Jetstar flight attendant shares 'gross' mid-air mishap: 'Pineapple in my bra'

Aussie airlines have been getting a bad rap lately but spare a thought for what cabin crew have to go through in some of their worst moments on the job.

With delayed flights, lost luggage and viral videos of baggage handlers treating cargo with disdain, it's easy to forget that sometimes it's the airline workers who have it the worst when things go awry in the sky.

That was certainly the case on this day for Jetstar cabin crew member Erika, who has shared one of her "grossest" stories while working for the budget airline.

The prolific TikToker takes her followers behind the cockpit curtain and on Thursday revealed how she once ended up with pineapple in her bra and having to throw out all her clothes, thanks to a mid-air accident with a young passenger.

The Jetstar worker said it's one of many horror stories from being on the job.
The Jetstar worker said it's one of many horror stories from being on the job. Source: TikTok/the_shawtstuff_flighty

"The seatbelt sign had just been switched off ... and sometimes there's a mad rush for the toilet," she recalled.

Erika and her co-workers were getting ready for service when a young boy began frantically trying to open the lavatory door despite the fact someone was inside.

"He's going mad for it. And standing right behind him, I say 'hey buddy, somebody's in there, I'm sure they won't be long'.

"And he turned around and he spewed right here, in my face, in my throat and all down the front of my uniform ... down into my shoes."

Processing what just happened, she quickly called for gloves and a plastic bag from her colleagues. The Jetstar crew member said it took everything she had not to add to the mess. "I was so close to joining in on the spew fest," she said.

Thankfully the flight was headed for Erika's home destination because she said there was no way she wouldn't be getting off the plane.

"I went straight home, walked into my shower, turned it on, peeled my clothes off in the shower. When I got down to my bra, I had pineapple... in my bra.

"I'll just let you know, everything I was wearing that day went into the bin. I wasn't even going to try to clean that or put that in my washing machine."

Erika shared the story in response to another TikTok user commenting about their grossest plane experience, with many followers expressing immense empathy for the flight attendant.

"I’d be spontaneously vomiting at the same time," one person said while another jokingly suggested she demand "biohazard pay".

Jetstar flights getting more expensive, but problems improving

Despite booking huge profits this year, Qantas, which owns Jetstar, has seen its reputation take a hit in 2022 in the wake of a string of customer complaints and horror stories.

Despite that, prices are only heading north with a recent report by the country's consumer watchdog finding that Australians are paying almost 30 per cent more for domestic flights than they were before the pandemic.

Travellers wait in line at a Jetstar Airways counter in Sydney.
Travellers wait in line at a Jetstar Airways counter in Sydney. Source: Reuters

Analysis by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) this month also found "discounted economy airfares" were hardest hit by escalating prices, with some setting a 15-year record due to limited capacity and strong demand.

But in better news for Australian travellers ahead of Christmas, the report also found flight cancellations and delays were falling closer to normal levels. An average of 2.9 per cent of domestic flights were cancelled in October this year, down from 6.4 per cent in July.

Jetstar and Virgin recorded the highest number of flight cancellations, at 3.9 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively, both of which were above the long-term average of 2.1 per cent.

Flight delays across the industry also fell from 45 per cent in July to 30 per cent in October, though remained well above the long-term average of 18 per cent.

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