Article: OzJet cuts flights, old planes playing up

[MrPC]

I was booked on O7 on Xmas Day MEL-SYD, $249 fare. They cancelled all flights on Xmas day and I got bumped to QF Business Class on a $568 fare (and I just got Qantas to link that leg to my QFF number so I can do quick check in & such). Swish

Though I'm still keen to fly on an OzJet 737-200 at least once, hopefully they won't cancel the return flight on the following Friday night, or can bump me to an earlier O7 flight.

 

[Mal]

I was booked on O7 on Xmas Day MEL-SYD, $249 fare. They cancelled all flights on Xmas day and I got bumped to QF Business Class on a $568 fare (and I just got Qantas to link that leg to my QFF number so I can do quick check in & such). Swish

Nice!

Would be interesting to see if you get the S/C's and Points....

Poor OzJet. I wish I heard lots of good news about them. I really want them to be prosperous. I want them to challenge QF on multiple sectors and to give Australia a real Business airline choice...

 

[Dave Noble]

Poor OzJet. I wish I heard lots of good news about them. I really want them to be prosperous. I want them to challenge QF on multiple sectors and to give Australia a real Business airline choice...

I have travelled twice on them and both my experiences are good and would recommend trying them out

Dave

 

[QF WP]

Ozjet's troubled first month in the skies continued yesterday when the airline cancelled more flights between Sydney and Melbourne...

 

[Yada Yada]

Ozjet's troubled first month in the skies continued yesterday when the airline cancelled more flights between Sydney and Melbourne...

...I hope they start to hit some runs soon. It seems to be one bad story after another at present.

 

[dajop]

I guess the number of planes Ozjet has magnifies the impact of cancelled flights, as well of the newness of the airline. But you could probably fill a few pages a week with similar stories every time QF, DJ & JQ cancelled flights.

I guess SMH & Fairfax have to keep one of their biggest customers happy. :wink:

 

[QF WP]

OzJet has six months to prove its viability and slow business over the holiday period will not affect financial projections, according to founder Paul Stoddart...

 

[Yada Yada]

OzJet has six months to prove its viability and slow business over the holiday period will not affect financial projections, according to founder Paul Stoddart...

And if QF have any industrial action in January as a result of their efforts to cut maintenance costs, I guess O7 may suddenly find demand increasing!

 

[MrPC]

I was booked on O7 on Xmas Day MEL-SYD, $249 fare. They cancelled all flights on Xmas day and I got bumped to QF Business Class on a $568 fare (and I just got Qantas to link that leg to my QFF number so I can do quick check in & such). Swish

Nice!

Would be interesting to see if you get the S/C's and Points....

Date Description Base points Cabin bonus Status bonus Total points Status credits
24 DEC 05 QF 458 BUSINESS 24DEC05 MELBOURNE/SYDNEY 439 110 - 1,250 40

I misused the fully flexible nature of the QF ticket they booked for me to get onto a Dec 24 flight (after work, when O7 also wasn't flying)

 

[MrPC]

I'm in the boarding lounge (Sydney T2 39) just now (on Vodafone 3G) for a 1830hrs departure. That's 20 mins away. There are seven other people here, a few of whom are probably just watching the TV in this lounge while waiting for other flights. Or it could just be that the check in counter lady was right when she said there were half a dozen people booked on this flight.

However, apparently the flight coming into Sydney this afternoon (there were only two flights scheduled today) was fairly well loaded, so it's not -all- bad news.

I've scored seat 8A - not that there was much competition for exit row seating.

 

[markis10]

I would think OzJet are really just going through a "soft launch" given that their main market is not really there for a few more weeks. Selling one seat per flight during times like this is a considerable win given the circumstances, after all VFR traffic that fills the planes at this time of the year is extremely price sensitive.

 

[kevinwong]

need more aircraft?

I cannot see why they would have an 11:00 and 11:30 on a saturday , but the weekday schedules do give hourly service in the rush hours rather than the 2 hourly service throughout the day

Dave

probably more a positioning requirements following the 20:30 SYD-MEL, and that aircraft operates the 9am MEL-SYD on Sat. So the aircraft does not get into SYD in time to operate anything earlier than 11am departure.

Wouldn't that suggest they need more aircraft then, two concurrent planes at least on weekends? But I don't think the 20:30 Syd-Mlb and 9am Mlb-Syd is the same plane as 11am Syd-Mlb because they need time to refuel, safety checks (i hope at least they do that), and time taxiing between flights.

I would think an average traveller would want to get to the other city in the morning to enjoy the rest of the day, not at 1pm in Sydney and have wasted half the day. Maybe they should have earlier flights - say 8am and 10am Melbourne and Sydney.

 

[Dave Noble]

Re: need more aircraft?

Wouldn't that suggest they need more aircraft then, two concurrent planes at least on weekends? But I don't think the 20:30 Syd-Mlb and 9am Mlb-Syd is the same plane as 11am Syd-Mlb because they need time to refuel, safety checks (i hope at least they do that), and time taxiing between flights.

Well, I am v surprised that they are now flying to Florida from Sydney using 732s .. The 9am MEL-SYD is due to arrive at 10:25. This leaves 35 minutes for the turnaround which is quite realistic. I am pretty certain it will be the same aircraft

Dave

 

[oz_mark]

Re: need more aircraft?

Wouldn't that suggest they need more aircraft then, two concurrent planes at least on weekends? But I don't think the 20:30 Syd-Mlb and 9am Mlb-Syd is the same plane as 11am Syd-Mlb because they need time to refuel, safety checks (i hope at least they do that), and time taxiing between flights.

Well, I am v surprised that they are now flying to Florida from Sydney using 732s .. The 9am MEL-SYD is due to arrive at 10:25. This leaves 35 minutes for the turnaround which is quite realistic. I am pretty certain it will be the same aircraft

Dave

I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't want to fly from Florida to Sydney in a 732. Presumably, if it all works out for OzJet they will have more aircraft lined up.

 

[straitman]

Re: need more aircraft?

Wouldn't that suggest they need more aircraft then, two concurrent planes at least on weekends? But I don't think the 20:30 Syd-Mlb and 9am Mlb-Syd is the same plane as 11am Syd-Mlb because they need time to refuel, safety checks (i hope at least they do that), and time taxiing between flights.

Well, I am v surprised that they are now flying to Florida from Sydney using 732s .. The 9am MEL-SYD is due to arrive at 10:25. This leaves 35 minutes for the turnaround which is quite realistic. I am pretty certain it will be the same aircraft

Dave

I'm pretty certain that I wouldn't want to fly from Florida to Sydney in a 732. Presumably, if it all works out for OzJet they will have more aircraft lined up.

Stop picking on the poor guy :!:

 

[oz_mark]

MIght not be that crazy. I have a feeling Britannia airways used to use 737's from Perth to London. I've just checked and they seem to have been using 767's lately.

 

[Mal]

I came across this link while browsing tonight:

http://www.webjet.com.au/S_framesets/TSA_cashback_ozjet.asp

"Book any OzFest, OzBiz or OzFlex fare with Webjet flying between Melbourne and Sydney (in either direction) between 15 December and midnight 07 January 2006 and you’ll get a $50 cash back each way thanks to Webjet.

That's a whopping $100 Cash Back on a return flight between Melbourne and Sydney.

All travel must be completed by 31 March 2006.
#"

Might come in handy for anyone who books... (Remember of course that Webjet does charge a booking fee of somewhere around $20 for the return journey, and there are probably change fees in addition to any OzJet ones...)