iscover
Poor weather in Melbourne contributed to significant flight disruptions over the AFL grand final weekend, with Virgin Australia reportedly the worst off.
As reported in The Australian, more than 30,000 passengers were impacted by the Virgin disruptions, with over 40 flights cancelled and more than 100 delayed, while Jetstar and Qantas were less heavily affected.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
All three major airlines had added flights to Melbourne from Brisbane and Perth to meet the additional demand for the clash between the Fremantle Dockers and the Brisbane Lions on Saturday.
“Low visibility and poor weather led air traffic control to limit arrivals into Melbourne on Saturday. The resulting delays have carried into the operation on Sunday, contributing to further delays and some cancellations,” a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement.
“We acknowledge this disruption is frustrating for our impacted guests, including those looking to get home after the AFL grand final.
“Our team is continuing to work hard to get guests to their destinations safely and as soon as possible, including adding additional services.”
According to reports in The Australian, the disruptions on Saturday led to many cabin crew members reaching maximum allowable duty hours, leaving them unable to work on Sunday.
A cabin crew member told the masthead that the airline had issued an “SOS” to staff on Sunday, as there were around 55 gaps in the roster that needed to be filled.
“We were offered short day payments of $250, which is not really worth giving up a day off for,” they said.
“Workloads have been high for a long time and crew are exhausted. Many of us no longer feel it’s worth giving up our days off, and this weekend showed what happens when we stop.”
Australian Aviation understands Qantas did not cancel any AFL flights, while five Jetstar services on Saturday were cancelled due to the severe weather with knock-on delays of up to three hours, though no Jetstar passengers reported missing the game.
The disruption followed up to 30 Virgin flights being cancelled last weekend on routes including Perth–Brisbane, Brisbane–Cairns, Sydney–Cairns, Queenstown–Melbourne and Sydney–Nadi, again due to cabin crew shortages.
It comes as Virgin continues to negotiate its new enterprise agreement with its cabin crew, with the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA) pushing to see a reduction in maximum duty hours for cabin crew to 9 hours and 45 minutes, from the current maximums of 10 hours for four-sector days and 12 hours for two sectors.
Melbourne Airport and Airservices Australia have been contacted for comment.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
