Jetstar flights in doubt

TASMANIANS and tourists planning to fly in and out of the state over the weekend with Jetstar remain in the dark about whether or not their flights will be cancelled or delayed.

Jetstar announced yesterday it would cancel 90 flights across the country this weekend as pilots walk off the job over a pay dispute, but as of last night the airline was yet to reveal which flights would be affected.

Spokespeople for both the Hobart and Launceston airports said at this stage passengers should check the status of their flight with Jetstar directly.

It is understood the airline is working to see how many extra pilots it can call up to minimise the impact of the industrial action.

There are 32 Jetstar flights scheduled to arrive and depart from Hobart Airport on Saturday

and 28 on Sunday. The Launceston Airport website shows 22 flights were scheduled for Saturday, with Sunday flights not yet listed.

About a fifth of the airline’s services nationally will be impacted by delays, disruptions or alterations as staff work to get passengers on planes around the strike action.

All Jetstar customers will be able to claim a refund for flights booked from December 13 to 20. The company runs about 370 flights a day.

Jetstar Group chief executive officer Gareth Evans said the strike was unjustified.

“It is cynically timed to hurt the travelling public at the busiest time of the year,” he said.

“To protect the weekend plans of tens of thousands of customers, teams across Jetstar have worked around the clock to develop a proactive contingency plan.

“To minimise the impact on customers by the four-hour stop work periods, we are consolidating some services, upgauging aircraft, retiming flights and Qantas and QantasLink will operate a number of supplementary services.”

Mr Evans said the Australian Federation of Air Pilots wanted a deal that would see their pay increase by 15 per cent in its first year.

“To do that would put unsustainable upward pressure on the low fares that have been the core of Jetstar since its inception,” he said.

“(It would) also call into question future investment in the business. On average, a captain at Jetstar earns over $300,000 a year.”

Jetstar has offered the pilots an agreement that they believed would increase wages by 3 per cent.

The company will cancel 44 flights on Saturday and 46 on Sunday.

Some Friday services will be impacted by work stoppages from baggage handlers and ground crew.

About 80 per cent of flights will operate as scheduled.