Qantas flight woes extend on Jetstar yet the carrier remains unfazed
With another Qantas fight en route to Argentina turned back into Sydney Airport after an hour of flight due to electrical problems, the airline's low-fare subsidiary Jetstar appeared to be smarting from the scary episodes that highlighted rising questions on the company's safety integrity.
The incident on Monday, Qantas' fifth troubled flights in a span of two weeks, ended with no injuries on the aircraft's hundreds of passengers and crews and no further damages aside from frayed nerves as smokes were seen in cockpit during the episode that hauntingly occurred thousand of miles in mid-air.
That flight used a Boeing aircraft yet Qantas' whole fleet seemed needlessly infected by the floundering safety integrity of the national carrier as Jetstar is set to face a senate investigation that would on the budget airline's safety standards even though no A380s are included on its fleet.
To date, all A380s of Qantas are prohibited from flying as Rolls Royce, the manufacturer of Trent 900 engines that power the embattled aircraft, is rushing to identify the exact cause of the engine woes and possibly correct the problem at the soonest possible time.
The problem cropped up amidst Jetstar's planned operational expansion in Asia to capitalise on the growing Chinese consumer market and Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan is not bucking down even in the face of the imminent senate investigation.
Mr Buchanan said that despite the perceived setbacks, he is banking on Qantas' hard-earned positive reputation, which he stressed is also marked by one industry's vaunted safety records as he added that the industry itself would have to deal with questions of safety over time.
He pointed out that airlines must be prepared to deal with extreme incidents or service disruptions and the recent engine scares that plagued a number of Qantas flights should not distract Jetstar from its goals, especially noting the fact that the budget airline is not using A380s.
Mr Buchanan called into attention that Qantas, and by extension Jetstar too, is renowned for its safety record and that factor by itself is one of the major selling point of the company into marketing its quality services into the Asian market.
He added that the Asia-Pacific region is completely aware of Qantas' safety standards and the planned senate inquiry is not a cause of concern at all but on the contrary a welcome development for the company so facts could be presented and appreciated by the investigating panel.
Mr Buchanan expressed hope that the inquiries would lead to better understanding of the company's safety management system as he pointed out that "both Jetstar and Qantas operate to the highest safety standards in the world."