Most travellers would have been surprised by the announcement that Jetstar Asia and Valuair are starting to codeshare with Qantas, because they would have assumed they always had, writes Ben Sandilands.
Jetstar
Jetstar … are you being served? Well, yes, but only sometimes
Passengers flying economy who make connections from full-service airlines to Jetstar will continue on “selected” flights to get meals and the same free baggage allowance as they took for granted on their non-Jetstar flights.
aviation industry 
Jetstar has an ‘O’Leary moment’ in China
Jetstar have announced low fare flights between Singapore and Hangzhou (Shanghai) from March 22, which is as misleading as an infamous claim about flights to Germany by Ryanair CEO, Michael O’Leary, reports Ben Sandilands.
New ACCC powers could make Tiger change its stripes
The ACCC now appears to have consumer law powers that could force Tiger and Jetstar to abandon some of their obnoxious practices such as taking months to refund fares for cancelled flights, writes Ben Sandilands.
aviation industry 11 predictions for air travel in 2011
What will the future of air travel hold for 2011? Aviation reporter Ben Sandilands peers into the sky blue crystal ball.
Weight watchers’ alert … Qantas, Jetstar investigated for over-loaded jets
Qantas and Jetstar are being investigated by the ATSB for two incidents in which international jets were respectively excessively loaded with freight or contained undocumented consignments.
Jetstar reinstates fired whistleblower pilot
Joe Eakins, the whistleblower pilot fired by Jetstar last month for expressing his concerns about the carrier’s safety standards, has been reinstated by the Qantas low cost subsidiary, reports Ben Sandilands.
Players say our air-safety standards are good enough
The management mindset that risks the lives of hundreds of Australian air travellers in a crash in the next 10 years is abundantly on display in carrier and regulator submissions to the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety.
Catch 22 for Jetstar over sacked pilot’s safety concerns
Jetstar has been struggling all morning to reconcile its claims that pilots are encouraged to raise safety issues after sacking a first officer, Joe Eakins, who did just that, in an opinion piece published by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in October.
Jetstar pilot fired for raising safety concerns
The pilot union says it will fight the Qantas Group all the way up to the High Court over its dismissal of a Jetstar first officer, Joe Eakins for writing an article critical of the Jetstar’s cost cutting culture in terms of safety implications, reports Ben Sandilands.
With 177 on board, trainee pilot fluffs landing at Gold Coast
A training incident involving an inexperienced pilot and 177 Jetstar passengers at the Gold Coast Airport on May 30 is expected to come under scrutiny at the imminent Senate Inquiry into pilot training and standards.
Jetstar climbs into bed with American Airlines
The “virtualisation” of air travel took another controversial leap forward in Auckland this morning where Qantas subsidiary Jetstar announced an inbound code-share deal into NZ with American Airlines.
Qantas capacity boost aims to give it to Tiger in the neck
Tiger is being put under siege by Qantas and Jetstar, which this morning detailed massive increases in capacity on domestic routes vital to Tiger’s fortunes.
Jetstar’s Asian tilt a risky prospect
If there was a functioning new government in Canberra this week the Jetstar offshore strategy would demand urgent attention from its transport minister.
Qantas result: lot of bad jam sandwiched between good bread
Qantas insists on departing from the normal ways of reporting financial results, and it’s fair to say the full-year results they announced this morning are the equivalent of an airline shafted by the light.
Tiger v Jetstar: the Thai invasion creating Australian turbulence
A new deal sprung this morning between Singapore Airlines-controlled Tiger Airways and Thai International adds to the competitive pressures which are causing the rush by Qantas to use its Jetstar subsidiary to offshore jobs and jets to avoid Australian costs.
leaked Dick Smith attacks ATSB over inaction on near miss of two jets
Dick Smith has made a politically sensitive attack on the Australian Transport Safety Bureau for avoiding its responsibilities in its inquiry into a close encounter between a Virgin Blue 737 and a Jetstar A320 over a fog-bound Launceston Airport two years ago.
Pay to line up at Tiger, but bogs still free — for now
Apparently through accident rather than design Tiger Airways is in a communications melt down today after yesterday’s announcement of check-in charges of either $10 or $15 for passengers travelling with carry-on luggage.
Just how much of Jetstar will call Australia home?
The loss of 11 flight dispatcher jobs from Jetstar to a flight services contractor in Manila might not seem like many, but the shift of Qantas group resources overseas is a slow but determined work in progress, says Ben Sandilands.
Jetstar flight dispatchers sacked: jobs go to Manila
Jetstar dispatched its flight dispatchers yesterday with a month’s notice, sending their jobs to a service provider in Manila. Dispatcher duties vary considerably between airlines and countries.
Light plane crash focus misplaced by the media
There has been more ATSB media about the light aircraft crash in suburban Sydney than incidents involving much larger scheduled airliners. Why? What will be done to make general aviation airports safer?
QantasLink near miss — air safety reports need transparency
The ATSB released a damning report into an astonishingly unsafe approach to Sydney Airport by a QantasLink turbo-prop. There is no effective accountability in air safety reporting in this country.
Jetstar in for the long haul … out of Asia
Jetstar becoming Singapore’s first long-haul, low-cost carrier has far more serious ramifications than the scant press coverage intimated.
Angry Flyers Lounge: Jetstar unhinged
This report about Jetstar concerns passengers being treated like crap by the carrier, and some very unprofessional and threatening attitudes by staff, with one exception. Ben Sandilands explains.
The iJet age begins
There will be four very different forms of ‘smart’ check-in procedures in domestic air travel by the end of this year, which should allow people who have checked in to board their flight right up to the moment the door is sealed. Ben Sandilands explains.
