A Jetstar flight was one hour into its journey from Bali to Sydney when it was forced to turn back. After it was rescheduled three nights later, it was cancelled again with some passengers describing the ordeal as a “nightmare”.
Andrew Allison’s parents — Francis, 82, and Anne, 79, — were on flight JQ38 on April 13 when the flight returned to Denpasar due to a warning light showing a potential issue with the aircraft’s hydraulic system.
The Sydney man, together with his family, were in Bali for his daughter’s wedding.
“Myself, my wife and a few others in party were due to fly out that evening on Garuda Indonesia and my parents were meant to fly out with Jetstar about half an hour before us around 11pm,” Andrew said.
But after arriving in Sydney he was “shocked” to learn his parents were still stuck in Bali.
“Our pilots followed standard procedures and the aircraft landed normally. Safety is our first priority, and we will always take all necessary precautions in these situations,” a Jetstar spokesperson told news.com.au.
Andrew, from Sydney, said while his parents appreciate cabin crew did what they were supposed to in the interest of safety, it is what happened next that caused frustration.
“The issue we have is with the treatment after returning to Bali which caused mental and physical trauma to two vulnerable elderly passengers,” Andrew told news.com.au.
He claims, according to his parents, passengers were made to wait in line for four hours after the aircraft landed back in Bali and denied access to their luggage to organise alternate flights.
“They were stuffed around and finally dumped in a hotel a fair distance from the airport at 4am the next morning,” Andrew said.
They were handed meal vouchers, but when the pair tried to use it, they discovered it was only valid in the departure lounge at the airport which was 20 minutes away.
“They had to go out and buy their own food. It was easily about 5am at this point and they were exhausted, anxious and confused.
“My dad has existing health issues. He is a diabetic and had his insulin in a cooler pack but basically skipped taking it because he didn’t want to run the risk of it being off during the time they had wait in line.”
Andrew said the saga went over three days with the same flight also having its times changed four times prior to his parents even arriving into Bali.
Eventually, passengers were rebooked on the same flight scheduled to leave on the Saturday night.
But after arriving at the airport it was delayed by half an hour before it got cancelled again.
“When they left the hotel, passengers were told they had to pay for their transfers to the airport and obviously they refused — eventually they were taken for free,” Andrew claimed.
“When they got to the airport they headed through customs and immigration.
“But when they got to the lounge they were told the flight was delayed arriving into Bali, so the outbound flight was late as well.
“When it got close to boarding there was an announcement the flight was cancelled.”
Andrew said by that point his parents were very distressed as it meant they had to retrieve their checked-in luggage and possibly spend another night in the hotel.
“Unfortunately, the couple’s new flight was delayed due to the inbound aircraft arriving late and then cancelled because a crew member wasn’t feeling well,” a Jetstar spokesperson told news.com.au.
“Airport meal vouchers were again provided to customers.
“Announcements were made at the airport, and affected customers were sent email communications and text messages to update them of their new departure times, flight details and how to claim out-of-pocket expenses.”
News.com.au understandsMr and Mrs Allison and their third-party booking agency Flight Centre UK, were sent emails, however the text messages were undeliverable to the UK mobile number in their booking.
By chance, the elderly couple bumped into their two grandchildren at the airport who were able to get them on a flight with Garuda.
“We were able to contact my daughters who looked around departures to find my parents sat in one of the food courts. They tried to sort them with Jetstar but it wasn’t happening — and instead got them on a Garuda flight.”
Andrew said while the tickets were costly, at $1400 each, the Indonesian airline was extremely accommodating.
“My dad has travelled a lot in his life and this has been the worst experiences he’s ever had with an airline,” Andrew said.
Andrew said at the very least they want to be reimbursed for their Jetstar flight.
“We understand that this would have been a tiring and frustrating experience for Mr and Mrs Allison and sincerely apologise for what happened,” a Jetstar spokesperson said.
“We have tried to make contact via phone and email to apologise to Mr and Mrs Allison directly. Our customer team will keep attempting to reach them regarding their out-of-pocket expenses.”
The cancelled flight left the following day at 8.40am, with passengers having to spend a third night in the hotel.
Meanwhile, others jumped on a Facebook page dedicated to Jetstar lashing at their experience with flight JQ38.
“I was stuck in Bali with my family until 8.30am this morning following several traumatic experiences all of which have put a very BIG dampener on our long planned holiday,” a passenger wrote three days ago.
News.com.au understands Jetstar is assessing Mr and Mrs Allison’s case in terms of reimbursement.