Jetstar delays to Bali show airlines unprepared for peak season

Jetstar’s Bali debacle this week has reignited concerns about the travel industry’s readiness for the upcoming spring and summer holiday periods.

Hundreds of Australians have been stranded in Bali after multiple Jetstar flight cancellations. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

With the aviation industry still finding its feet post-pandemic, Jetstar’s Bali debacle this week delivered a grim reminder of how quickly best laid plans can unravel.

In a frightful two days for the low fares carrier, six of its Boeing 787s were thrown out of action, leaving Jetstar with just five wide body aircraft to operate 17 international routes.

Three of the so-called Dreamliners were already awaiting engineering attention when three others were involved in incidents. These included a lighting strike on approach to the Gold Coast, a bird strike heading into Melbourne and wing flap damage from runway debris.

“We always build flexibility into our schedule to manage unplanned engineering requirements, but we have never seen a series of random events beyond our control like this,” explains Jetstar chief operating officer Matt Franzi.

“This was the result of bad luck and unfortunate timing and our teams have been working around the clock to get the aircraft safely back into operation and customers on their way as quickly as possible.”

Although two 787s were cleared to return to service within a couple of days, the damage to flying schedules was felt for considerably longer.

Although the airline boasts of very full flights with few spare seats to be had, the question remains as to how much travellers will endure before seeking alternatives. Picture: NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

As the airline’s highest capacity overseas route, Bali flights were the hardest hit with 16 services cancelled between Sydney, Melbourne and Denpasar.

Text messages informing passengers of their new flight arrangements were the sole form of communication with travellers unable to get through to call centres.

For all of those in Australia waiting to begin their Bali sojourn, there were just as many on the Indonesian holiday isle ready to return home.

Paul Boicovitis counts himself as one of the lucky ones.

After an extra night in Seminyak due to one cancelled flight, he and his travelling companions headed to Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai Airport Monday morning for their rescheduled return.

“That’s when the drama really started. Denpasar Airport was a mess. There were lines everywhere. The lounges were full to the brim with folks who looked like they’d been there for days which we later discovered was the truth,” Boicovitis says.

“The boards were saying our flight was still scheduled for 3.30pm but the Jetstar app was telling us the flight had already departed.”

Confused and deeply concerned by the stories being shared by other weary travellers, Boicovitis went in search of customer service only to discover there was none.

“There was no information desk. There was no staff from Jetstar informing people what was going on,” he says.

Power points were also few and far between adding to the stress as mobile phones ran out of charge, leaving travellers with no source of information.

Not surprisingly, when two Jetstar pilots appeared in the terminal late in the day followed by a group of cabin crew, they were mobbed by travellers seeking answers.

“The crew was saying ‘we’re here, we’re about to board, we’re not sure which flight this is going to be or where it’s going’,” Boicovitis says.

“The pilot and co-pilot were keeping really quiet. Then they all got together and security surrounded them so nobody could get to them. It was almost Hollywood like.”

Sometime after 5pm the flight to Melbourne boarded to the relief of 180 travellers and the single aisle A320 touched down at Tullamarine just after 1am local time.

For those hoping to get back to Sydney, it meant another night in an airport, but Boicovitis’s family was finally home.

“Since we landed, we’ve heard nothing from Jetstar,” he says.

“Nothing about reimbursing us for the better seats we’d paid for, the comfort packages and all that extra stuff that we didn’t get. Not a word. Not a single word from Jetstar at all.”

Jetstar insists staff did all they could to re-accommodate travellers and at the time of writing, all had been rebooked on flights home as close as possible to their original date.

Furthermore the airline claims impacted customers left out of pocket by the disruption, will be reimbursed for accommodation to the tune of $150 a night, plus $30 per person for meals.

For Boicovitis, he is now firmly in the “never flying Jetstar again” camp.

“This incident specifically I dare say, has burnt a lot of goodwill,” he says.

“I get that stuff happens. I get staff shortages, I get engineering issues and people will accept that if you’re communicating that to them, but that wasn’t occurring.”

Sydney Domestic Airport travellers wait in large queues at the departure terminal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

With the September school holidays looming, and the typically frantic Christmas rush just around the corner, Jetstar’s recent woes are a sobering reminder the air travel industry is a long way from its pre-pandemic best.

Although the airline boasts of very full flights with few spare seats to be had, the question remains as to how much travellers will endure before seeking alternatives.

Author of Tourism Crises and Destination Recovery, Dr David Beirman, says given the extent of issues across the entire aviation industry, most people would be unlikely to abandon an airline with low fares and a solid safety record.

“Flight cancellations and delays are not something that’s unique to Jetstar,” he says. “We’ve seen similar issues with Qantas, Virgin Australia and a whole host of other airlines.”

In Jetstar’s favour is the fact international airline capacity out of Australia remains at less than half of pre-Covid levels.

The most recent international airline report by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics showed 13 carriers were still to return after pulling out during the pandemic.

Overall seat numbers were at 47 per cent of 2019 levels in June, despite strong demand for travel, particularly on outbound flights.

As a result Jetstar had increased its share of the international travel market to 11.6 per cent from 8.5 per cent in June 2019, to be third overall.

Parent Qantas led the pack with 17.8 per cent followed by Singapore Airlines with 15.6 per cent.

On the domestic front, Qantas and Jetstar saw their combined market share fall in the period from April to July – largely due to reductions in flying.

The pared back flight schedules are intended to help build resilience in operations and avoid the mayhem of the April and July holiday periods.

Virgin Australia is also aiming for hassle-free spring and summer breaks after growing its workforce from just 3500 in November 2020 to more than 7000.

“Since the July school holidays we have employed over 500 people in key operations roles as well as making rostering adjustments which will support the busy period,” a Virgin spokeswoman says.

“This means more pilots, more cabin crew and more baggage handlers to get our guests to their destinations safely and on time, and more contact centre team members at the end of the phone to answer calls if they need extra support.”

International Air Transport Association director-general Willie Walsh is also eager to assure travellers of better times ahead, after concerted efforts by airlines to address staffing issues.

“I think the recovery took some by surprise, the pace at which travel recovered,” Walsh says.

“The general environment for employment is very strong so everybody is competing for talent but I’m not hearing any concerns being expressed about levels as go through the rest of the year and into Christmas.”

Originally published as Jetstar delays to Bali show airlines unprepared for peak season