Jetstar responds after influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews’ oyster delay
Jetstar has responded to the controversy known as #OysterGate involving a Byron Bay influencer who held up a plane and its passengers for 30 minutes to eat sea molluscs.
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Jetstar has responded to the controversy known as #OysterGate involving a Byron Bay influencer who held up a plane and its passengers for 30 minutes to eat sea molluscs.
On Thursday outspoken influencer Ruby Tuesday Matthews was flying from Ballina to Sydney and after discovering the plane was delayed, decided to leave the airport for oysters despite Jetstar telling guests to remain in the airport.
The mum of two went on to complain about Jetstar’s treatment of her, but the airline has diplomatically doubled down on its handling of the situation.
“We apologise to customers for the delay to the service and thank them for their patience as our team worked to get the flight away as quickly as possible,” a spokesman said in an exclusive statement to The Daily Telegraph.
“We kept customers informed during this time, asking them not to leave the airport should the flight be able to get away ahead of the revised time.”
Flight JQ461 was scheduled to leave Ballina at 5pm on Thursday, however due to technical issues departure had been pushed back to 7pm.
Going against instruction, which she later said she did not hear, Ms Matthews left the airport to eat oysters, which she posted on her Instagram.
She received a call from Jetstar informing her the plane was waiting on her to leave.
The aircraft’s technical issues had been fixed faster than expected and the plane would have departed closer to 6.30pm had Ms Matthews stayed at the airport with the rest of the passengers.
When she boarded the craft, videos show she was heckled by impatient passengers who had seen her leisurely oyster post on Instagram, where she has 210,000 posts.
Instead of apologising, Ms Matthews threw barbs at the airline online.
“So I just went up to the Jetstar desk to complain about what had happened [last week] and the treatment,” she posted on Instagram.
“I was just met outside by the manager and airline staff who wanted to go through my phone to make sure that I just didn’t film them inside.
“Apparently you’re not allowed to film Jetstar staff. Which is f***king kind of crazy when everyone on that plane filmed Jetstar staff
“Are you f***king off your heads Jetstar?”
Jetstar has since posted a subtle swipe on their own Instagram page featuring travel blogger Sarah Davidson holding up a oyster with the caption: “Cheers to Tassie opening up its borders today to SA, QLD, WA, NT and ACT! Who’s keen for a Tassie adventure?”