Jetgo in a bit of trouble?

[farmboy]

Didn't Rex have an argument with Dubbo council about security screening fees or some such?

Yes they did. Under aviation rules, Rex planes were under the size that required screening. No issue there. But Qantas, who compete with Rex at Dubbo, saw a shrewd opportunity. So Qantas announced with much fanfare that they would introduce an occasional flight in to Dubbo of a larger aircraft of the size that legally required screening. This forced the Dubbo Council to introduce screening for all aircraft, including the Rex planes that did NOT legally require screening. Rex understandably objected to this imposition and took the Council to Court. They lost the case, but the idea that your competitor can force up your costs by taking unilateral action, left a nasty taste. It opened a Pandoras box.

 

[gaz0303]

Didn't Rex have an argument with Dubbo council about security screening fees or some such?

1st link on top menu of the rex homepage. Looks like the issue is still ongoing.

 

[gazzax2]

Yes they did. Under aviation rules, Rex planes were under the size that required screening. No issue there. But Qantas, who compete with Rex at Dubbo, saw a shrewd opportunity. So Qantas announced with much fanfare that they would introduce an occasional flight in to Dubbo of a larger aircraft of the size that legally required screening. This forced the Dubbo Council to introduce screening for all aircraft, including the Rex planes that did NOT legally require screening. Rex understandably objected to this imposition and took the Council to Court. They lost the case, but the idea that your competitor can force up your costs by taking unilateral action, left a nasty taste. It opened a Pandoras box.

That's sad. The only winner is Dubbo council.

 

[henrus]

To anyone who had a Jetgo ticket between 1-30 June, what have you done?

If you called Virgin or Qantas what did they offer?

 

[jb747]

I wouldn't be surprised if they'd come to the realisation that they were never going to get their money some time ago. What they have done is saved some people from buying worthless tickets.

 

[mannej]

To anyone who had a rex ticket between 1-30 June, what have you done?

If you called Virgin or Qantas what did they offer?

Don’t you mean Jetgo?

 

[henrus]

Don’t you mean Jetgo?

Haha yeh. Was thinking about rex when I wrote that having just read the comments above. Should make a bit more sense now.

 

[TripleB]

I wouldn't be surprised if they'd come to the realisation that they were never going to get their money some time ago. What they have done is saved some people from buying worthless tickets.

Indeed.

The fact that a business of this size and scale can't juggle their cashflow over the course of 3 weeks to find $250k to make this most pressing problem go away suggests that they had serious issues. You have to wonder whether they were insolvent quite some time ago ... in which case you wouldn't want to be a director and be personally liable for the debts incurred in the period between when the company actually became insolvent and when the administrators were appointed.

 

[farmboy]

Haha yeh. Was thinking about rex when I wrote that having just read the comments above. Should make a bit more sense now.

A lot of people make the mistake of assuming Rex is an insignificant little airline that just survives. The reality is vey different. It is a very efficiently run airline that makes consistent profits, pays dividends, and owns its aircraft. Also many people would be surprised to know that its largest shareholders and management is Singaporian. They are not going anywhere, much to the chagrin of Qantas.

 

[farmboy]

A lot of people make the mistake of assuming Rex is an insignificant little airline that just survives. The reality is vey different. It is a very efficiently run airline that makes consistent profits, pays dividends, and owns its aircraft. Also many people would be surprised to know that its largest shareholders and management is Singaporian. They are not going anywhere, much to the chagrin of Qantas.

Also, rumours of the death of Jetgo may be premature. They have not gone out of business yet.

 

[BAM1748]

Also, rumours of the death of Jetgo may be premature. They have not gone out of business yet.

Once they cease scheduled services and not been able to refund the tickets the public has lost confidence. One guesses mining charters are still going as contracts in place and stopping those mean instant failure. Be interesting To see how the fuel bills are getting paid.

No public confidence and They are dead in the water, just waiting for the liquidator to strip things away.

 

[farmboy]

VA and QF to the rescue:
https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/bookings/flight-status/travel-alerts/
Travel updates | Qantas AU

Not so fast! I doubt if Virgin will be picking up the ex Jetgo passengers in Melbourne who were booked on the one hour flight to Dubbo, or Brisbane.

Jetgo have been flying people to and from Brisbane and Melbourne on a one hour flight for about three years.

 

[Catweazle]

A real pity, as I was keen to fly them in the coming weeks between MEL and BNE, even with the added stop in WOL.

Last I saw, they had some really competitive airfares that looked better than most of the other airlines at the time.

 

[Hvr]

JetGo has gone.

JetGo forced to liquidate as Dubbo council wins Supreme Court case Regional airline JetGo will be liquidated after a western New South Wales council was successful in its application in the Supreme Court today to wind up the company.

 

[RB]

A different newspaper report that also paints a sad picture
JetGo operations wound-up following Supreme Court ruling | The Northern Daily Leader

 

[TripleB]

A different newspaper report that also paints a sad picture
JetGo operations wound-up following Supreme Court ruling | The Northern Daily Leader

I'm surprised that Karratha Council is the hole for $800k worth of advanced subsidies. That's a lot of money. Guess that quantum of advance subsidy goes some way to explaining the KTA-SIN route nobody could really get their head around when it was announced.

 

[jb747]

If it were commercially viable, one of the airlines would have taken it up ages ago. The same sort of story is playing out at Busselton.

 

[Mattg]

Fly Corporate is taking over some of the Dubbo services.

Dubbo – Brisbane eff 07AUG18 6 weekly (Schedule effective until 27SEP18)
FC994 DBO1035 – 1215BNE SF3 x67
FC994 DBO1550 – 1730BNE SF3 7

FC991 BNE0810 – 1000DBO SF3 x67
FC991 BNE1325 – 1515DBO SF3 7

Dubbo – Melbourne Essendon eff 28SEP18 2 weekly (Schedule below effective 07OCT18)
FC992 DBO1135 – 1330MEB SF3 57
FC993 MEB1405 – 1550DBO SF3 57

Fly Corporate adds Dubbo service from August 2018

 

[seanpodge]

I wouldn't be surprised if they'd come to the realisation that they were never going to get their money some time ago. What they have done is saved some people from buying worthless tickets.

Very true. Remember that Dubbo Council is a publicly elected body, the members of which might not find themselves very popular with voters if it seemed that they were helping JetGo pretend to their customers that their already paid for tickets were more secure and reliable than reality would suggest, let alone the council potentially throwing money down the toilet on subsidies for an airline that was doomed. Once it was clear that JetGo couldn't be saved, Dubbo Council were right to finish them off.

 

[Catweazle]

Last time I visited their website there was only a single webpage outlining the liquidation situation.

But now, there is a JetGo website online. Are they up in the air again? I can't find any recent news articles through Google regarding this.

That said, if I try to continue through to a booking page, my computer's web browser gives me an error message about secruity certificates or some such technical mumbo jumbo that I really don't quite understand.