A Jetstar plane heading to Bali fanged a uey back to Melbourne after more than four hours in the air ‘cos of a “miscommunication” with Indonesian authorities. Sorry Suze, no bootleg Meet The Fockers DVDs or Bali braids for you!
Passenger Rafe Berding told the ABC the flight was meant to leave Melbourne at around 6pm but didn’t takeoff until 11pm. A foreboding sign of the chaos that was to come, per chance.
He said the plane was more than four hours into its big yeet to Bali when it was refused landing, which meant it would have to trudge back home for another four-ish hours to Melbourne. Maybe the pilot forgot they had been invited to the Fitzroy garage sesh and had to turn back around? Stranger things have happened.
A passenger — who didn’t wish to be named — told news.com.au the pilot had looked at landing in either Darwin or Perth but decided to hoof it back to Melbourne ‘cos there was enough fuel and “it would be better for staffing, and therefore a new flight”.
I can’t speak for Darwin but it must be said that the weather in Perth is truly delightful RN, so the folks on the doomed Jetstar flight damn well missed out. Thoughts, feelings and commiserations.
Thank you @JetstarAirways for the worst travel experience of my life. After cancelling our original flight, delaying the 2nd and then returning back to Melb only an hour to landing, the staff was unresponsive and unhelpful. Genuinely shocking service. Never again pic.twitter.com/RGAJMfYZAc
— bk_1905 (@Bennji_95) December 27, 2022
Per 9News, a Jetstar spokeswoman said the whoopsie doodle kicked off after the airline swapped the OG plane for a larger Boeing 787 so more passengers could choof off to Bali.
“Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, the aircraft swap was not approved by the local regulator in Indonesia,” she said.
“As soon as we became aware, the flight returned to Melbourne and we have rebooked passengers on a flight later today.”
I know it would’ve been a deeply frustrating experience for customers, but it’s also mildly hilarious that the situation unfolded ‘cos Jetstar decided to do a Jaws and use a bigger plane, except said aircraft wasn’t approved by Indonesian authorities. Truly an A-grade fuck up.
Jetstar said it gave passengers accomodation and food vouchers, and it’ll also be slinging folks $200 travel vouchers. It’s the perfect consolation prize for anyone wanting to book another eight-hour flight from Melbourne to Melbourne.
