Chaos at airports as Jetstar flights delayed and cancelled around Australia
Jetstar passengers across the country are facing cancellations and lengthy delays following an IT outage.
“Our technicians are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” Jetstar said in an announcement.
The airline confirmed 32 flights had been cancelled.
An IT issue is affecting some of our airport systems today, resulting in a number of delays and some cancellations to our domestic and international flights. For the latest updates and flight information, stay tuned to our travel alert https://t.co/2D8KsyvhoJ
— Jetstar Airways (@JetstarAirways) December 9, 2019
Passengers took to social media to vent their fury after claiming they’d faced delays of several hours.
One traveller said they’d been waiting for their flight at Cairns airport since 3am and was yet to depart.
“We know delays are frustrating and we’re really sorry for the impact to customer journeys,” Jetstar added.
Jetstar has not confirmed when they expect the system to return to normal service.
Passengers flying on Tuesday are advised to check with the airline regarding their flights’ status.
Brisbane Airport announced at 11.25am that Jetstar systems were coming back online.
Chaotic scenes at #SunshineCoast Airport and probably nationally at airports due to #Jetstar system going down. They cannot re-book or check in travelers and can only offer refunds. One person just paid $550 to book Virgin MCY to SYD in order to travel this morning. Madness
— Ryan (@rmdarnell) December 9, 2019
Jetstar workers to walk off job
The outage comes as it was announced Jetstar's baggage handlers and ground crew will walk off the job across Australia on Friday.
The Transport Workers Union said workers are taking a stand against "poverty wages" and underemployment.
It comes after the budget airline rejected workers' demands for pay increases, minimum hours on the job and safety improvements.
Speaking alongside workers at Sydney Airport on Tuesday, Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine said the airline needed to explain why it had rejected the "modest" requests.
"Jetstar won't listen when these workers say to them that they simply can't survive on 20 hours of work a week ... when they make sure Jetstar knows they are on the lowest pay in the industry," Mr Kaine said.
"They are finding it harder and harder to support their families and Jetstar won't listen when these workers repeatedly say that their jobs are not safe because there are too few workers lugging around thousands and thousands of kilos of baggage and having to service overlapping aircraft."
With AAP
More to come.
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