Jetstar passenger forced to sing for food after being stranded by airline
A trained opera singer says she was forced to fall back on her craft when Jetstar left her stranded at a remote resort in Phuket without any money.
Edit Pali was on a trip of a lifetime with her husband to celebrate her 50th birthday when the airline cancelled her flight home.
Despite promising compensation of $30 per person a day for meals and $150 for accommodation, the money never came, and Ms Pali was literally left singing for her supper.
“We’re just average people, we don’t make a lot of money, so for us to go away to Thailand for a week to a luxury resort, that was a big enough chunk into our savings,” she told A Current Affair.
“I’m a tough chook but I cried, I really cried.”
In order to make ends meet, Ms Pali performed for tourists for five days before Jetstar could get the couple on a flight back to Australia.
Jetstar leaves hundreds of Aussies hanging
Unfortunately Mr and Ms Pali weren’t the only Aussies to be stitched up.
Hundreds of passengers have been left stranded in Phuket after Jetstar axed their return flights.
“I wouldn’t call them Jetstar, I’d call them no star,” Gary Harrison told Channel Nine.
“We’re very p***ed off just how they’ve handled it.
“Never again, they’ve lost us.”
Along with his wife Tracie, the pair were left waiting in Phuket for a week before they could get home.
In order to survive, they were forced to dip into their housing loan, something they didn’t want to do.
While retirees Karen Moran and Peter Lea from Tasmania were so desperate to get back, they resorted to forking out $11,000 for a last minute flight with Singapore Airlines.
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‘A number of unexpected issues’
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, Jetstar says no airline wants to see its customers disrupted but unfortunately a series of events forced them to cancel flights.
“Our Boeing 787 fleet was recently impacted by a number of unexpected issues requiring engineering work," the statement said.
“Including damage caused by debris on the runway, a lightning strike, a bird strike and supply chain delays to source a spare part from the United States, which significantly affected our international network.”
“Our engineering team have been working hard to address these issues and return all the 787 aircraft to service as quickly as possible.
“We understand how frustrating delays and cancellations are, and we sincerely apologise to customers who are impacted by these unavoidable changes to their schedules.”
Jetstar added that Mr and Ms Pali’s expense claim is due to be paid on Tuesday while Mr and Ms Harrison were rebooked on the next available flight.
The airline says it’s also working to issue Mr Lea and Ms Moran a full refund for their flights.
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