Jetstar soars as demand for cheap seats, safety grows

[oz_mark]

PASSENGERS are starting to desert Qantas in favour of its budget carrier Jetstar as the economic crisis forces people towards budget carriers and the flying kangaroo tries to repair its battered safety reputation.

Traffic and capacity figures released by Qantas for September show that Qantas domestic pulled 1.2% of its seats out of the market and carried 4.9%, or 217, fewer passengers than in September last year.

Jetstar soars as demand for cheap seats, safety grows | theage.com.au

 

[lovetravellingoz]

And on the JetStar side:

Jetstar carried 224 more domestic passengers, up 12.1% from September last year as it increased capacity by 15.8%.
As it expands its international operations, Jetstar put on 23.4% more seats, and carried 125 more passengers, than in September last year, an increase of 36.5%.

However with the figures for Qantas and JetStar...are there some zeros missing???

I mean if 224 is 12 % more for Sept....that is only about 2000 passengers for all of Sept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :shock:

Ditto for the Qantas figures with 4.9% = 2217 passengers = about 46,000 for a whole month!!!

 

[munitalP]

I'm actually flying Deathstar this month regular on JETFLEX fares Avalon/SYD as frequently as I can. Avalon's about the same distance from home as Tulla, the fares are CHEAP and I am getting 20sc to boot...

I also done Mackay / BNE recently JETFLEX - same deal, 20sc

This is my status credit build up before XMAS quite period. I have promised Mrs! partner gold this year again - funny how she's partner silver this year... went from Bronze to Gold and down to silver, shes only done 4 QF status earning flights in recent history...

Mr!

:mrgreen:

 

[serfty]

... Avalon's about the same distance from home as Tulla, the fares are CHEAP and I am getting 20sc to boot...

Living here in Patto; during off peak times AVV is ~100 minutes away whereas MEL is ~50.

More to the point, AVV have no QP! :eeK:


As an aside, the population centre of the Melbourne urban region is much closer to Moorabbin than the docklands.

 

[Evan]

From Doncaster, Tulla is the only option really. Thats one reason i could never Jet* at AVV, way way to far, unless somebody was driving me.
E

 

[dajop]

Living here in Patto; during off peak times AVV is ~100 minutes away whereas MEL is ~50.

More to the point, AVV have no QP! :eeK:

Serfty, fully understand comment #2. But comment #1 will never understand. From the Bolte Bridge turn off off peak you can more or less get to Geelong in 50 minutes (depending on the run into Geelong, and if there's no roadwork on the bridge). You cannot get to MEL in 0 minutes. I would have thought if MEL is ~50 then AVV would be about 75 mins (about 25 mins longer, it takes me about 40-45 from Bolte turn off). Of course .... it is very rare that the Westgate Freeway could be considered off peak, so you may have a good point!

From Doncaster or anywhere in the north it is much further.

 

[serfty]

From the Bolte Bridge to/from MEL is about 20 minutes.

AVV to Patto is 100Km by the most time efficient route:

• avv to patterson lakes, victoria

MEL to Patto is 71Km:

• mel to patterson lakes, victoria

Now consider a round trip ...

 

[v8Statesman]

From the Bolte Bridge to/from MEL is about 20 minutes.


AVV to Patto is 100Km by the most time efficient route:

• avv to patterson lakes, victoria

MEL to Patto is 71Km:

• mel to patterson lakes, victoria

Now consider a round trip ...

Jetski across the bay with luggage in a doughnut????:mrgreen::shock:

 

[serfty]

... that'll do it ...

Interestingly, it's only 60km as the A320 flies - at cruising it takes about 4½ minutes to traverse that distance across the bay ...

Now if JQ flew out of MBW it would be a different story ...

 

[JohnK]

What do statistics mean?

Is JQs soaring demand due to the wonderful service they provide? Is it the varied selection of scheduled flights per day? Note only 2 flights a day BNE-SYD just after lunch time. Or is it that people are so used to flying that even in these tough times they continue to travel and comfort gives way to price....

 

[oz_mark]

Or is it that people are so used to flying that even in these tough times they continue to travel and comfort gives way to price....

Bingo (IMHO)

 

[draper]

Have you noted that those who fly Jetstar are happy, smiling and generally in good spirits. They have saved, paid for the fare themselves and are off on an adventure.
Qantas suits are generally in a hurry, demand and are critical of services, are on a business paid fare, chase points and status credits, are members of the Qantas Club and strive for upgrades and entry to the 1st lounge. They are not a happy bunch of campers off on an adventure, few smile.
Am personally quite happy flying into and out of Avalon, on time, 1 minute to the car park, paper cup of coffee with a free paper provided by the airport and lots of happy smiling passengers. None of this "look at me; look at me" as I file down the aisle, we are all equal! and off on an adventure.

 

[MelbMan]

Draper I think you're right... Qantas especially domestically seem to have gone out of their way to make travel as unenjoyable as possible and your observations on the corporates is spot on. Those silly Citi Flyer flights where you are crammed in 4 abreast in the middle.. forget it.

One lunch flight I was jammed in the middle of such a row and the woman next door accused me of touching her knee. Now little did she know that on a closer look I'd met her years before at the Preston Market on a 3AW breakfast show with Darren James and Bruce Mansfield (Uncle Roy). We'd both been finalists in a comp that morning for a footrace for a $500 price.
These days she's a lawyer, a suit, a little more famous (occassionally you'll see her name in print) but all those positives to one side perhaps a typical Qantas corporate... strewth you're jammed in their like sardines and truthfully I have no interest in touching any part of her particularly on a lunchtime flight.

Not a big Avalon fan...although have caught the train into town and the bus down there on one occassion and if you're not in a hurry that's a bit of an adventure. Don't mind the terminal at Avalon... big plasma TV going in the background. Internationally Jetstar are ok.

For short haul the boys at Qantas and Jet* have succeeded in having us consumers accept less inclusions but with J* at a lower price.

 

[CaptWalker]

I'm not so sure passengers are deserting Qantas and flocking to Jetstar by choice .. in actual fact, passengers are forced to travel on Jetstar since Qantas has pulled out of resort destinations and Jetstar and Virgin Blue are the only services available. If you want to be kept guessing as to when your flight will depart (if at all) and put up with surly take it or leave it attitude from check in agents, keep flying Jetstar.

 

[SusanS]

I think what these stats are saying is that when there is a need to reduce costs in tough ecomonic times, the trend is to look for the cheapest/quickest way to reduce expenditure. I think there is a perception that by flying J* on an quivalent Q mainline route, then you're going to save $. I'd actually like to see a cost analysis on that, but the perception is that J* is cheaper and therefore one must be saving money. I agree that there may be a safety perception gone wrong here for Q, but then I'd be admitting that Australians are really stupid travellers if I was to believe that one - we need to look at the record to make a rational call on safety, and let's face it, flying isn't 100% safe. Or it could just be that "the new world traveller" - as coined by VB CEO Brett Godfrey, is just a funkier traveller these days and prefers the relaxed travelling experience associated with VB and J*.

Poor old Q, just a bit on the nose at the moment. Interesting times ahead, keep your seatbelt securely fastened and your tray table in the upright position.

 

[anat0l]

I think the happy-go-lucky attitude you may observe is purely a function of the demographics. Indirectly, that is caused by the price.

I really can't see QF using price as a device to instil that demographic of people, and I really don't see how QF can position itself in other means, or whether this would be to its advantage.

All I ask is to get safely from AAA to BBB, with a little bit of comfort, class (not literally) and courtesy. For most part, I tend to find that these criteria are sufficiently satisfied.

I travelled DJ once before. I like their light-hearted attitude, but seriously (no pun intended) you have to use it properly and sparingly - too much of it and you come across as an immature twit. For me, luckily I managed to sleep the entire 2 hour flight.

I'm also glad that whilst travelling QF (at least in AU) you don't often catch the same plane as a rowdy group of football supporters, or a score of kids of which 50% enjoy kicking seats and 50% cry with enough energy to power the cabin lights.

We live in a very capitalist society where shareholder profits come first, often at the expense of creating a more positive working environment and/or delivering service. (I know, I face the same issues with the companies I work with in my job - and no one of those companies is NOT QF...)