new extended-range Boeing 787 Dreamliners as the Kiwi carrier maps out its next-generation fleet and eyes non-stop flights from Auckland to New York. It is expected that Air New Zealand CEO Chris Luxon will announce the multi-billion dollar order tomorrow ( Monday 27th May). The Dreamliners will replace eight older Boeing 777-200s as well as carve out new routes, which could include a direct Auckland-New York marathon. The Airbus A350 was also a contender, although Air New Zealand’s long-range fleet is an all-Boeing affair and the Star Alliance member was notably the first airline to fly the Boeing 787-9, so the decision to sign on Boeing’s dotted line will hold little surprise. (Their first 787-9 was ZK-NZE 34334 delivered on the 10th July 2014). It’s believed that Air New Zealand shied way from the advanced Boeing 777X – which has yet to make its first test flight, ahead of deliveries from 2020 – in favour of an improved version of the Dreamliner, which the airline has flown since 2014. Approached by Australian Business Traveller, a spokesman for Boeing declined to comment. Air New Zealand did not respond to a request for comment. The new NZ Dreamliners are said to have been tweaked by Boeing to further boost their range. There is also speculation they may have a more ‘premium-heavy’ seating layout than the current Boeing 787-9s, with a skew towards business class and premium economy. This could reduce the overall passenger count (while retaining the higher-priced seats) in order to eke out extra range, similar to what Qantas has done with its Boeing 787-9 which flies non-stop between Perth and London. 

AIR NEW ZEALAND B787-9 ZK-NZI (CN 37965)             File Photo

The long-legged Dreamliners will continue to eschew first class in favour of an all-new business class seat being developed at a secure workshop dubbed ‘Hangar 22’, located near the airline’s Auckland headquarters. The new Business Premier seat, along with fresh takes on premium economy and economy, has been tested by groups of Air NZ passengers, including many who regular fly the airline’s longest routes. Although all participants were required to sign non-disclosure agreements, one traveller – who holds Elite status in airline’s Airpoints loyalty scheme and flies to the US on a monthly basis – has praised the seat.  “This is the seat I’ve been waiting for,” he told Australian Business Traveller, speaking under the condition of anonymity due to his ‘high-value passenger’ status with the airliner. “It’s a catch-up to the top rung of international airlines. There’s more space and more privacy, and are few small but clever touches done in an NZ way.”  “Not everybody’s going to love everything about it, but I think most business travellers will see this as NZ stepping from the 2000s into the 2020s.”  Air New Zealand is also planning to roll out an upgrade to the business class seat aboard its Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 jets, with the ‘enhanced’ seats being refreshed from late 2019 through to the end of 2020.  CEO Luxon has described the refresh’s scope as involving “enhancements to the existing award-winning seat as well as a new food, beverage and service offering that reflects the essence of who we are as a nation.”

Story sourced from here with additions

https://www.ausbt.com.au/air-new-zealand-to-announce-long-range-boeing-787-jet-order-on-may-27

Happy 15th Birthday Jetstar

Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, trading as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas. In 2001 QANTAS bought out Newcastle based Impulse Airlines and began operating its fleet of Boeing 717-200 aircraft under the QANTAS Link banner. On 1st December 2003 QANTAS announced the decision to launch a low-cost carrier called "Jetstar" to take on the rapidly expanding Virgin Blue and decided to use the Impulse AOC to speed up the launch. At the official launch of the new carrier QANTAS announced they have placed an order for 23 Airbus A320s. With headquarters at Avalon airport Jetstar began services on 25th May 2004 using Boeing 717-200 from the Impulse fleet. Fifteen years ago today a Boeing 717-231 VH-VQI (CN 55095) touched down in Melbourne from Newcastle as JQ371. Airbus A320 services were launched later that year. On the 1st December 2005, Jetstar commenced operations from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to Christchurch in New Zealand. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that Jetstar would establish the world's first global low-cost airline. At the end of 2005, it was announced that Jetstar would fly to Perth, from Avalon Airport. 

In June 2015, Jetstar announced that it would commence regional services in New Zealand, beginning in December that same year. The new services would be flown by five turboprop Bombardier Dash 8s operated by Eastern Australia Airlines, one of Qantas' subsidiary regional airlines, under the Jetstar brand. At least four new destinations would be served initially, with Hamilton, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Napier, Palmerston North, Nelson and Invercargill named as the cities under consideration. On 31 August 2015, Jetstar announced it had selected the first four regional centres it would serve at the commencement of operations on the 1st December; these were Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth and Palmerston North. All four cities have services to Auckland; Nelson also has services to Wellington.

JETSTAR DASH 8 Q300 VH-TQD (CN 598)

JETSTAR DASH 8 Q300 VH-TQK (CN 600)

Jetstar has had different aircraft and many different liveries; below are some of the images I have taken over the years.

JETSTAR B717-231 VH-VQJ (CN 55096) BUDGET LIVERY

JETSTAR B717-231 VH-YQH (CN 55096) DOMINOS PIZZA LIVERY

THIS AIRCRAFT WAS PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED AS VH-VQJ

AS SEEN ABOVE; IT IS NOW CURRENTLY REGISTERED AS VH-NXN

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-JQX (CN 2197)

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGP (CN 4343)

CELEBRATING "POWDERFINDERS" AUSTRALIAN TOUR

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGZ (CN 3917) QUICKSILVER LIVERY

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQH (CN 55094)

CELEBRATING OUR AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM

THE KANGAROOS

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQQ (CN 2573) SEA WORLD LIVERY

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQP (CN 2573) GOLD COAST "TITANS"

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VFL (CN 5489)

"HELPING LITTLE ATHS REACH FOR THE STARS"

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VGF (CN 4497)

BRIGHT ORANGE TO CELEBRATE THIER 10th BIRTHDAY

JETSTAR A320-232 VH-VQK (CN 2651)

SPORTING THE LAUNCESTON AIRPORT LIVERY

JETSTAR A330-202 VH-EBC (CN 506) PAINTED WHITE

THIS AIRCRAFT HAS NOW RETURNED TO QANTAS

JETSTAR A330-202 VH-EBD (CN 513)

JETSTAR B787-800 VH-VKG (CN 36232)

As of August 2018 the Jetstar Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Jetstar Airways fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers			Notes
			J	Y	Total
Airbus A320-200	52	—	—	180	180
Airbus A320neo	—		—	186	186
Airbus A321-200	8	—	—	220	220
			—	230	230
Airbus A321neo	—		—	232	232
Airbus A321LR	—	18				Deliveries from mid-2020
Boeing 787-8	11	—	21	314	335
Total	71