I was on this flight. JetStar gave me a $100 voucher by way of compensation. I used this voucher to book flights with JetStar to Queenstown in May 2011. In December 2011 JetStar told me they were changing the flight schedule in May 2011. The revised flights offered no longer fit my schedule. JetStar are now refusing to refund me the voucher value with a new voucher claiming that they do not guarantee flight connections, yet they are at liberty it seems, to change flight itineraries and take no responsibility for this. Shame on you JetStar.
My wife and I were on the flight with our three children, and the best part of the whole ordeal was the captain! Remember folks more people win the big jackpot than survive from plane crashes so I have no problem with being diverted to another airport, he also assisted the situation when there was no control and passengers were getting out of control on the plane when we landed. The rest of the crew were ill informed, unprofessional and naïve, especially the head (not sure what you call them now days) of the cabin crew. But then we did get in to Christchurch and you wouldn’t believe it but the Jetstar support and communication was worst. Interestingly enough there was an air NZ baggage manager who took the initiative to try and find out how long our bags were going to take, I would suggest this is a reflection of the person, he realised that some folks needed a hand and were getting nothing, simply a good bastard. We along with others have young children and to keep them under control and occupied would have appreciated some communication, but we were given none! I think the real issue for Jetstar (actually for us) is the young staff were getting instructions from someone in an office on the phone rather than a manger of sorts that was controlling the situation on the ground and making calls according to the situation.If someone had videoed the whole thing it could have been used as a “how to lose 200 customers in 60 mins” training video.
Jet Star is a rubbish airline. I was on tht flight and customer service was a joke.. the staff was rude.! the flight was a disaster.! waiting three hours for you luggage with a two year old daughter was near impossible.. Would NEVER fly with them again and advise others to do the same.
As a Queenstown local everyone here knows never to fly in Winter with Jetstar or Qantas when they operated here. Because they dont have RNP (i think) or "RN" something. Basically its fog GPS for flying with lower cloud heights. Air NZ can land with a lower cloud height than Jetstar. There are more Jetstar flights that divert than Air NZ because of this fact. So as a rule only fly Air NZ in Winter if you want to get here or leave here and in Summer you can fly with anyone.
Flew Jetstar to Queenstown a few weeks ago. Best flight ever! customer service was fantastic, not only that the weather was'nt looking to good.... However we arrived safely into queenstown to find 2 AIR NEW ZEALAND aircraft stranded because neither had RNP equiptment to take off....!!! The AIRNZ passengers were quite upset that a low cost airline had neccessary equiptment to depart Queenstown but full service airline AIRNZ did'nt... Now why is this not put on the news?????...
Phillip and different Phillip, since the story omitted the details as to why the flight diverted, the lack of "blind flying gear" alleged may or may not have been a factor. I would very much like to know what became of the pax that remained on board after landing at CH. Did they eventually get to QN?
Jetstar has perfectly capable pilots. It's the planes that are the problem. They have left out several components that allow the pilots to operate and land the planes in zero visability - hence why it is supposedly cheaper to fly with Jetstar. Both other domestic airlines have planes that can land in foggy conditions
I'm not familiar with Queenstown airport so I don't know exactly what ILS facilities they have there, but I don't believe for a minute that commercial airline pilots would be routinely busting minimums there, or at any other NZ airport. If you have specific examples of this happening then why haven't you reported it to the CAA?
I can't understand why they pulled out of their landing so close to the finish. How come Air New Zealand were able to land there?
Philip where did you get that assumption from that the pilots are not trained to fly in adverse weather?? These pilots are commercial pilots and are trained for any adverse weather,twin engined taught to fly single engine for emergency,and flying into Queenstown knowing of the adverse weather that is often a worry,through cross winds and visibility is a factor of diverting to another air port.Another airport is Taupo that is a marginal airport in adverse weather but does have landing lights for night flying.