Jetstar flight cancelled: no longer reaccommodated on Qantas

It is my belief that if you have booked a ticket, then it it is the airlines reposnibily to get you to you to your destination. Initially jetstar rebooked flights through Qantas - but hey, that changed a couple of days ago...now jetstar passengers get a refund (many of them bargain cheap ticket deals) - so the refund was offered rather than the service alternative.

SOMEONE NEEDS TO ALL THIS OUT

This is akin to the corrupt behaviour, and ethics of the Australian banks, and of course it is the travelling public that are suffering.

Wow... that's a long winded way to say that your $15 JQ sale fare to the Gold Coast was cancelled.

Hi CB42, we've whittled your 508-word rant about Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce down to the 95 words of relevance to the topic you raised, being cancelled flights on Jetstar. Please take a moment to review the site's long-standing Comment Policy, which encourages readers to voice their objective opinions, but outlines that personal attacks have no place here, regardless of the target.

Not sure what is being said here. So did they take away your rebooked Qantas ticket in exchange for a refund?

This is a rare event where union are taking industrial action. Unions have the right to apply to strike, as is their right, they gave everyone notice via airline, media, social media and more. They gave at least 2 weeks' notice before the industrial action started. This is the first time that Jetstar is striking in 15 years. In Australia it is up to the airlines to decide the terms of service. There is no law guaranteeing that they (Jetstar) will rebook you on another airline (Qantas, Virgin, Tiger etc…) to get you to your destination unlike the EU or more recently Canada.

In the terms and conditions your fights are always subject to government approval and “Event Beyond Our Control: air traffic control issues, industrial action by a third party, or any other unusual and unforeseen circumstance”. It clearly says in section 9.2: “…whether you have checked in or not, we will: use reasonable endeavours to rebook you on the next available flight on our services (Jetstar) at no additional cost to you; alternatively, if we are unable to rebook you on services acceptable to you, we will provide you with a flight credit where the purpose of your trip is void. You may also have rights to remedies under the Australian Consumer Law. We will not be responsible for paying any costs or expenses you may incur as a result of the delay or cancellation, unless otherwise required by applicable laws, such as the Australian Consumer Law.”

Being blunt they did this.

Just be thankful they didn't provide you with the refund in the form of a 'Jetstar travel voucher'.

Australian consumer law is actually pretty strong - a lot stronger than people realise. However, the enforcement of the law is unfortunately very weak.

Is anyone aware of a scenario like this being tested in the courts? I'm guessing it hasn't been tested because for an individual to take action against a company the size of Jetstar would probably require tens of thousand of dollars (if not more) and most people don't have these resources. And if they did, Jetstar would likely settle before it ever came before a court.

Personally, I think there would be very strong grounds under consumer law to expect Jetstar to rebook on another airline or provide fair compensation for cancelled travel plans if this scenario went before a court. The overriding principle of consumer law is what is 'fair' and 'reasonable'. I would argue that if you have booked flights with an airline, and committed potentially thousands of dollars on accomodation and activities, and then the airline cancels your flights and doesn't make a reasonable attempts to re-book you onto another flight then this isn't fair or reasonable. In this case it would have been possible for Jetstar to rebook most passengers on Qantas flights. I would also argue that unlike weather events, this is not an event outside Jetstar's control, it is entirely within their control.

I had a future JQ flight cancelled (MEL-AKL) and they refused to put me on any QF flight. The options provided were not suitable (a 12 hour connection via OOL or via SYD arriving at 1am).

I cancelled and will get a refund. Will make me think twice about booking future JQ flights if QF are no longer providing seats on alternative flights