Jetstar has apologised over an operational matter which saw its Canberra to Gold Coast service cancelled on Monday Night causing about 100 passengers to be stranded at Canberra Airport.

JQ 651 was scheduled to leave about 4pm Monday but was delayed.

By 8:30pm Monday the plane finally arrived at the gate but waiting passengers  were then told the flight was cancelled because the crew was too tired and had exhausted their work hours.

Jetstar ground staff advised passengers to phone reservations for alternate flights.  However,  reservations had closed for the night.

Airline staff were powerless to help except to say “call them in the morning”.

Staff promised the passengers hotel accommodation at Jetstar’s expense and the airline would pay for taxi travel to and from the hotel.

Jetstar doesn’t operate daily flights making rebooking attempts disasterous.

This-afternoon the airline  worked hard to correct issues as part of the “Recovery” process

In a statement, a Jetstar spokesman said:  

• We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and frustration caused as a result of the cancellation.   
• We never want to disrupt our customer’s travel plans, but unfortunately, due to crewing issues following a significant delay due to bad weather, the Canberra to Gold Coast flight had to be cancelled.   
• Our teams explored all options to get customers on their way as soon as possible, including booking them on flights with other airlines, however as adverse weather conditions impacted a number of flights on the East Coast, options were limited. 
• Where possible, accommodation was secured for customers away from home, or alternatively hotels costs will be reimbursed for those who found their own rooms.
• Other reasonable expenses including transport costs will also be refunded.

NOTE: The author was one of the impacted passengers and witnessed events first hand.

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