I'm currently in the T2 Qantas club, having just arrived from MEL on Ozjet.
Here is some details about my experience. Hope people get something out of my report.
I was booked on the 12:30pm O7 28 flight. Flight was delayed and departed around 1:03pm. Arrived in Sydney at 2:35pm which is 40 minutes after expected arrival.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. It was a mixture of "professionalism" and "still learning". The airline has a lot of potential. I hope they survive and flourish.
The staff are committed. The staff seem to be enjoying what they are doing and want OzJet to succeed. The flight crew are really good.
I'll start from the beginning. This won't be a traditional Trip report, but should still give some good pointers about my trip with OzJet.
Checkin: I checked in around 11:00am. No-one was in the queue so it was very painless. The staff member (only 1 staff member) was friendly and very professional. I was asked "international" type security questions though (Did you pack bag yourself, have you been with your bag, any explosives etc). Good to see they are wanting to have top security.
From what I saw, it looks like several flights were delayed today. Not sure why. I'm sure people can check the various online sites to see the delays and analyse them. Assume it's first day "nerves" and "learnings".
The waiting area at Melbourne is down the left hand side passage after walking down the stairs after checking in. Gate 12 is the gate they use. The area is decorated in "Ozjet" promotions. They have some very nice seating (small tables with relaxing couch like chairs - much like the Qantas Club). There is also some traditional Airport seating.
The aircraft I was due to be on was VH-OZO (Maybe OZQ if my handwriting is bad!). It arrived in Mel soon after 12:30. Only about 6 pax walked off the flight. Took about 30 mins to prepare for the return journey. A CASA representative was hanging around and did a "spot inspection" type activity. Everything was ok though and we departed at 1:03pm.
For those who care, the ground support seems to be carried out by AAES.
I think there was around 6 pax on my flight too. Seemed to be mostly plane spotter types out for the experience. Only 1 or 2 looked like "serious" business people.
The plane inside is interesting. You can see the age of the planes. (Even down to the "female" attendant call button!). The plane was very clean though and all the panels looked to have been heavily cleaned recently so they were very clean. As I said before, you could tell the planes age though. Seats / carpet look brand new. The aisle seated pax will have some fun reaching the Air vent/lights without taking off their seat belt.
The cabin is in 2x2 arrangement. The seats are all leather and seem to be a variant of the ones that Qantas use in 737-800's. The buttons are all the same, so if you've been in J in a 737-800 that is very similar to what it'll be like. I think OzJet does have better seats though than the 737-8's.
I think there is about 40-something cm between the front of the seat and the seat infront. I didn't have a tape measure, so can only guess. It is nearly a metre from the seat infront to the headrest of your seat. Very spacious.
The seat is pretty comfy, and I didn't notice myself "sliding" down the leather. Nor did I have any weird "leather movement" noises.
They use a magazine called "Arrivals & Departures" for their inflight reading. Never seen it before, but apparently you can subscribe to it. Looks like a mix of The Qantas mag and the Amex "Travel & leisure" magazine.
Taxi and Take-off were without drama. The cabin seems a little louder than what I am used to, but it's not overly noticeable.
A few minutes after seat belt sign switched off, the cabin crew came around for bar orders. I asked for a beer and was given a Crown Lager. Not sure what other beers are available. They also seem to have white wine, red wine and sparkling wine.
Sorry to offend the wine aficionados, but I didn't ask what types of wine were loaded. The red was a "Wolf Blass Shiraz 2002". No idea what the others were, but assume they're Foster's wines. Seemed to only have one type of each.
I'm pretty sure lunch was supposed to be served on my flight. But for some reason (maybe the lateness?) that turned into a "refreshment".
Refreshment was a plate of Proscuitto (maybe bacon?) - about 4 slices. With feta cubes, olives, tomato, zucchini etc. Add a bread roll, dessert of "chocolate mousse", coffee, wine and water and that finishes off the refreshment.
The CEO of OzJet was onboard and said hello to all passengers and asked for feedback. The cabin crew did try for some small talk with passengers.
So, overall what was my opinion?
OzJet will be good when it expands to larger routes such as BNE-MEL. SYD-MEL doesn't really benefit from the larger seats etc. They also need to increase their frequency. Every 2 hours is not going to attract the targets that they are after. I think they also need to increase their wine selection. I don't really care, but know that a lot of business types do care about their wines.
Additionally, I think they need some kind of FF scheme tieup. Maybe a lounge.
Add in some more modern planes, and I think they will be successful. Time will tell though.
Here is some details about my experience. Hope people get something out of my report.
I was booked on the 12:30pm O7 28 flight. Flight was delayed and departed around 1:03pm. Arrived in Sydney at 2:35pm which is 40 minutes after expected arrival.
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. It was a mixture of "professionalism" and "still learning". The airline has a lot of potential. I hope they survive and flourish.
The staff are committed. The staff seem to be enjoying what they are doing and want OzJet to succeed. The flight crew are really good.
I'll start from the beginning. This won't be a traditional Trip report, but should still give some good pointers about my trip with OzJet.
Checkin: I checked in around 11:00am. No-one was in the queue so it was very painless. The staff member (only 1 staff member) was friendly and very professional. I was asked "international" type security questions though (Did you pack bag yourself, have you been with your bag, any explosives etc). Good to see they are wanting to have top security.
From what I saw, it looks like several flights were delayed today. Not sure why. I'm sure people can check the various online sites to see the delays and analyse them. Assume it's first day "nerves" and "learnings".
The waiting area at Melbourne is down the left hand side passage after walking down the stairs after checking in. Gate 12 is the gate they use. The area is decorated in "Ozjet" promotions. They have some very nice seating (small tables with relaxing couch like chairs - much like the Qantas Club). There is also some traditional Airport seating.
The aircraft I was due to be on was VH-OZO (Maybe OZQ if my handwriting is bad!). It arrived in Mel soon after 12:30. Only about 6 pax walked off the flight. Took about 30 mins to prepare for the return journey. A CASA representative was hanging around and did a "spot inspection" type activity. Everything was ok though and we departed at 1:03pm.
For those who care, the ground support seems to be carried out by AAES.
I think there was around 6 pax on my flight too. Seemed to be mostly plane spotter types out for the experience. Only 1 or 2 looked like "serious" business people.
The plane inside is interesting. You can see the age of the planes. (Even down to the "female" attendant call button!). The plane was very clean though and all the panels looked to have been heavily cleaned recently so they were very clean. As I said before, you could tell the planes age though. Seats / carpet look brand new. The aisle seated pax will have some fun reaching the Air vent/lights without taking off their seat belt.
The cabin is in 2x2 arrangement. The seats are all leather and seem to be a variant of the ones that Qantas use in 737-800's. The buttons are all the same, so if you've been in J in a 737-800 that is very similar to what it'll be like. I think OzJet does have better seats though than the 737-8's.
I think there is about 40-something cm between the front of the seat and the seat infront. I didn't have a tape measure, so can only guess. It is nearly a metre from the seat infront to the headrest of your seat. Very spacious.
The seat is pretty comfy, and I didn't notice myself "sliding" down the leather. Nor did I have any weird "leather movement" noises.
They use a magazine called "Arrivals & Departures" for their inflight reading. Never seen it before, but apparently you can subscribe to it. Looks like a mix of The Qantas mag and the Amex "Travel & leisure" magazine.
Taxi and Take-off were without drama. The cabin seems a little louder than what I am used to, but it's not overly noticeable.
A few minutes after seat belt sign switched off, the cabin crew came around for bar orders. I asked for a beer and was given a Crown Lager. Not sure what other beers are available. They also seem to have white wine, red wine and sparkling wine.
Sorry to offend the wine aficionados, but I didn't ask what types of wine were loaded. The red was a "Wolf Blass Shiraz 2002". No idea what the others were, but assume they're Foster's wines. Seemed to only have one type of each.
I'm pretty sure lunch was supposed to be served on my flight. But for some reason (maybe the lateness?) that turned into a "refreshment".
Refreshment was a plate of Proscuitto (maybe bacon?) - about 4 slices. With feta cubes, olives, tomato, zucchini etc. Add a bread roll, dessert of "chocolate mousse", coffee, wine and water and that finishes off the refreshment.
The CEO of OzJet was onboard and said hello to all passengers and asked for feedback. The cabin crew did try for some small talk with passengers.
So, overall what was my opinion?
OzJet will be good when it expands to larger routes such as BNE-MEL. SYD-MEL doesn't really benefit from the larger seats etc. They also need to increase their frequency. Every 2 hours is not going to attract the targets that they are after. I think they also need to increase their wine selection. I don't really care, but know that a lot of business types do care about their wines.
Additionally, I think they need some kind of FF scheme tieup. Maybe a lounge.
Add in some more modern planes, and I think they will be successful. Time will tell though.