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Welcome to Guardian Australia’s Sunday live blog.
The Jetstar Airbus A320 planes that were recalled yesterday (leading to more than 90 domestic flights being cancelled) have all received the necessary software update and services have resumed as normal this morning.
Continue reading...Experts say lack of competition in Australia’s airline market is a likely factor behind prevalence of delays
More than one in four flights operated by major Australian airlines in 2024 arrived at their destinations late, with local punctuality rates lagging significantly behind average carriers in comparable countries.
Experts say a lack of competition in Australia’s airline market is a likely factor behind the prevalence of delays, and that the Albanese government missed a golden opportunity to nudge local carriers into performing better when it decided to omit a cash compensation scheme for delayed and cancelled flights from its landmark aviation reforms.
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Continue reading...Just hours after opinion appears in AFR, shadow minister clarifies divestiture as ‘one of the various tools the treasurer needs to look at’ but not Coalition policy
The shadow transport minister, Bridget McKenzie, was forced to clarify the Coalition does not support breaking up Qantas just hours after floating the possibility of forced divestiture powers in the aviation sector.
McKenzie warned the competition watchdog’s review of the aviation sector “will be a failure if it does not address the role of divestiture” in an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review on Monday.
Continue reading...Employees reportedly told the airline will no longer operate flights between capital cities
As many as 360 staff at Rex Airlines have been sacked already and hundreds more are on the chopping block after administrators were called in to run the embattled carrier, with remaining staff told they may not get paid until a new buyer is found.
It comes amid speculation that Asia-based private equity firm PAG, which funded Rex’s $150m expansion to jet operations, was considering becoming the airline’s new owner out of administration.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Companies say a compensation scheme like the EU’s would drive up air fares in Australia
Australian airlines are pushing back against calls for new laws that would force them to pay cash compensation to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled, with claims it would force carriers to preemptively raise air fares to fund payouts.
The resistance follows the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, consumer advocate Choice and the Australian Lawyers Alliance all separately raising the prospect of a compensation scheme to rein in airlines arbitrarily changing their schedules, as the government considers its aviation white paper.
Continue reading...Choice says flight credits should work like gift cards with customers able to split them over a number of transactions
Qantas and Jetstar are being criticised for an “unfair” Covid credit scheme, despite extending the deadline for customers to use the credits by 12 months.
The airlines announced on Thursday they were giving customers an additional 12 months to use their Covid credits, carry-overs from the extensive cancellations and border closures that came during the pandemic.
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Continue reading...Footage posted to social media showed passengers disembarking via emergency slides and walking across tarmac
A Jetstar flight has been forced to make an emergency landing in central Japan after receiving a bomb threat, according to local media.
The aircraft was reportedly travelling from Narita airport near Tokyo to Fukuoka on Saturday, when it was forced to divert to Aichi prefecture, public broadcaster NHK said.
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Continue reading...Being carried across the gap between the air bridge and the plane risked his, his wife’s and airline staffs’ safety, says passenger
An Australian man has said he was made to feel like a “second-class citizen” by being lifted on to a Jetstar flight in Darwin, as disability advocates call for a complete overhaul of the way airlines treat passengers.
Brad Wszola, 50, suffered a spinal cord injury in 2016. He uses a wheelchair, but was not able to navigate the gap between the air bridge and the plane when boarding a Jetstar flight from Darwin to Cairns on 12 August.
Continue reading...Travellers in Bali have run out of medication and been offered tortuous routes home
Mass flight cancellations have left 4,000 Jetstar passengers stranded or forced to cancel trips, with the carrier only able to offer flights a week later in many cases.
Many have reported being left in Bali well beyond their planned return date without access to medication, or being forced to lose wages because they could not return home in time to work.
Continue reading...Multiple airlines experience delays due to crew absences while Qantas technical glitch left passengers waiting for hours
Widespread flight cancellations across multiple airlines have frustrated travellers at Sydney and Melbourne airports on Monday, as the industry grapples with staffing shortages as well as a technology glitch that affected Qantas flights on Sunday.
Across Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Rex, 23 domestic flights were cancelled out of Sydney airport on Monday.
Continue reading...Frontline staff must be inoculated by 15 November, with remainder of staff given until 31 March
Qantas will require all of its employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as debate about mandatory vaccination in Australian workplaces intensifies.
By 15 November, all frontline employees, including cabin crew, pilots and airport workers, will need to be fully vaccinated. All remaining employees will have until 31 March 2022 to get vaccinated.
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