Jetstar's cabin crew employees are accusing the airline of ignoring their concerns about fatigue after being forced to work up to 20 hours straight.
Staff say exhaustion on long-haul flights is common and have raised concerns with senior management numerous times about not being alert enough to handle an emergency.
At least 60 complaints have been raised internally, citing serious concerns over fatigue on just the Sydney-Darwin and Sydney-Perth routes alone, ABC's Lateline reported yesterday.
The pilots association says the problem is that there is no contracted limit on the number of hours cabin crew can work, unlike their colleagues in the cockpit.
"The cabin crew are suffering very badly," Australian and International Pilots Association's Richard Woodward said.
"For instance, they are doing Sydney to Bali and back, that's about a seventeen hour night, that's very, very fatiguing."
Several crew said in their complaints they were worried about crashing while driving home after a long shift.
Jetstar has also faced accusations its overseas-based employees are treated poorly.
ABC obtained contracts for flight attendants in Thailand, showing they are paid just $258 a month as a base salary plus $7 for every hour they fly, plus allowances.
There was a clause in their contracts that stipulated their employer could extend their shift hours as necessary.
In April, five Thai-based crew declined to man a Sydney to Melbourne flight after exhausting themselves on a series of domestic and international flights.
But they were castigated for their behaviour and threatened that a repeat would not be tolerated.
Jetstar did not address the concerns individually, but in a statement defended its fatigue management system.
It said it had openly addressed these issues as part of a recent Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety.
"Jetstar takes fatigue extremely seriously and actively encourages any cabin crew member to report any instances of fatigue," the statement read.
"If a member of our crew is too fatigued, then they should not operate the flight, and we communicate this openly."
The statement said all Jetstar employees had set hour limitations and minimum rest periods as stipulated in their relevant enterprise bargaining agreements.
AAP
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