As if Christmas wasn’t already chaotic enough, loads of folks have been left stranded at airports across the country as Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar have canned flights.
People were reportedly given little warning before Christmas Eve flights were scrapped between Victoria, NSW and Queensland and South Australia, according to news.com.au.
Jetstar called off 10 Chrissy Eve flights between Melbourne and Sydney (a.k.a. Australia’s busiest route), while at least 14 flights were cancelled by Qantas and Virgin, per 7news.com.au.
More than 20 flights between Gold Coast, Adelaide and Brisbane have also been either shitcanned or rescheduled across both airlines.
Customers were reportedly informed about Jetstar’s cancellations as late as 9pm on Thursday evening, which really doesn’t give ya much time to make alternate arrangements, now does it?
To compensate, customers were reportedly handed tickets for flights that would take long detours through other cities, ending up in their intended destination eight hours late.
“We apologise to any guest impacted by changes to our schedule made earlier this week,” a Virgin Australia spokesman told news.com.au
“All impacted guests have been contacted prior to travel and automatically moved onto alternative services that have a same day departure.”
Meanwhile a Jetstar spokeswoman said the late flight cancellations were due to staff having to test for COVID and isolate as close contacts.
“We appreciate the frustration this causes, especially as customers are travelling for Christmas, and sincerely apologise for the impact these changes are having on travel plans,” she said via The West Australian.
“We are working to minimise any delays and re-accommodating passengers on flights as close as possible to their original departure times across both Jetstar and Qantas services.”
Folks have understandably taken to Twitter to vent their frustration, including one passenger who tweeted their excitement at going on break, then moments later revealed that Jetstar had cancelled their flight.
https://twitter.com/tenseagulls/status/1473802097518800897?s=20
Another person thanked Jetstar for “ruining Christmas Eve.”
“Every flight out of Victoria cancelled until tomorrow morning,” they tweeted.
Thanks for ruining Christmas Eve @JetstarAirways every flight out of Victoria cancelled until tomorrow morning.
— Jake Allen (@jakepallen_) December 23, 2021
A third customer shared the last minute text they received from Jetstar informing them about their cancelled flight.
“I got this message late night at 9pm for a 6am flight,” they wrote. “On clicking the link for options on mobile and clicking on the first option to see more details I get a confirmation that a new option through QLD is selected which needs a permit and PCR…
“This experience was not satisfactory as it doesn’t meet my requirement to be in MLB tomorrow. I ended up booking a Virgin flight instead. What are my options to cancel this booking and obtain a refund? Thanks.”
1/2 @JetstarAirways I got this message late night at 9pm for a 6am flight. On clicking the link for options on mobile and clicking on the first option to see more details I get a confirmation that a new option through QLD is selected which needs a permit and PCR… pic.twitter.com/nqv8qTU45r
— Lahiru Paranamana (@parana_man) December 23, 2021
2/2 This experience was not satisfactory as it doesn’t meet my requirement to be in MLB tomorrow. I ended up booking a Virgin flight instead. What are my options to cancel this booking and obtain a refund? Thanks
— Lahiru Paranamana (@parana_man) December 23, 2021
“Virgin Australia rebooked our flight not just 2 days later than scheduled but to just another cancelled flight!!! ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS,” one person wrote re: Virgin.
https://twitter.com/CarissaRMS/status/1473419166178701318?s=20
“Virgin Australia cancelled flights with no notice or advice, just let people find out when they arrived at the airport.
They don’t send texts or emails advising of cancellation after the check-in time, they said.
*waves to interstate family through zoom once more*” wrote another.
Virgin Australia cancelled flights with no notice or advice, just let people find out when they arrived at the airport.
They don’t send texts or emails advising of cancellation after the check-in time, they said.
*waves to interstate family through zoom once more*
— Describing Things In Canberra (@DescribingIn) December 20, 2021
