Jetstar passenger's 24 hours of misery after woman's outburst forces Bali flight to turn around
'I was running around, crying for the hours before the flight and Jetstar did nothing,' she told Yahoo.
A passenger on board a Jetstar flight to Bali which was forced to turn back to Melbourne following a woman’s mid-air outburst has hit out at the airline — calling on them to “do better” after she was left in tears unable to continue on her holiday.
Ashleigh Baker was on the JQ43 flight on Monday morning when the Denpasar-bound plane was forced to make a U-turn less than halfway through the journey due to the security threat posed by an unruly passenger.
She alleges Jetstar offered little communication or compensation following the altercation and ensuing delay, except to alert passengers a new flight was rescheduled for 10am the following day.
Desperate to get her holiday back on track, Ashleigh contacted Jetstar to see if there were any flights leaving earlier than 10am on Tuesday and after a miscommunication, was almost forced off the replacement flight as well.
"I was running around, crying for the hours before the flight and Jetstar did nothing,” she told Yahoo News Australia. "I lost [that] entire day because of this unruly woman, and Jetstar's decision-making.”
Mid-air outburst causes chaos
Ashleigh alleges the drama started on the ground in Melbourne, telling Yahoo the woman was “behaving erratically" ahead of the flight. Despite this, all the passengers were allowed to board and two hours after leaving Melbourne, the rowdy mid-air outburst became aggressive so the pilot turned back.
At the time of the incident, a Jetstar spokesperson publicly apologised to those affected, offering accommodation for travellers who needed it until the flight attempts its journey again at 10am on Tuesday.
"We know this was a difficult experience for other customers and our team members, and we thank those who assisted with the situation," a Jetstar spokesperson said.
After landing back in Melbourne, Ashleigh contacted Jetstar to see if there were any other flights leaving earlier than 10am the following day — as she was already eating into her holiday time.
"They offered a 20-hour duration flight that left at 11pm [Monday] and would stop in Sydney, and I said no — just stick to the 10am replacement," she explained.
With her boarding pass confirming the 10am flight, she arrived at the airport on Tuesday morning and "walked straight" through security and immigration.
"It was only when my partner asked the flight number and [we were told] 'that takes off at 6pm' that I realised there were two flights," Ashleigh said.
Miscommunication leaves passenger 'in tears'
To cater for all of the passengers who were forced to turn back to Melbourne, Jetstar had added an extra flight to the Tuesday schedule which meant one flight had to be pushed back. Ashleigh had been booked on the second flight, which was delayed.
Ashleigh claims after being told by staff she was put on the later flight, leaving at 6pm Tuesday, she "went to border security" to ask for help, who phoned the Jetstar desk.
"[Jetstar] asked me to come to the gate [so] I went and waited for over an hour before they arrived, which was now 45 mins before take off," she said.
Ashleigh claims this is when Jetstar staff told her there was "nothing they could do" and she would have to wait until the evening. "They had left me in tears saying nothing can be done and it’s my fault for not checking earlier," she said.
In one final, last-ditch effort to get onto the earlier flight, Ashleigh "ran back" to border security to ask for their help in getting her on this flight. "[Border security] phoned them and essentially forced them to put me on the flight and gave me 'immigration clearance'.
"I had so many fellow passengers advocating for me and everyone clapped for me when I got on because they all knew what happened."
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'The final straw' for passenger
After the lack of adequate compensation following the incident, the constant problems with communication and "little sympathy" from staff on Tuesday, Ashleigh said the "final straw" for her came when Jetstar staff tried to stop her boarding the 10am flight.
"I was told I should have flagged at check-in, yet I mobile checked in and received no communications," she recalled.
Ashleigh says there were so many people on the flight impacted, and while Jetstar could "do better" by offering compensation they "chose not to". "I met a couple on their honeymoon, families on their first trip overseas," she said.
Jetstar claims it was passenger's decision to change flight
Jetstar has insisted it was Ashleigh who had moved herself off the 10am Tuesday flight but was then moved back to it, despite there seemingly being miscommunications from airport staff on the day.
"All affected customers including Ms Baker were moved to our replacement flight the following morning. Ms Baker subsequently requested several flight changes which we assisted her with," a spokesperson told Yahoo. "Later she asked to be moved back to her original rescheduled flight which we arranged."
But Ashleigh has disputed this, alleging border security were the only reason she made it onto the 10am flight on Tuesday, while Jetstar did "nothing". "It would have been another half day if border security hadn’t forced them to let me on the earlier flight."
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