Qantas passengers were forced to sit on the tarmac for six hours before their fateful flight was cancelled, the latest horror story from the airline has been revealed.
A Los Angeles-bound flight from Melbourne had already been delayed on Tuesday night after the crew encountered more trouble as soon as passengers boarded.
The plane was deemed too heavy to take off at Melbourne Airport due to strong winds, and the facility’s long runway was closed for maintenance.
Passengers were offered the option of flying to Los Angeles without baggage, which would be sent on the next flight, an option one woman described as “full luggage.” [her] “With fear.”
“Two hours later, we were really frustrated and they were still doing the paperwork. And at about 1:30 a.m., everyone was pretty frustrated at that point, but the food… They basically told us, “The plane is too heavy to fit in the runway space or anything similar,” passenger Pip told 3AW radio.
Despite choosing to continue flying without baggage due to work commitments in the US, the flight was canceled entirely at 3am, causing customer dissatisfaction.
“We got off and the ground staff were waiting for us, but it was just chaos. There were no messages, no communication about the timing of the next flight or when it would be arranged.” she said.
“People from Melbourne were told they had to pay a taxi fare to get home.”
Pip said they were not provided with food while waiting on the tarmac, only water and a bag of nuts.
She criticized the airline’s customer service and response to the incident.
“This isn’t their first rodeo. They didn’t have a contingency plan and were never in the lead,” Pip said.
“You have to call them, you have to go after them, and you have to be the one trying to get compensation or accept complaints.”
Qantas has contacted us for comment.