Jetstar passengers stranded in Airlie Beach after flight cancellation

More than 100 passengers were forced to sleep on the floor of a gym, ferry terminal or on a stranger’s couch in the wake of a cancelled flight that left them stranded in a booked-out Queensland tourist destination full of generous locals.

More than 100 Whitsunday holidaymakers were forced to sleep on the floor of a ferry terminal, community gym or in the homes of gracious locals after a Jetstar flight from Hamilton Island to Sydney was cancelled.

About 130 passengers were brought from Hamilton Island to the mainland after Jetstar flight JQ849 was cancelled late Monday.

Cruise Whitsundays transported about 130 passengers back to Airlie Beach but passengers said there was no further support and they were left stranded in the booked-out popular tourist destination in the middle of school holidays.

It is understood at least one other flight from Whitsunday Coast Airport at Proserpine was also cancelled because of the weather.

Furious travellers hit out at the airline’s treatment, saying they were told to “get on the boat as they had a plane sorted to take us all back to Sydney”.

“They shuffle us on a ferry in a storm and then we get to Airlie Beach. No one is here, no communication and no where to stay. I wish I was joking,” the traveller said.

People all over the region were offering everything from queen-size beds to couches to accommodation abandoned travelled on one of the chilliest nights the region has experienced this year.

Those left over found themselves at the Whitsunday PCYC but with great generosity from Airlie Beach Domino’s and the renowned Fish D’vine.

Jetstar passengers from a cancelled flight were taken from Hamilton Island to Airlie Beach but there was no accommodation at either destination. Picture: Rae Wilson

Julie Telford, from Redcat Adventures, said her in-laws were scheduled to fly to Sydney on the cancelled flight.

She said they rang her for help and as the chair of Tourism Whitsundays, who happened to be dining with the organisation’s CEO, she leapt into action.

Mrs Telford’s husband Asher put a post in the Whitsunday Chat group asking for help from the community, attracting more than 100 comments and 60 shares as locals united.

“No accommodation available in town. If anyone has a spare room or bed for these people (including young families) I’m sure they would appreciate it. Just head down to the terminal and help if you can,” he wrote.

Mrs Telford said they helped out families with accommodation and also used their van to transport people to other offers of help.

“We put up three families, 10 people in total, across our properties and this morning I made a mad dash to get a couple and their five-year-old daughter to a Greyhound so they could get a newly booked flight out of Townsville to get back to Melbourne,” she said.

“It was just over 100 people and they were just literally dropped at Cruise Whitsunday terminal and told there would be help.

“I’ve heard Cruise Whitsundays were amazing giving out fruit and yoghurt to children and opening the bar.

“We drove people to various places in our van, others helped too, and the rest went to the PCYC.

“We are really disappointed with the way Jetstar dealt with it, ‘just go get a refund’.

“We need to talk about how that went so horribly wrong.

“The region is booked out right now because it’s school holidays.

“I was ringing around for accommodation and there was nothing.

“As a community everyone came together and it was lovely to see.

“The guy I drove was crying in the car, he was just so relieved he had somewhere to stay.”

Division 1 Cr Jan Clifford was among those who leapt into action. Picture: Kirra Grimes

Whitsunday councillor Jan Clifford received a phone call from Whitsunday Transit saying “all these people were stranded” and made some calls.

“Everybody over here has been absolutely amazing. God I love this town. It is just the best place in the world,” she said.

“Thank you Whitsundays, you do me proud

“Transit did an amazing job of getting people around.

“Absolute hats off to everybody. There were people taken into homes as well.”

One of Airlie Beach’s renowned hospitality providers, Kevin Collins, operator of Fish D’vine, donated 30 serves of chips to the holidaymakers and Airlie Beach Domino’s donated 40 pizzas.

“I think everyone just rallied around the whole process, which was really nice,” Mr Collins said.

Fish D'Vine and the Rum Bar co-owner Kev Collins was proud of his community after Jetstar cancelled a flight from Hamilton Island to Sydney.

“It was just a pretty good all round effort to make the best of a shitty situation I think.

“It could have been a pretty bad experience just getting dumped in Airlie at night.

“Cruise Whitsunday opened up their terminal for the holidaymakers late and tried to find them accommodation.

“Cruise Whitsunday put on an extra ferry to get them off the island.

“I think all around it was a pretty good effort by the whole community. Social media works a treat.

“It’s just nice. It is what I think is what little communities do really well.

“They’ve still got that sense of community spirit that perhaps cities don’t have.

“That’s why I love living here frankly.”

PCYC Whitsundays’ Sergeant Billy Li opened up the PCYC and put a roof over about 70 holidaymakers heads for the night.

“We got the soft gym mats out. We’ve got shower and toilet facilities for people,” he said.

“The community has come together. People were fed and kept warm.

“What amazed me was the generosity of the community last night.

“By the end of the night there were only about 20 people left.

“They were all picked up by locals that showed up and offered accommodation. That was pretty amazing.

Transit buses transported passengers to Whitsunday Coast and most were flown out today at 11am.

A Jetstar spokesman said the airline deeply regretted the “extreme disruption” passengers experienced when the Hamilton Island to Sydney flight was cancelled on Monday.

“Due to an engineering issue, our flight from Hamilton Island was cancelled and bad weather meant we were unfortunately unable to operate a replacement flight last night,” he said.

“Passengers were provided a ferry to Airlie Beach as there was no accommodation available on Hamilton Island.

Jetstar says it will look into what happened to ensure it does not happen in the future. Picture: Chris Kidd

“Our teams worked hard to try to secure accommodation in Airlie Beach, however there were extremely limited accommodation options available on the Whitsundays Coast.

“As a result, a local community centre was used to provide accommodation for those who needed it.

“We send our sincere thanks to the local community in Airlie Beach for their support overnight.”

Jetstar said it was working to get customers on their way as soon as possible and would provide reimbursement towards any accommodation, meals and transport costs incurred as a result of the disruption.

Hamilton Island marina. Picture: Rae Wilson

“We’re also thoroughly looking into what has happened to make sure it doesn’t occur again in future, and are reaching out to customers individually to sincerely apologise for this situation,” he said.

Michelle Ma Belle said on social media there were also flights cancelled from Whitsunday Coast Airport.

“All had checked in their luggage and then had to recollect it from baggage carousel,” she said.

“The airport baggage handling staff did a great job as did the airline staff and the staff of Taste Whitsundays, keeping everyone who waited hours only to find out they weren’t going anywhere, fed with great food, good coffee and a well-stocked bar.

“Hoping everyone was able to get transported back into town and be accommodated.”