Jetconnect is an airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. The airline is a subsidiary of Qantas and was established in July 2002, commencing operations in October 2002. It operates trans-Tasman services between New Zealand and Australia under the Qantas brand. It employs crew based in New Zealand and operates aircraft registered in New Zealand. It also operated domestic services within New Zealand until these services were taken over by Jetstar on 10 June 2009. Its main base is Auckland Airport.[1]
[edit] Destinations
[edit] International Short-Haul
As of August 2010, Jetconnect operates flights to the following destinations. Some routes are shared with Qantas mainline — on these routes some services will be operated by Jetconnect and other services will be operated by Qantas itself.[2]
There are currently four return Qantas trans-Tasman services not operated by JetConnect:
- From Auckland
- Sydney - QF114/QF141 (alongside four daily JetConnect services)
- From Queenstown
- Brisbane - QF186/QF185
- Melbourne - QF178/QF177
- Sydney - QF122/QF121
[edit] International Long-Haul
Jetconnect employs longhaul cabin crew based out of Auckland, who make up crew complement on Qantas flights throughout the longhaul network, feeding into the system by way of flights from Auckland. The crew operate as contractors who are therefore cheaper to employ than Australian based full-time employees.[citation needed]. The airline's cabin crew are also responsible for crewing Jetstar flights based out of Christchurch to Brisbane, Coolangatta (Gold Coast), Melbourne and Sydney.[citation needed]
[edit] Domestic
Jetconnect operated domestic flights in New Zealand until 9 June 2009. The final domestic service was QF2728 from Wellington to Auckland operated by 737-300 ZK-JNC. Domestic services included routes between Auckland, Wellington, Rotorua, Christchurch and Queenstown.[3] Services between Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington have been replaced with Jetstar services. Services to Rotorua have been withdrawn.[4]
File:ZKJNN.jpg
Jetconnect Boeing 737-300 at Sydney Airport in original livery without the "Spirit of Australia" slogan
Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 at Sydney Airport
As of November 2011 the Jetconnect fleet consists of the following aircraft:[5][6]
Current Jetconnect Fleet
| Aircraft |
In Service |
Orders |
Passengers |
| J |
Y |
Total |
| Boeing 737-800 |
8
|
—
|
12
|
156
|
168
|
| Total |
8
|
—
|
|
[edit] Industrial relations
On 17 May 2006, the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) lodged an application to the Australian industrial relations commission, Fair Work Australia, seeking to alter their eligibility rules to enable the enrolment of Jetconnect pilots in their union. On 23 May 2007 the commission ruled against the union, declining to consider the question, considering it inappropriate for the AIPA to be able to enrol New Zealand based Jetconnect pilots, as they were already eligible to be members of the New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association.[7]
In December 2009 the AIPA took Jetconnect parent Qantas to Fair Work Australia, accusing the company of deliberately driving down wages and conditions, by undermining the spirit and intent of the Australian Fair Work Act.[8] The pilot's union accused Qantas of paying Jetconnect pilots 40% less than Qantas pilots, who six months earlier had been flying the majority of the airline's trans-Tasman services.[9] Qantas was confident that it would win the case, stating: "These are New Zealand pilots operating New Zealand-originated services flying New Zealand-registered aircraft operated by a New Zealand entity".[10]
In May 2010 Fair Work Australia president Justice Geoffrey Giudice agreed to convene a full bench to hear the application,[8] and in July 2010 the Australian Council of Trade Unions was granted leave to intervene in the case, argued that the outcome would have major ramifications for labour hire practice in Australia.[11][12] The ACTU made their final submission regarding the case in March 2011,[13] with the case still pending.
In June 2011 the ABC program Hungry Beast produced a parody television advertisement for Qantas, highlighting the use of Jetconnect for their trans-Tasman flights.[14]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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