The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) is today seeking clarification from Qantas management on behalf of the travelling public over whether the QF50, which made an emergency landing at Sydney airport today, was actually a Qantas flight or not.

It has been widely reported that the QF50, which was forced to request a “priority landing” at Sydney Airport this morning after experiencing a fuel transfer valve problem after take-off in Auckland, was a “Qantas flight”.

Yet although aircraft flying the trans-Tasman route feature Qantas livery and contain the “QF” flight code – according to Qantas’s previous position, the flights are operated by the New Zealand-based company, Jetconnect.

Qantas began transferring all trans-Tasman flying to the former Kiwi domestic airline in 2010.
AIPA President Barry Jackson said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce needs to come forward and clarify whether the QF50 was a Qantas flight, as has been reported, or not.

“Was it a Jetconnect flight that landed at Sydney Airport at 7:45 this morning or a Qantas flight? Surely the travelling public deserves to understand,” Captain Jackson said.

AIPA said Qantas group lawyers are actually facing a Fair Work Australia hearing in Sydney this week, in which they are arguing that Jetconnect is a completely separate entity to Qantas mainline.

AIPA, on the other hand, has always been of the view that Jetconnect is merely a business unit or operating division of Qantas.

“That difference of views is why AIPA and Qantas are before a FWA bench in Sydney at the moment. So I’m surprised to see that Mr Joyce has let this QF50 emergency landing story go unclarified, Captain Jackson said.

“Either way, Australian passengers deserve to know who they‟re actually travelling with when they buy a Qantas ticket on a Qantas aircraft.

“Are they getting the full Qantas product? Or are they boarding a Jetconnect flight in disguise?

“No wonder people get confused when the ‘Spirit of Australia’ is splashed on the fuselage alongside a New Zealand flag and registration.”