At 6:20pm on 15th October 2010 I was sitting in a Qantas plane at Port Hedland (WA) when it was announced that the pilot had been suddenly taken sick. All passengers were asked to disembark whilst a decision was made by Qantas. At 8:00pm it was announced that a new pilot would be flown from Perth to Port Hedland. 3 hours later we left Port Hedland for Perth. I was scheduled to catch a connecting Jetstar flight from Perth to Sydney at 10:55pm. But of course I did not make the flight and arrived at Perth at 1:15am. I had contacted Jetstar at 8:30pm on 15th after being advised of the arrangements Qantas had made for the replacement pilot. My connecting flight was with Jetstar, (a fact I did not know until it was identified in the small print by Qantas) The Qantas staff advised me that because my connecting flight was with another carrier, they could not help me. After waiting for 30 minutes to speak to a Jetstar operator and not a computer, I attempted to explain my situation to the operator in broken english. Basically it was explained that because I had missed my flight, Jetstar would not re-schedule a new flight because of their 24 hour cancellation policy, even though my reason for missing the my flight was due to a sick pilot. To add to the final insult I was informed that I needed to purchase a new ticket. I then purchased a new ticket, this time with Qantas because I could actually speak face to face with the staff, and because with the english problems I had earlier experienced with the Jetstar operator, I would have probably ended up in Siberia. On arrival at Perth airport all Qantas passengers who missed their connecting flights were given motel accommodation, those with Jetstar slept on the terminal floor. I am now attempting to get some sort of re-fund or feedback from Jetstar, if I can find out where to send it to.