Chilling out on Jetstar: cash grab or coincidence?
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Flying Jetstar? Pack a pashima, one of those highly compressible, super-warm lightweight shawls you can smuggle into your free carry-on allowance. And don’t forget to fold your double breasted USSR style Siberia-rated winter coat over your arm, that’s legal too, and maybe the odd balaclava or beanie for the kids. Because if the following complaint is indicative of what’s happening on long-haul Jetstar flights, they may try and freeze the loose change out of your pockets. A Crikey reader writes:
A spokesperson for Jetstar, Simon Westaway, fiercely rejected the implication that it was chilling out its passengers for cash. “There is no relationship between cabin temperature and selling blankets,” he said. “We don’t even carry enough blankets for every passenger to buy. Merchandise is load limited. Meals, drinks and video players gets priority in that regard. “This is just one of those things people say on social media. Our cabins are not, repeat not, deliberately kept cool to inspire sales of comfort packs.” That being so, the cabin temperature on all jet airliners seen in Australia can be varied by at least 5C above or below the usual nominal setting of 18-20C. Those temperature controls that are accessible by cabin crew can also be set differently in several zones along the length of the airliner’s interior, and there is some ability to further modify them in the event of a malfunction using controls in the cockpits of some jets. Jetstar is believed to be the only long-haul airline serving Australia that doesn’t normally carry at least one blanket per seat, although shortages of blankets on any airline are not unknown. It is also appears to hold the world record for charging for blankets, with US carriers, who began introducing similar comfort packs in the last year charging $US7. The best advice is to save the $15 for sustenance, assuming the carrier remembers to load the food, and carry items that efficiently conserve heat around the neck and head in particular and can be easily removed and stuffed in a carry on bag when the doors are popped at Phuket or Honolulu. Caution: Wearing a roll down balaclava while perusing the duty free shops or talking to border officials may lead to misunderstandings. |
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9 Comments
Did Simon Westaway really say “This is just one of those things people say on social media” ? And by that does Simon mean that the “thing” being said by the people is perhaps ‘The truth’?
Thanking the heavens I’m not flying Qantas or Jetstar anytime soon, what with the code share Qantas /Air France over heating ‘thing’ and now the Jetstar fridge ‘thing’ . I’d have no idea what to wear inside the Qantas cabin these days…
The chance of stumbling across comments like this, is what makes your column essential reading Ben.
Still mopping up coffee from the keyboard.
Slowly and surely Australians are waking up to the fact that JetStar and its parent Qantas are second rate (JetStar probably worse) airlines. Their pursuit of profit at the expense of their customers is obvious. Thankfully there is an abundance of choice for International travel.
I can’t believe how crap JetStar is, and the fact it’s making money. Due to a marital screwup (yes I’m blaming my partner for this) we travelled JetStar to Phuket a few weeks ago. It’s put me off flying for a very long time. The staff are rude and useless, you pay huge amounts of money for EVERYTHING - blanket, water, food (try $10 for a cold meat pie). In fact, they reduce you to the point where you’re getting upset that they’ve run out of cold meat pies for which you had $10 all ready to go in your hot little hand! It’s like some weird experiment in how to break people down until they’re grateful for the tiny bottle of water they’re given during the flight. AND you don’t even earn Qantas frequent flyer points for all that suffering. Complete crap.
I will only travelJetstar if there is no alternative. Their TV advertising makes me want to puke. If I want to be abused or feel unloved and treated with disdain I can drive in traffic, I do not have to pay for the privilege. As alternative I can travel on public transport for a small fee. I can only assume that Jetstar has been created for Qantas to provide an even lower benchmark for its own mediocre service standards. Notwithstanding being fully owned by Qantas, you can’t even use the JetStar Lounge at Coolangatta without paying extra for the privilege even if you are a Qantas frequent flyer and have a Qantas club lounge membership. They are really dumbing down the system.
I have had a similar experience travelling on a Virgin Blue flight from Melbourne to Perth, but my request for a blanket met with the answer that none were available.
As this about 2 years ago, there may now be blankets available.
A passenger fainted on an overseas flight, due to the failure of the airconditioning when boarding fo r departure from Hong Kong.
We had to disembark, but were not provided with any water to prevent dehydration before reboarding an hour or so later.
Lucky for me, I was upgraded for volunteering my nursing skills.
While it may be true, as the Jetstar spin-doctor says , that it’s not Jetstar policy to have cold aircraft cabins, it has to be understood but crew can control cabin temperature. Now, I wonder if Jetstar staff receive a commission on all in-flight sales? A cynical view? Yes, but ask any Flight Attendant for a run-down of things that happen on board that aren’t in their manuals!
While it may be true, as the Jetstar spin-doctor says , that it’s not Jetstar policy to have cold aircraft cabins, it has to be understood that crew can control cabin temperature. Now, I wonder if Jetstar staff receive a commission on all in-flight sales? A cynical view? Yes, but ask any Flight Attendant for a run-down of things that happen on board that aren’t in their manuals!
Did any of these passengers who were too cold ask the crew to turn up the temperature?