Another Jetstar blunder sees hundreds of passengers lose their luggage on two flights to Bali in a bizarre mix-up where baggage was unloaded BEFORE take off
- Luggage taken off two Jetstar flights to Bali, passengers left without belongings
- Travellers furious at lack of communication from the airline about the change
- Jetstar said bags now with their owners, but some claimed their trip was ruined
Hundreds of furious passengers travelling on two Jetstar flights had to make do without their luggage on holiday in Bali after the airline took it off the planes without explanation.
Bags loaded onto Jetstar planes headed to Denpasar from Perth and Melbourne were bizzarely removed, apparently to make room for extra fuel, on December 28.
That meant passengers, including frustrated Perth couple Declan Carruthers and Somaya O’Donnell, had no belongings when their flight, JQ116, touched down in Bali.
The blunder comes after Jetstar JQ35 bound for Bali was forced to turn back to Melbourne because the airline did not have approval for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner being used for the flight.
Somaya O’Donnell blasted Jetstar in a social media post for not telling passengers what was where their lost luggage was. Pictured, Ms O’Donnell and her partner Declan Carruthers, who labelled Jetstar ‘pathetic’
Aussie travellers said their luggage was delivered separately to Denpasar airport – but they didn’t know because Jetstar didn’t inform them at the time. The luggage has since been reunited with its owners
Ms O’Donnell blasted Jetstar in a social media post for not telling passengers what was happening with the suitcases and bags removed from the planes.
‘$1300 return flight, no bags for four days, zero updates and a helpline that doesn’t speak English,’ she wrote.
‘What a lol Jetstar Australia you suck.’
In a Facebook group for Australians traveling to Bali, another affected woman said Jetstar didn’t contact her to explain where her luggage was.
When she called Jetstar to try and find out, the call went unanswered.
She said a friend contacted Denpasar Airport and a worker sent her a photo of the lost luggage.
It had arrived and was awaiting collection – but Jetstar did not tell the passengers.
Another woman posted a similar account claiming Jetstar did not tell passengers missing luggage arrived so it was stored in a corner of the airport in Bali.
While Jetstar told Daily Mail Australia all missing luggage had arrived by January 1, passengers who had gone several days without their suitcases had to purchase replacement items, such as clothes and footwear.
One man posted online that his holiday was ‘ruined’ and that he’d ‘spent a couple hundred’ dollars buying replacements for items in his suitcases.
Hundreds of furious passengers travelling on two Jetstar flights had to make do without their luggage on holiday in Bali after the airline took it off the planes without explanation
Mr Carruthers told news.com.au he saw baggage handlers take luggage out of the plane and place it on the tarmac while the passengers were waiting to board.
He noticed the bags were not reloaded and when he asked an airport worker why, he told him ‘bad weather’ in Perth was to blame.
But Mr Carruthers said Perth was fine and 30 degrees that day.
He slammed Jetstar over its poor communication about the whereabouts of the passengers’ luggage.
‘It’s quite pathetic for Jetstar not to communicate with their customers to let us know our bags weren’t on the plane,’ Mr Carruthers said.
When passengers from their flight from Perth to Depasar, went looking for their baggage, much of it was missing. Only a small amount of luggage arrived.
A Jetstar spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the luggage was removed from the flights because of bad weather in Bali – but had now been reunited with its owners.
‘Due to thunderstorms around Bali on Wednesday, we had to carry more fuel on some of our flights to Denpasar, in case we needed to divert to a different airport,’ the spokesperson said.
‘This meant we were not able to carry all the checked bags on two of our flights.’
The spokesman said as of January 1 all bags had been delivered to customers.
‘We know it’s frustrating when your bags aren’t available when you land and we thank customers for the feedback that we need to provide more regular updates,’ they said.
‘We’ll review our processes so we can do better next time. We also thank customers for their patience.’