Budget airline Bonza slammed for overseas pilot and crew running Australian services

Discount airline Bonza has been slammed for bringing in overseas pilots and crew to run services in Australia.

Discount airline Bonza has been slammed for bringing in overseas pilots and crew to run services in Australia.

The company markets its “all Aussie” in flight menu as “100 per cent sourced locally” and has named its aircraft “Bazza”, “Shazza” and “Sheila”.

But it has been flying in pilots and crews from Canada to staff flights out of its new Gold Coast base, which opened this week.

Bonza has received delivery of a 737 Max from Canada’s Flair airlines, with another due next month.

They will fly in Australia until February when Bonza expects a new delivery of jets from its Miami-based investor 777 Partners.

Tim Jordan, chief executive of Bonza, arriving on Bonza's inaugural Gold Coast to Townsville flight this week. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Teri O’Toole, federal secretary of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia, said Bonza could “dry lease” the jets, an industry term meaning they could get the aircraft without bringing in foreign workers.

“The idea that an Australian airline is bringing overseas crew to work on aircraft that they could dry leaseand use Australian employees is unacceptable,” she said.

“And the Australian travelling public should reconsider flying on airlines that push jobs overseas.”

Bonza was the brainchild of chief executive Tim Jordan, who has been working in aviation for decades.

He planned the airline as early as 2009 but in 2022 teamed up with 777 Partners, a private investment company which has been negotiating to buy a 94 per cent share of English Premier League football club Everton.

Bonza’s on-time delivery improved after it cancelled routes, according to slides at a conference in Melbourne this week.

The group, which also has a share in the Melbourne Victory A-League team, bagged bargain basement leases on jets during the pandemic.

But 777 Partners has been bogged down in 18 separate court cases in the US.

Mr Jordan was speaking this week in Melbourne at the Australian Airports Association national conference, where he promoted the ticket discounts of up to $400 return his airline was providing passengers.

He said that bringing in Canadian crew allowed the airline to open its Gold Coast base in time for Christmas and more Australian staff were currently being hired.

Industry sources have claimed recruitment company Korn Ferry has been hired in London to find a replacement for Bonza’s chief commercial officer Carly Povey, with a view to the successful candidate ultimately becoming chief executive.

Bonza shares its plans for expansion at a conference in Melbourne. Supplied

Tim Jordan is desperate for slots at Sydney Airport, explaining his reasons in this slide.

Mr Jordan said he had no plans to retire and was passionate about making Bonza a high-quality low cost carrier.

“We know there is a Bonza sized gap in the Australian domestic market,” he said.

However there have been speed humps.

In July Bonza cut flights on routes from the Sunshine Coast to Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie and Tamworth, Cairns to Mackay and Toowoomba to the Whitsunday Coast.

“We will cancel routes. The sky is not falling in. When we cancel routes, it’s us being a responsible business,” he said.

Aircraft engineers’ union boss Steve Purvinas questioned Bonza’s long-term viability.

“There’s very little support for a third carrier in Australia,” he said.

Bonza launched new routes into the Gold Coast this week. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Steve Purvinas.

Teri O'Toole.

Mr Purvinas pointed to the failures of Compass and Tiger Airways as examples of how tough it was to compete with Qantas and its wholly owned subsidiary Jetstar.

The Qantas group controls 61 per cent of the Australian domestic market.

It is understood concerns over Bonza’s financial sustainability were also partly behind delays in granting the airline the crucial Air Operator’s Certificate it needed to begin flying. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority gave Bonza the certificate in January this year, nine months after it lodged its application.

Bonza had 84 per cent on time arrivals in October, up from 76 per cent in August, according to slides shown at the conference, since the routes were cancelled.

Mr Jordan said he was now working to get slots at Sydney airport to provide discount fares to an 8 million people not currently served by Bonza.

Qantas and Virgin Airways have been accused of hoarding slots at Sydney Airport.

Critics say they have more slots than they need and then cancel flights without valid reasons to stop competitors getting a chance to fly from the lucrative Kingsford Smith Airport.