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Brand USA partners with Qantas to showcases America's culinary diversity. Published on: 20th October 2026 at 10:04 AM Brand USA has showcased the culinary diversity of the US to Australian travel advisors through America the Bountiful, an intimate trade event held at Melbourne's Louisiana-inspired venue, Le Bon Ton. The event was held on on Thursday, 8 October 2026. It brought together frontline travel advisors, seven U.S. destination partners and Qantas to explore the country's diverse food and drink experiences. Destination partners included Visit Anaheim, Travel Portland, Travel Oregon, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, Travel South, Greater Palm Springs and New Orleans & Company. Qantas also updated attendees on air connectivity to the United States. Brand USA ambassadors Cara Buhagiar from Helloworld Lower Templestowe, Abby Pezze from Wolf and Turner Travel Associates, Jessica O'Grady from Cruiseabout and Brittany Mason from Mr Chocolates Travel attended the event. They shared their experiences to date and personal culinary highlights from their travels in the USA throughout the evening. Brand USA Australia and New Zealand trade director Tristan Freedman said events like America the Bountiful play an important role in connecting travel advisors with destination partners and inspiring new ways to experience the United States. "Culinary experiences offer a meaningful way to connect travellers with the culture, people and stories of a destination. Bringing our destination partners and travel advisors together creates opportunities to share knowledge, spark ideas and inspire more engaging U.S. itineraries." The event also marked the launch of Brand USA's new America the Bountiful agent resource, designed to help travel advisors explore and share culinary experiences across the country.

Jetstar opens Perth crew base as Qantas Group expands aviation training and regional fleet upgrades. The new base starts with 40 crew and targets 90 local positions, supporting Perth-Christchurch flights, more Melbourne services and a training centre serving over 1,200 staff annually. Qantas Group and Jetstar representatives and cabin crew at an aviation safety training facility in Perth. Key takeaways. * Jetstar launched its Perth cabin crew base with 40 employees and plans to increase local roles to 90. * New Perth-Christchurch flights begin 27 October 2026 with more than 30,000 low-fare seats planned for the season. * A new Perth safety facility is expected to train over 1,200 Qantas Group personnel annually. * Nineteen Perth-based QantasLink A320s are receiving Wi-Fi and cabin improvements, while E190 preparations progress. (NEWS) PERTH, Western Australia, Australia, 2026-Oct-16 - /Travel PR News/ - Perth is gaining a larger role in the Qantas Group network, with a new Jetstar cabin crew base, a dedicated aviation safety training facility and upgrades to regional aircraft forming part of a fresh investment push in Western Australia. The expansion adds local crew positions while supporting domestic flights, a new trans-Tasman link and services serving the state's resources sector. Jetstar's Perth base began operating in October with 40 cabin crew, with the airline intending to increase the number of locally based positions to 90. The move is designed to support further departures from Western Australia's capital and reduce the need to rely on crews based elsewhere as the carrier expands its schedule. New Christchurch flights and more Perth-Melbourne capacity. For travellers, the most immediate international addition is Jetstar's new Perth-Christchurch service, scheduled to launch on 27 October 2026. The airline says the route will offer more than 30,000 low-fare seats across its operating season, adding a direct connection between Western Australia and New Zealand's South Island. The carrier also plans to increase its Perth-Melbourne schedule to as many as four return flights daily during the summer holiday period. Together, the flight changes expand options for leisure travellers and people making connections between western and eastern Australia. Safety training moves closer to Western Australian crews. Alongside the crew base, the group has opened a purpose-built Emergency Procedures Training Centre in Perth. It is expected to train more than 1,200 Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar employees each year, encompassing existing cabin crew and new recruits. Jetstar's latest Perth-based recruits are already undertaking ground-school instruction at the site. The centre brings classroom teaching and practical simulations together. Its equipment includes a virtual-reality training area, door trainers for Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft and Airbus A330 and A320 aircraft, an Airbus A321 narrow-body trainer, an evacuation slide and life rafts. An Embraer E190 trainer is due to be installed in early 2027 in preparation for that aircraft's entry into QantasLink's Western Australian operations. Locating this training in Perth means Western Australian personnel can undertake more mandatory safety instruction locally rather than travelling to eastern Australia, a practical consideration as the number of locally based employees increases. Aircraft investment reaches regional and resources operations. The expansion also extends to the QantasLink fleet serving Western Australia, including travel linked to the resources industry. Nineteen Perth-based Airbus A320 aircraft are receiving Wi-Fi installations, refreshed seating and cabin improvements. The first upgraded aircraft has been completed and, according to the group's 16 October announcement, was scheduled to return to service during the same week. QantasLink's first Embraer E190 for its Western Australian fleet arrived in Perth in September 2026, marking another stage in the operator's regional fleet renewal. The addition of training equipment for the E190 reflects the preparations required before these aircraft enter local service. Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group chief executive, described Western Australia as one of the airline group's key growth markets and said Perth is expected to become its second-largest international gateway after Sydney in the coming years. She linked the investments to employment, extra flying and easier access to training for locally based crews. Western Australian Premier and Tourism, Trade and Investment Minister Roger Cook welcomed the investment for its training and employment implications and its contribution to Perth's position in aviation, tourism and trade. The projects illustrate how airline network growth involves more than launching routes: crew bases, safety instruction and fleet modernisation must develop alongside the flying programme. For passengers, the changes promise additional Perth connectivity and gradual onboard improvements, while the recruitment and training facilities create a broader operational base for the group's growth in Western Australia. Further details are available in Jetstar's official announcement and on the Qantas website.

Air New Zealand wins APAC punctuality bronze in September. Air New Zealand was the third most punctual airline in the Asia-Pacific region last month, according to data from aviation analyst Cirium. September saw 87.3 per cent of Air New Zealand flights arrive within 15 minutes of schedule, well above the global average of 77.7 per cent, placing it behind Hainan Airlines and Trinity Airways (formerly T'way). The carrier operated a total of 13,072 flights during the month. "Customers count on us to get them where they need to go. Our airport and cabin teams make that possible by working together to get each flight ready to depart on time. That means being disciplined and focusing on the details," said Air New Zealand chief operations officer Kate Boyer. "There isn't one silver bullet for punctuality - it's about getting lots of small things right, from having the aircraft ready, bags being loaded, crew being in position and customers boarding at the right time. Saving a minute or two at each stage makes a difference." According to Air New Zealand, one technique it has used to increase punctuality is "pre-staging general boarding", which involves airport and cabin crew teams working together to "have the gate and customers ready so general boarding can begin as soon as the aircraft is cleared". "On international flights from Auckland, the trial saw extended boarding delays reduce by around 45 per cent and general boarding begin just under four minutes earlier," the airline said. "Air New Zealand then tested the same approach on domestic jet services from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. While domestic flights generally have a shorter boarding process, the trial still saw boarding-related delays reduce by around 25 per cent." Boyer noted that pre-staging general boarding has now become an approved process for Air New Zealand departures across all NZ airports since the beginning of October. "The biggest learning has been about what we can achieve when our airport and cabin crew teams have a shared understanding of what excellence looks like and work together to get flights ready earlier," she said. "Every minute matters when a delay to one flight can have a knock-on effect across the network. That's the kind of precision and discipline that sits behind a strong operation. "Australian Aviation need to maintain this focus on finding opportunities to improve punctuality and reliability for its customers, particularly as Australian Aviation head into the busy summer period. "87.3 per cent is a strong result, but our focus is the other 12.7 per cent. That's what keeps us looking for the next minute we can save." While no Australian airlines appeared in Cirium's top 10 for APAC in September, Qantas did rank fifth among major airlines globally in fellow analyst OAG's ratings for the month, with 86.57 per cent of its flights arriving on time. 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.