In a series of unfortunate events, passengers of Qantas airlines were made to endure long hours on the tarmac without basic amenities like food and water, due to technical glitches in the aircraft.
A domestic flight QF596 carrying approximately a hundred passengers was immobilized for three hours upon landing at Gold Coast airport one Monday night. Despite exhausting their provisions of food and water, the passengers were appeased with complimentary servings of red wine as they waited within the confines of the aircraft.
Expressing displeasure over their predicament, a passenger voiced her disappointment towards Qantas services having prepared themselves for a mere two hours of journey but were confined to the aircraft for an exasperating five hours.
According to a Qantas spokesperson, the delay could be attributed to a problem with the airplane’s wheel steering necessitating it to be manually towed to the terminal, a task which consumed three strenuous hours. The spokesperson expressed apologies for the disruption and acknowledged the patience of their customers during the process of manually towing the aircraft.
Alarmingly, this wasn’t an isolated event as a similar issue struck another Qantas flight destined for Los Angeles a week prior. The passengers were stranded on the tarmac for six long hours before eventually cancelling the operation. Deprived of food and water, they were immensely frustrated when the cancellation news finally broke out.
Responding to customers’ ordeal, a Qantas spokesman justified the disruption to be a result of a string of incidents including delayed incoming aircraft, runway works, unfavorable weather, and restricted working hours limitation on their crew. He stated that they attempted to resolve the occurring issues in order to transport as many customers as possible to LA but were unable to succeed despite their best attempts.
As a make-good gesture, Qantas contacted each affected customer to apologize for the irksome experience and provided them a seat on the subsequent day’s flight. Additionally, those who decided to cancel their journey completely were reimbursed with a full refund. Furthermore, acknowledging the disarray, all affected customers were presented with a $1000 AUD travel voucher as an apology.
This streak of unruly service was not restricted to these incidents as a passenger reported her recent flight to the US to be her “worst ever experience”. With the flight initially delayed for a few hours, they were later made to wait for an additional 40 minutes on the tarmac during the refuelling process. To add to their misery, during the journey, they were informed about depletion of meals, save for a chicken salad. Further, she expressed her disappointment about the noticeably inferior quality of the available meal. They were only offered fruits during breakfast service due to malfunctioning fridges. She ended her remark on a poignant note asking for the service to be upgraded.