The few days Virgin Blue would rather forget.

Let’s face it air travel can be very stressful, arriving at the airport on time, dealing with other travellers, queues and the worst of the worst delays and cancelations. The “D” and “C” word is what thousands of Virgin Blue travellers faced when the airlines check in system went into meltdown on Sunday the 26th of September , which just happened to coincide with the AFL grand final in Melbourne and the start of school holidays for ACT, NSW, NT, and SA.

The meltdown caused the airline to commence manual check in which as you can imagine takes twice as long which forced the airline to delay and cancel many of their flights. These cancelations and delays continued for many days as the airline struggled to get back to normal operations. During the delays the airline was responsible for hotel accommodation and airport transport for passengers not in their home town. Virgin Blue also advised that any customer that was delayed over 4 hours would get their total travel cost reimbursed and be re booked onto another day. This was further compounded with additional check in system failures which caused the airline to take their reservation system off line for 48 hours to fix the issues.

So what does this all mean for the airline and the passengers? It has been reported that Virgin Blue lost between 15-20 Million during the check in system failure, both from lost revenue and the associated cost from accommodating passengers during the delays and cancelations. However because the check in failure came from ‘Navitare’ (which is a third party IT airline provider that Virgin Blue uses for reservations and airport control) the cost could be substantially lower due to compensation payments that the airline would be entitled to in the event of such a failure. However the major loss that the airline could experience is from the passengers who were involved in the airport delays, and the potential customers that might think otherwise before booking a Virgin Blue flight. As the saying goes ‘It takes years to build a brand, but just minutes to destroy it’.

This failure also has potential repercussions for the IT provider that Virgin Blue uses, not only from the potential compensation that they may be liable for, but also the bad press that ‘Navitare’ have received from this situation. Three of the 4 major airlines in Australia using ‘Navitare’ this outage could also potentially be a very costly mistake for the IT provider in lost contracts with other airlines. With two other major airline IT players in the Australian market ‘Navitare’ had better watch its back

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In the past flying was seen and advertised as a luxury, which was only reserved for the rich and famous. However this has changed with the introduction of more fuel efficient aircraft, more competition between airlines and Low cost carriers.

Australia today has over 50 different airlines (Tourism Australia) flying into and around Australia, so with all of these airline movements there is a plethora of airline news that documented and reported. This blog will delve in to the world of commercial aviation in Australia and will report and comment on the current happening within the industry. The news and current events reported within this blog will not only highlight the most important and breaking stories but will also give commentary on these stories only as an individual that has worked in the industry for 13 years can. The stories contained within this blog are sourced from many different reputable news resources from all over Australia.

The airline industry in Australia has changed and grown through many changes from the merging of Qantas and Australian Airlines to domestic deregulation in 1990 to the collapse on Ansett Australia in 2001 and in more reason years the increase of international carriers setting up services to and from Australia. With the changing climate of this industry it’s hard to keep up with what is happening, that’s why this blog will guide and transport you through the ever changing and evolving landscape of Australian commercial aviation and get you to your destination on time.

Why commercial Aviation is important to me?

Ever since I was a very young child I was always fascinated with airlines and aircraft. I think my passion started when I used to go to the airport with my parents to farewell or greet family members. The thought of flying through the air like a bird gave me feelings of being free and being able to explore far off worlds. My mother said in when I was very young I used to lay on the ground for hours staring up at the sky in the hope of catching a plane flying over head.
My interests continued well into my teens were I would contact all of the major airlines that flew into and out of Australia. I would contact them in the hope of being sent some promotional material, so I could further my collection. In those days the walls of my bedroom were covered with posters of aircraft and airline images.

It wasn’t until I was 19 when I took my first flight. The night before I remember not sleeping a wink, I was too excited wondering what food they would server me, were I would sit and what it would feel like. I arrived very early to the airport to take in the full experience. After taking that first flight I was hooked I would save my money and at every chance I got I was off flying and exploring Australia and the World.

My passion for commercial aviation continued into adulthood were I have worked in the airline industry for the past 13 years, holding various positions in the airport, reservations and most recently in the ecommerce space looking after a major international airlines website.

Whenever I fly today, I still get that excited feeling that I got on my first flight. However in today’s internet society my excitement starts a lot sooner. This excitement starts when I research the airline that I will be flying on, from what the seat looks like and how to use it, what the aircraft configuration will be, what meals I might get served and what movies will be screened

My Bio

My Name is Jhi, I have been interested in airlines and aviation since I was very young. When I was young I was always amazed that aircraft could actually fly, and by the glamour that was associated with it.

 I have held many positions within the airline industry for the past 13 years, for various Australian airlines.  When my career began in airlines the industry was very different than it is today, which I think is great. The accessibility of flying today gives all facets of the community the chance to enjoy the excitement and joy of flying.

In this Blog I will comment and explore the current news and events that are taking shape in the Australia airline industry.