“Never been treated so poorly”: Stranded man’s fury at Jetstar after cancelled flight
At least 100 passengers have been left in limbo in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands after airline giant Jetstar cancelled flights coming in and out of the area.
Brenton Barker from the North Island in New Zealand was at Rarotonga Airport with his daughter before Jetstar cancelled their flight five minutes before the scheduled boarding time, which was 1:30 am.
“It’s impacted a lot of people. It’s very ordinary. It’s just not acceptable for a professional carrier” Mr Barker told the New Zealand Herald.
“I think the worst part about it is the lack of communication.
“In 40 years of flying across the globe, never have I or my family been treated so poorly.”
A Jetstar spokesperson confirmed that the flight had been cancelled due to crew sickness.
“We are working with all affected customers to re-accommodate them on alternative flights where possible or provide accommodation and meal allowances while we work hard to get them to their destination,” the spokesperson said.
“We appreciate this is very frustrating and apologise to our customers for the impact to their journey, however the safety of our crew and passengers is always our first priority.”
However, Mr Barker wasn’t impressed as he wasn’t informed of the reason for the cancellation at the time.
“It was the wee hours of the morning, everybody was tired. I think people there were pretty well behaved,” Mr Barker said.
“They did organise accommodation and they had a big line-up of the whole flight waiting.
“But basically it was just a mess. The people there locally have done a fantastic job. They were struggling to even handle it.”