Jetconnect Ltd. was a wholly owned subsidiary of

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the List of airlines by foundation date, world's third-oldest airline sti ...

that has its head office in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. Originally established in July 2002 as a New Zealand-based

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

, the company has since stopped operating as an airline but continues to employ pilots and cabin crew based at

and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

airports. Crew employed by Jetconnect operate Qantas flights on trans-tasman services between Australia and New Zealand, with cabin crew also operating on Qantas long-haul flights alongside Australian-based crew.

History

Jetconnect was established in July 2002, commencing operations in October the same year as a New Zealand-based airline. It operated domestic services within New Zealand until 10 June 2009, when these services were taken over by Jetstar Airways, another Qantas Group airline. Jetconnect then operated trans-

tasman Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer. Tasman may also refer to: Animals and plants * Tasman booby * Tasman flax-lily * Tasman parakeet (disambiguation) * Tasman starling * Tasman whale People * Tasman (name), ...

services between New Zealand and Australia under the

brand with New Zealand-based crew. From mid-2001 to early 2004, JetConnect operated a

code-sharing A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

agreement with Origin Pacific Airways. When this ceased, Origin lost 60% of their business. In 2018, Jetconnect transferred its fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft back to Qantas and ceased to operate as an airline, though the company continued to employ pilots and cabin crew to operate trans-tasman services for Qantas.

Destinations

International short-haul

Jetconnect short-haul pilots and cabin crew operate the majority of Qantas-marketed flights from Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington to Australian east-coast destinations. * From

** Brisbane ** Melbourne ** Sydney * From

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

** Brisbane ** Melbourne ** Sydney * From

** Melbourne ** Sydney * From Queenstown ** Sydney ** Brisbane (seasonal) ** Melbourne (seasonal)

Domestic

Jetconnect operated domestic flights in New Zealand until 9 June 2009. The final domestic service was QF2728 from Wellington to Auckland. Domestic services included routes between Auckland, Wellington,

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompa ...

and Queenstown.Qantas Fact File.
Jetconnect information is on Page 5, NZ Domestic route information is on Page 34. Retrieved: 18 November 2008. Services between Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington have been replaced with Jetstar services. Services to Rotorua were discontinued.

Fleet

As of November 2018 all former Jetconnect aircraft had been transferred to

Former fleet

Jetconnect previously operated the following Boeing 737 series aircraft: *

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

(2002-2009) *

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

(2006-2011) *

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boeing ...

(2009-2018)

Industrial relations

On 17 May 2006, the union representing Australian Qantas pilots, the

Australian and International Pilots Association The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) is a trade union and professional association formed in 1981 to represent Qantas and its related companies pilots and flight engineers. The AIPA broke away from the Australian Federation ...

(AIPA), lodged an application to the Australian industrial relations commission

Fair Work Australia The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the '' Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Austra ...

, seeking to alter its eligibility rules to enable the enrolment of Jetconnect pilots in the union. On 23 May 2007 the commission ruled against the union, declining to consider the question, considering it inappropriate for the AIPA to be able to enrol New Zealand–based Jetconnect pilots, as they were already eligible to be members of the

New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents more than 2000 members, including more than 1600 pilots and flight instructors and 340 air traffic controllers. The NZALPA is affiliated with t ...

. In December 2009 the AIPA took Jetconnect parent Qantas to Fair Work Australia, accusing the company of deliberately driving down wages and conditions, by undermining the spirit and intent of the Australian Fair Work Act. The AIPA accused Qantas of paying Jetconnect pilots 40 percent less than Qantas pilots, who six months earlier had been flying the majority of the airline's trans-Tasman services. Qantas was confident that it would win the case, stating: "These are New Zealand pilots operating New Zealand-originated services flying New Zealand-registered aircraft operated by a New Zealand entity". In May 2010 Fair Work Australia president Justice

Geoffrey Giudice Geoffrey Michael Giudice (16 December 1947 – 18 November 2021) was a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1997 to 2012 and the president of Fair Work Australia from 2009 to 2012. Giudice studied at Xavier College, Melbourne before t ...

agreed to convene a full bench to hear the application, and in July 2010 the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and ...

(ACTU) was granted leave to intervene in the case after the ACTU argued that the outcome would have major ramifications for labour hire practice in Australia. The ACTU made its final submission regarding the case in March 2011, and in a majority decision handed down in September 2011 Fair Work Australia dismissed the AIPA's application. In June 2011 the ABC program ''

Hungry Beast ''Hungry Beast'' (originally ''Projext NEXT'') was an Australian television comedy and current affairs program that was broadcast on ABC Television. Format The show was a half-hour program and is structured as a hybrid between a current affai ...

'' produced a parody television advertisement for Qantas, highlighting the use of Jetconnect for its trans-Tasman flights.

References

External links

Qantas official website
(Jetconnect has no separate website)
Jetconnect Recruitment Page
{{Airlines of New Zealand Defunct airlines of New Zealand Qantas Former Oneworld affiliate members Airlines established in 2002 2018 disestablishments in New Zealand New Zealand companies established in 2002