Carpet on Jetstar flight from Bali to Melbourne covered in spew

A young couple has hit out at the “disgusting” mess on their Jetstar flight that left them feeling ill for multiple days.

Melbourne couple James McNeill and Ciara Scott on their Bali holiday. Picture: Supplied

A Melbourne couple were left sick and covered in vomit after being forced to sit in a stranger’s spew for a “disgusting” six-hour flight home.

James McNeill and his partner Ciara Scott were winding up their relaxing Bali holiday and were keen to catch their Jetstar return flight on Sunday 8 January – a round trip which cost the couple $1800.

Unbeknown to Mr McNeill and Ms Scott, they were about to embark on an air journey that would make even the most seasoned traveller’s stomach churn.

“We got on the plane and arrived at our seats to find a smell, the people in the row in front of us were pretty aware of it as well,” Mr McNeill said of the ordeal.

The couple’s relaxing Bali holiday ended with a ‘disgusting’ ordeal on the flight home. Picture: Thinkstock

“As we went to sit in our seats my partner noticed vomit on the cabin wall and on my tray table as well as hers.

“We looked down and noticed a lot of vomit on the carpet below the seats.”

The couple alerted the plane’s staff and asked to move seats.

“They said there was nowhere to move us to,” Mr McNeill said.

“First they offered us cleaning wipes to clean it ourselves, then we said we didn’t really want to do that, so we asked if a cleaner could be brought on to clean the seats.

“They did that which is okay, but when we came back to the seats there was still quite a bit there … we had to ask for cleaning wipes in the end and clean it ourselves.”

Mr McNeill and Ms Scott said the Jetstar plane had vomit on the carpet below the seats. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

The couple later fell ill and were “sick for the next couple of days”.

“We sort of mentioned to them at the time that it was a biohazard, and you would think with all the new hygiene requirements airlines have bringing in this wouldn’t happen,” Mr McNeill said.

“I think they’re lucky that we’re both in our 20s but had it been someone who was elderly or someone who had a medical condition it could’ve been a lot worse.”

Disappointed at the airline’s response after having paid nearly $2000 for their tickets, Mr McNeill filed a complaint with Jetstar after his initial report made on the flight went ignored for several days.

“I had to reach out again to ask what was going on, when they did get back to us they sent an email with some generic response which apologised for the seat being untidy, and gave us a $50 voucher,” he said.

Jetstar’s response to Mr McNeill said the airline was “disappointed that you found the aircraft untidy on this occasion”.

“Before every departure, our cabin crew tidy the aircraft and ad hoc cleaning is performed as required.”

Mr McNeill described the response as “pretty average given what happened”.

“It was disappointing and disgusting.”

In response to the incident Jestar acknowledged more could have been done.

“We’re really sorry for the disappointing experience Mr McNeil and his partner had on their recent flight from Bali to Melbourne and know this situation could have been handled better,” a spokesperson told the Herald Sun.

“We always want our customers to have a comfortable and enjoyable flight with us and as part of our investigation, we’re speaking to the couple to better understand their experience.”