Jetstar hits back at ABC claims of underpayment, long hours

Jetstar’s CEO has made a written complaint to Michelle Guthrie after a 7.30 report claimed the airline underpaid its cabin crew.

Jetstar's 787 Dreamliner. Picture: Chris Raezer

An ABC story headlined “Jetstar is paying its cabin crew as little as $100 a week” has so angered the airline that its chief executive Gareth Evans is understood to have made a written complaint to ABC managing director ­Michelle Guthrie.

The report on the ABC’s flagship 7.30 program and an online story quoted extensively a former Thai-based crew member who quit Jetstar last month after four years. Pojchara Kosolchuenvijit said he often flew between Bali and Australia and could work up to 20 hours a day.

The report, aired on Tuesday night, said foreign cabin crew were paid a base wage of as little as $100 a week and workers “struggled to feed themselves” on popular holiday routes.

Jetstar’s use of foreign crews on its Adelaide-Darwin-Denpasar route also came under fire in the report, which suggested it “may be illegal”.

Jetstar provided a written ­response to the ABC, which was included in full in the online story. But an airline spokes­woman said the report was misleading. “The reporting on salary figures and length of shifts is misleading and it’s simply wrong to say we operate overseas crew on domestic rosters,” she said.

The ABC had overlooked stan­dard industry practice on ­allowances and rostering “to ­deliver a headline”.

The ABC headline that's enraged Jetstar and prompted accusation of misleading reporting.

“The figure cited by 7.30 is based on zero flying hours and is not reflective of the average weekly earnings of our Thai-based crew, which is $650,” she said. “Cabin crew salaries are made up of a base wage plus flying hours and other allowances.”

She rejected Mr Kosolchuenvijit’s claim of working up to 20 hours, saying an operating limit of 14 hours’ duty applied.

On the claim of foreign crews working on domestic routes, the spokeswoman said this would happen only on a “tag flight”, an international flight that connected in more than one domestic city, such as Adelaide-Darwin-Denpasar. “Approximately 0.5 per cent of Jetstar’s flights are tag flights, which are common industry practice world­wide.”

Aviation consultant Neil Hansford, who was quoted in the ABC story, said he had told the reporter it was “a non-story”. “It’s a beat-up due to the very small percentage (of tag flights) and the fact it’s only being used on one route,” he said. “There’s also nothing new in airlines employing crew in various ports, and salaries are commensurate with local conditions.”

Last night the ABC was yet to confirm it had received the complaint. An ABC spokeswoman said yesterday the broadcaster exchanged 21 emails and had at least nine phone conversations with members of the Jetstar team before the story was broadcast. A request for an on-air ­interview was declined but a written response featured prominently in dig­i­tal and broad­cast versions of the story.