Karl Stefanovic unleashes on Jetstar over treatment of teen daughter

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic has unleashed on budget airline Jetstar over how they treated his 17-year-old daughter on a recent flight from Queensland.

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic has unleashed on budget airline Jetstar, after claims “rude” staff left his teenage daughter feeling “completely intimidated” during a recent flight.

The Channel 9 personality revealed to his co-host Allison Langdon that during a recent flight from the Sunshine Coast, his 17-year-old daughter Ava was 500g over the carry-on limit.

When she asked if she could put an item from her suitcase into her handbag, she was denied in what Stefanovic says was a “rude” manner by staff.

“So she [Ava Stefanovic] could take something out and throw it out, but she couldn’t take it out and wear it?” Langdon questioned.

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Karl Stefanovic unleashed on Jetstar over the treatment of his 17-year-old daughter.

“No, she [Ava] asked if she could put it in her handbag,” Stefanovic clarified.

“They [Jetstar staff] said ‘if you want to throw your handbag out. It was so rude. So rude.

“That made my daughter, who is only 17, feel completely intimidated.”

It is understood Ms Stefanovic was required to pay excess for the 500g of excess baggage she had in her carry-on.

According to the airline, Economy Starter, Starter Plus and Starter Max passengers are allowed a main item and a small item, with a combined weight of no more than 7kg. For a business class fare, passengers can have a main item and a small item with a combined weight of no more than 14kg.

Mr Stefanovic said of a separate matter, that his flight to the Sunshine Coast was cancelled six hours before it was due to leave last week.

“I think when you go to the airports and all around Australia there are huge lines. Everyone accepts now that things are a bit more difficult and challenging,” he said.

“But for Jetstar, they need to improve communications and also their staff on the ground who are facing enormous pressure.

“Unfortunately they haven’t cleaned up their room yet and there are still passengers like you out there.”

Karl Stefanovic unleashed on Jetstar over the treatment of his 17-year-old daughter.

Both incidents come as the airline rolled out a public apology earlier in the week after passengers were left stranded in Japan and Bali when two Boeing 787s were sidelined last month.

“We know we haven’t delivered to the customer expectation,” Jetstar chief operating officer Matthew Franzi told 9 News.

“We honestly do understand it has been hard, and frustrating and disappointing,” cabin manager Catherine Barker added.

A Jetstar spokesperson said all of the airline’s Boeing 787 aircraft were back in service.

“Our teams have been working incredibly hard to get these aircraft back in the air, with the 787s impacted by the lightning strike and damage from debris on the runway requiring complex repairs,” they said.

“To help manage the disruptions during the repair process we added special services and put customers on other airlines to get people home, sent engineering and customer teams around our network to support people on the ground and developed creative and resourceful processes in sourcing spare parts as a result of global supply chain issues.

Jetstar issued an aplogy over their ongoing customer complaints and chaos for passengers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

“To further support our operations, we’ve also hired more people across all areas of our business, created a buffer between services by revising our boarding process and added more crew on standby and team members in our operations centre to help manage illness.

“We never want to cancel or delay a flight, but we will always prioritise safety. We appreciate it’s been a really frustrating time for customers recently and sincerely apologise to those who have had their travel plans disrupted, especially during the school holidays.”

The airline has blamed “bad luck” for the string of recent cancellations and as part of the apology, is promising improvements ahead of the Christmas period.

In a statement, Jetstar said: “We always strive to ensure our passengers have a safe and enjoyable journey when travelling with us. We apologise to Ms Stefanovic if this was not her experience and have reached out to her to better understand what happened.”

Originally published as Karl Stefanovic unleashes on Jetstar over treatment of teen daughter