JQ System Outage 6-8 Feb

[Justin L]

Just noticed this on JQ's website.

http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/jetstar-information.aspx

Important information regarding system outage this weekend!

On Friday 6 February 2009, Jetstar will undergo one of its biggest system changes in the airline's history as it replaces its current reservation system. The system replacement has been carefully planned over the past 12 months to prepare for a smooth transition. All Jetstar operations in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and USA will be impacted by the system replacement.

The system replacement will improve booking speeds via Jetstar.com, which will have an increased capacity to handle more customers and transactions at one time. This improved system will accommodate the growing requirements of Jetstar's ever expanding network of routes and destinations.

Replacing the system will require Jetstar's entire reservation systems, including the internet booking facilities and the Telephone Reservation Centre, to close from 5.00 pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009. The transition between systems will take place over the weekend with the Telephone Reservation Centre and internet booking facilities expected to be fully operational again by 4.00 am AEDT Monday 9th February 2009.
Important information for passengers travelling on Jetstar flights between 6.30pm 6 February – midnight 8 February 2009:

* All airport and flight services are planned to operate as per schedule.

* To minimise inconvenience, we are encouraging passengers travelling on domestic services on Friday 6th or Saturday 7th February to check-in online via web-check at Jetstar.com Web check will be closed from 7.00pm AEDT Thursday 5 February. A web-check demo is provided to guide passengers through the process step by step (from Jetstar.com, select web-check in under the "book here" box and then click on the web-check demo). To be able to web-check, passengers must have a printer connected to their computer. Passengers with baggage should proceed to the check-in counter. Passengers with carry on only can proceed directly to gate with printed boarding pass.

* Any passengers travelling on domestic services who are unable to web-check, are asked to allow extra time when checking in as the manual process may be slower than regular check-in. Airport check-in for domestic flights opens two hours prior to departure.

* Any passengers travelling on international services are asked to allow extra time when checking in. Check-in for international flights opens 3 hours prior to departure.

* Jetstar passengers will unable to check in via the Qantas Club from 6.30 pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009 and throughout the weekend of the system cutover.

* Passengers travelling during this time have been sent information explaining the different operational requirements for this transitional period.

* The Jetstar Telephone Reservation Centre will be closed from 5.00pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009 till 4.00am AEDT Monday 9 February 2009.

* If passengers need to change any booking that is scheduled to depart during this outage, they are asked to do this at Jetstar.com or via the call centre prior to 5.00pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009. If you need to make an urgent change to your booking during the outage, please go to the Jetstar Customer Service counter at the airport. Usual time limits for making changes apply, see http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/fare-types.aspx for details.

Important information for customers wanting to make a Jetstar booking for travel between 6 - 8 February 2009:

* Jetstar's website will not be available for bookings from 5.00 pm AEDT 6 February 2009.
* Jetstar's Telephone Reservation Centre will not be available for bookings from 5.00 pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009.
* Both the website and the Telephone Reservation Centre are planned to be fully operational by 4.00am AEDT on Monday 9 February 2009.
* For any urgent travel we advise customers to proceed to their closest airport and enquire at the Jetstar Customer Service Counter. Reservations made during this period will be made payable only by cash or EFTPOS.

Important information for customers wanting to make or change a Jetstar reservation for travel outside of these dates

* If you need to make a booking for travel after 8 February 2009, or change an existing booking that is scheduled to depart after 8 February 2009, please visit Jetstar.com or call 131 538 before 5.00 pm AEDT on Friday, or after 4am AEDT on Monday 9 February 2009.

Any passengers requiring further information please contact our call centre on 131 538 before 5.00pm AEDT on Friday 6 February 2009.

Jetstar would like to thank all passengers for their patience and understanding while we work on this important system change and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We look forward to sharing the benefits of our new system with all Jetstar customers in the near future.

[James K]

Oh thats just great. In other words it will be a bigger shambles than normal that big brother will have to fix!

[Jason Carruthers]

Thank god I got out of my JQ sector this weekend. Even though I wouldn't have gone anywhere because on the error in the booking.






J

[James K]

Originally Posted by Andrew

Qantas has nothing to do with Jetstar I.T. and business systems...

Didnt say it did. But who picks up the pieces when the flts are dlyd and cancelled?

[Scott L.]

I do not work in the aviation industry at all but I do work in IT and it's bizarre that the core system of the airline is going offline for an entire weekend. There is an obvious financial impact there and through their analysis, I would carefully assume that the loss of revenue did not outweigh an IT solution that would have offered them some redundancy. I've seen it all now.

[Philip Argy]

Methinks not. Surely they could have hired a data centre to run up the new system and then had a switchover.

Doing it this way, how and when will the staff be trained in the new system?

If anyone has insights into the thinking behind these logistics I'd love to hear it.

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by Philip Argy

If anyone has insights into the thinking behind these logistics I'd love to hear it.

I'm assuming it relates to the logistics of moving across a constantly changing database or it may also require the replacement of airport based equipment. (like checkin computers or similar)

It's got to be saving them a lot doing it this way rather than doing it as an instant switchover - If i suggested shutting the Network down for 2 days I'd be laughed out of the office.

I'm glad i'm not involved in this one - Any sort of large scale swap over like that is a disaster waiting to happen.

[Owen H]

Shutting down for a while weekend does seem slightly odd in this day and age!

[Brad Myer]

Didnt say it did. But who picks up the pieces when the flts are dlyd and cancelled?

You would be suprised how many QLink pax end up on JQ flights when **** hits the fan.

And when you look over the OTP and XXLD flight stats for 2008 JQ usually fairs better than QF.

[James K]

Originally Posted by Brad Myer

You would be suprised how many QLink pax end up on JQ flights when **** hits the fan.

And when you look over the OTP and XXLD flight stats for 2008 JQ usually fairs better than QF.

Bet you'd be even more surprised to see the number of JQ pax that end up on QF mainline on an almost daily basis.