Employee Morale at Jetstar Airlines: Issues, Analysis, and Solutions

This report examines the employee morale issues at Jetstar Airlines, focusing on exploitation, work-life imbalance, and their impact on the company. The analysis reveals that lack of morale is a significant concern, affecting the company's growth negatively. The report identifies strategic planning as a key tool to address these issues, emphasizing the importance of motivation, compensation, and work-life balance. It recommends implementing Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory to improve employee satisfaction and reduce absenteeism. The report also suggests training programs, overtime and reward systems, and empowerment to boost morale and enhance organizational effectiveness. The report concludes that addressing these issues is critical for Jetstar to improve its brand image and achieve sustainable growth.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
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Executive Summary
The report has thrown light on understanding the different issues which has affected the
overall morale of the employees working at JetStar. There are different kinds of issues such
as exploitation among the cabin crews and the pilots which has affected the overall morale of
the employees and it affected the overall growth of the company negatively. From the overall
analysis, it was found that the main concern faced by employees is lack of morale and it
affected the growth. Moreover, there are different recommendations which have been
identified which will be beneficial for improving the scenario positively.

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Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview of Jetstar Airlines...........................................................................3
Description of the Problem Faced by Jetstar Airlines................................................................3
Examination of Issue with Appropriate Model..........................................................................4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction and Overview of Jetstar Airlines
Jetstar Airlines is one of the Australian low-cost airlines which is headquartered in
Melbourne which was founded in the year 2003. It is one of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of
Qantas which was created in response to the overall threat posed by the other low-cost airline
named Virgin Blue Airlines (JetStar.com.au 2019). Jetstar carries more than 8.5% of the
different passengers travelling in and out of Australia, and the company is headquartered at
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Moreover, the airline operates in an extensive domestic along with national and
international network from the main base at Melbourne Airport which is done with the proper
mix of fleet such as Boeing 787 Dreamliner along with Airbus A320 family. Besides, there
has been increasing in the revenue to about A$3.636 billion till 2017, and the main slogan of
the company is that it is one of the lowest fares airlines which is used by the different
customers in the market. The respective airlines offer the cheapest fares to the customers in
the market and it attracts the number of customers and gain profitability.
Description of the Problem Faced by Jetstar Airlines
The major problem which is being faced by the different employees working at
JetStar Airlines is exploitation, and there are various issues related to the health and safety
concerns tremendously faced by them. The health and safety of the employees are neglected,
and it affects the morale of the employees working in the company negatively.
From the news, it has been highlighted that Jetstar has been accused of exploiting the
cabin crew and demanding that they work for 20-hour shifts along with compromising the
safety of the cabin and the customers travelling (Abc.net.au 2019). Jetstar is further facing
various allegations for demanding the cabin crew to work for more than the usual working

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hours, and it is against the different rules and regulations of the workplace that affected and
created work-life imbalance and reduced the overall efficiency of the employees working in
the company.
From the different instances which have been shared by the various employees of
Jetstar, it has been identified that one former flight attendant of the company commented that
she felt like a slave when the higher authorities decided to extend the shift and the experience
was horrible (Abc.net.au 2019). Moreover, from the overall scenario which has been
highlighted at Jetstar Airlines, it can be analyzed that the there is no work life balance and
motivation among the employees and it affected their morale, and it created a huge impact on
the overall brand image of the company in negatively.
Examination of Issue with Appropriate Model
From the issue, it can be identified that there are different issues related to strategic
planning which affected the morale of the employees and it affected the overall productivity
of the company negatively. There was a lack of motivation among the employees that
hampered the confidence, and it affected the reputation and brand image of the company.
Moreover, it has been noticed that there has a massive turnover among the employees
working at Jetstar Airlines (Nica 2016). The employees who resigned from different job posts
in the workplace is relating to the work-life imbalance, and it affected the overall
productivity and the brand image of the company in an undesirable manner.
Furthermore, due to the improper work-life imbalance among the different employees
working in the organization, it raised to high absenteeism. Due to the increased work pressure
at Jetstar, there was absenteeism, and it led to the resignation among the employees (Afsar,
Badir and Kiani 2016). For instance- The practice of making the employees of JetStar
Airlines fly the return shifts which were complained by the pilots and the cabin crews as it

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affected the health of the employees and there was lack of safety for the customers travelling
with the respective airlines. Due to the low workplace morale, the different employees are not
performing as per the standards and it is affecting the overall efficiency of the organization
negatively.
Due to the increase in the economic pressures, the company Jetstar Airlines is
requesting few employees to perform the different tasks of the other two or more individuals
and the demanding attitude of the company is affecting the growth of the company in an
adverse manner (Nica 2016). In addition to the same, the employees are forced to choose
between the work and personal life which is affecting their morale in performing the jobs and
it is creating adverse impacts on the health of the individuals. Due to such pressures from the
higher authority of the company, the different employees such as the flight attendants and
they suffered very severely.
In addition to the same, there were other issues related to the inability in the decision-
making approach which affected the morale of the employees. It was being noticed that the
viewpoints of the employees were not considered and it lacked empowerment among the
employees that affected brand image negatively (Hur, Moon and Jun 2016). The
organizational culture was not effective as the employees did not have any role to play in the
entire decision-making aspects based on the organization which was the significant suffering
for the employees.
Recommendations
With the proper usage of strategic planning, the entire issue can be managed at JetStar
Airlines efficiently and appropriately. Strategic Planning is the organisational management
tool which is used to set the different priorities and strengthen the various operations and

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focus on the multiple requirements of the employees which will be beneficial in managing the
overall success of the company and improve the well-being of the employees appropriately.
Motivation is one of the essential aspects which should be implemented by JetStar Airlines
which will help improve the morale of employees appropriately. The compensation and the
different benefits are required to be provided to the employees for overtime which will keep
up with the development of the employees and actual rising growth. With the implementation
of Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory and Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory, Jetstar Airlines can
solve the particular issue appropriately and reduce the absenteeism among the employees.
As per the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory, the different basic needs of the employees
should be taken care of by the employer of the company which will motivate them to perform
well and gain competitive advantage (Lazaroiu 2015). With proper application of the
respective theory, the physiological needs include the air, sleep, clothing as well as shelter. In
case of the managing the physiological needs of the employees, providing the proper
comfortable working conditions along with reasonable working hours are the essential
aspects which should be maintained by the respective airlines which will be beneficial for
improving the morale of the employees and gain more competitiveness in the market (Kim
and Fernandez 2017).

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Figure 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory
(Source: Gutsche and Griffith 2017)
Moreover, the hygiene factors, as well as the motivators, are equally essential which
will motivate the different employees appropriately. The health and safety factors should be
considered to be necessary for satisfaction among the employees working in the company.
The working conditions should be followed in an appropriate manner which will be
beneficial for motivating the employees as they are the assets of the company and they should
be treated in a fair way (Gerhart and Fang 2015). The intrinsic motivation along with job
satisfaction among the different employees are the other factors which should be considered
essential as it will be improving the morale of employees. The working hours' related
conditions are the major aspects which can be helpful for Jetstar in enhancing the confidence
of employees, and it will be assisting in managing the working conditions more effectively.

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Figure 2: Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
(Source: Dubey et al. 2016)
Therefore, from the above, it can be identified that the motivation is one of the major
prospects which should be taken into consideration which will be beneficial in improving the
morale of employees and gain competitiveness in the market. From the different reports about
the exploitation of the employees working in the organization, it can be identified that
employees are not satisfied with the working conditions and it affects the morale of the
employees. In such a scenario, the morale of the employees is required to be boosted which
will be beneficial in keeping the employees feel that their work is much more than just a job
(Hur, Moon and Jun 2016).
Proper training of the employees is required to be adopted by JetStar Airlines which
will be boosting the morale of employees and it will help manage the overall effectiveness
(DeConinck, 2015). In the respective scenario, Jetstar can introduce the overtime and rewards
system to motivate the employees, and there should be a proper work-life balance. The
recognition is one of the most appropriate frameworks that can be beneficial in increasing the

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growth of the company as well as the employees. Lastly, the giving control to the employees
to a certain extent is required which will boost the morale of employees and the
empowerment among employees will help manage the growth.

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References
Abc.net.au 2019 Jetstar accused of exploiting cabin crew (online) Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-27/jetstar-accused-of-exploiting-cabin-crew/2813208
[Accessed on 4th April 2019]
Abc.net.au 2019 Jetstar worker quits over conditions, safety concerns (online) Retrieved from
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-29/jetstar-faces-staff-exploitation-allegations/
3053370[ [Accessed on 4th April 2019]
Afsar, B., Badir, Y. and Kiani, U.S., 2016. Linking spiritual leadership and employee pro-
environmental behavior: The influence of workplace spirituality, intrinsic motivation, and
environmental passion. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 45, pp.79-88.
DeConinck, J.B., 2015. Outcomes of ethical leadership among salespeople. Journal of
Business Research, 68(5), pp.1086-1093.
Dubey, R., Gunasekaran, A., Altay, N., Childe, S.J. and Papadopoulos, T., 2016.
Understanding employee turnover in humanitarian organizations. Industrial and Commercial
Training, 48(4), pp.208-214.
Gerhart, B. and Fang, M., 2015. Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance,
and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol.
Organ. Behav., 2(1), pp.489-521.
Gutsche, K. and Griffith, J., 2017, July. Automating Motivation: A Workplace Analysis of
Service Technicians and the Motivational Impact of Automated Assistance. In International
Conference on Serviceology (pp. 101-108). Springer, Cham.

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Hur, W.M., Moon, T. and Jun, J.K., 2016. The effect of workplace incivility on service
employee creativity: the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and intrinsic
motivation. Journal of Services Marketing, 30(3), pp.302-315.
JetStar.com.au 2019 Jetstar Airways - Australia | Jetstar (online) Retrieved from
https://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home [Accessed on 4th April 2019]
Kim, S.Y. and Fernandez, S., 2017. Employee empowerment and turnover intention in the
US federal bureaucracy. The American Review of Public Administration, 47(1), pp.4-22.
Lazaroiu, G., 2015. Employee motivation and job performance. Linguistic and Philosophical
Investigations, 14, p.97.
Nica, E., 2016. Employee voluntary turnover as a negative indicator of organizational
effectiveness. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management, 4(2), p.220.