Qantas’ boss Alan Joyce has described Jetstar’s bad rep amongst the public as unfair because it stems from the poor perception of low-cost carriers in general.
The statement was made in Auckland this week and comes as the Qantas budget off-shoot continues to expand its regional presence across the Tasman, with recently launched flights to New Plymouth and Palmerston North.
Joyce said negativity around low-cost airlines is “a bit of a thing” and unjust because “all airlines around the world have customer issues”, The New Zealand Herald reported.
“You learn from them [customer issues], you improve on them, but to say they’re unique to Jetstar is misinforming the public.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO
Although Jetstar may have experienced a few flight delays when it started flying domestically in New Zealand, Joyce said the airline’s on time performance has improved by 80 percent over the past week.
He continued, saying it’s not just Jetstar dealing with flight delays and customer service issues, it’s experienced by all airlines including full service ones like Air New Zealand and Qantas.
“I see them all the time – it’s what you do to improve and learn from it,” he said.
“When it [Jetstar] gets it wrong it does apologise.”
Jetstar launched regional flights in New Zealand in December last year and would consider launching more routes “when the time is right”.
