Qantas slammed after 300 passengers stranded at US airport

Aussie airline Qantas has apologised to hundreds of passengers after they were left stranded at a US airport for almost 24 hours.

Qantas has come under fire after delays saw hundreds of passengers stranded at a US airport for almost 24 hours, with many people forced to sleep on the floor due to a lack of accommodation options.

More than 300 people were on a Boeing 787-9 flight from Dallas Fort Worth Airport in Texas to Sydney on Wednesday night when the fiasco began.

Before takeoff, the crew realised the aircraft had pushed back from the gate, resulting in an initial delay while the engineering issue was resolved.

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Hundreds of Qantas passengers have been left fuming after they became stranded at a US airport. Picture: Mark Stewart

However, by the time the problem was fixed, Sydney Airport curfew restrictions meant the flight had to be delayed for a second time.

By this point it was about 2am and, while Qantas attempted to secure accommodation for all the passengers, it quickly became clear this would not be possible due to a lack of availability.

Passengers were advised to make their own accommodation arrangements which would then be reimbursed by the airline.

Passenger and Guardian columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith revealed that the closest hotel was a $100 Uber ride away.

@Qantas cancelled QF8 at 2am, ~300 people in an airport. Ok, it happens. Then "we have no plan for hotels, keep your receipts", so the people with liquidity took a $100 uber to the only hotel. The rest slept on the floor. 9am when we'd been told to check in.. no Qantas staff came

— Eleanor Gordon-Smith (@TheRealEGS) June 15, 2022

While some took this option, many passengers opted to rough it out on the airport floor for the night as they had been told check in for the flight was at 9am.

Unfortunately, when 9am rolled around, there were no Qantas employees to be seen.

“By this point it is Lord of the Flies. A plane-load of people is at check-in with nowhere to go and no guidance, the Qantas desk isn’t just unmanned it has become a Lufthansa desk, and 300 people have checked bags to nowhere,” Ms Gordon-Smith said in a Twitter post.

staff of course were doing their absolute best in awful circumstances last night, but there just aren't any staff on the ground today to update/assist people stuck at the airport? feel sick for the family with four kids under six. just awful.

— Brynn O'Brien (@brynnobrien) June 15, 2022

Another passenger, Brynn O’Brien said there were many passengers with young kids that were also going through the ordeal.

“Staff of course were doing their absolute best in awful circumstances last night, but there just aren’t any staff on the ground today to update/assist people stuck at the airport? Feel sick for the family with four kids under six. Just awful,” she wrote on Twitter.

“There was a mechanical fault with the plane which of course needs to be addressed (!!) but there is apparently *no other plane* and *no other flights* and *no update*”

Ms O’Brien then offered a “word of warning”, claiming Qantas “isn’t what it used to be”.

Qantas apologised to the passengers involved in the “difficult situation”.

“We know that this is a difficult situation for our customers whose plans have been disrupted, and we apologise for the inconvenience,” a Qantas spokesperson said.

“Our team at Dallas Fort Worth Airport provided customers with assistance after the initial delay and are helping customers ahead of the delayed departure.”

Eventually the flight took off one day and 2.5-hours late, arriving into Sydney at 7.40am today.