‘Ruthless’: Qantas slammed for flight decision

A man has been left furious for the reason his flight was delayed and thinks more needs to be done to protect passengers.

A passenger has been left fuming after his Qantas flight was delayed for hours – claiming it was held up as staff waited for a busload of miners to arrive at the airport – resulting in him missing a crucial exam.

Michel Alam had booked a Qantas seat from Kalgoorlie to Perth last Thursday and a connecting flight onwards to Sydney, leaving two and a half hours between them to allow for any delays.

He needed to be in Sydney for a crucial exam for his immigration application, which had cost $445 to book.

The mining technician said he heard from colleagues that the flight delay was due to passengers travelling from the mine whose bus had broken down.

“I would understand if it was weather circumstances or a technical problem or something urgent happened,” he told news.com.au.

“But this is not a fair act or a good deal, because of some other people, we were made to wait.”

Michel Alam said he wanted a refund of almost $900. Picture: Supplied

A Qantas spokesperson told news.com.au a flight from Carosue Dam to Kalgoorlie was cancelled on March 19 due to a mechanical issue and customers were re-accommodated on a bus service in order to get them to Kalgoorlie as quickly as possible.

“Unfortunately, that bus service was delayed which caused a flow on effect to the Kalgoorlie to Perth service,” the spokesperson said.

“We realise this would have been very disruptive to Mr Alam’s journey and we are reaching out to him to discuss further.”

Mr Alam said when he landed in Perth he could not make his Jetstar flight to Sydney. He claimed Qantas’ response to the delay was “ruthless”.

The 32-year-old had approached Qantas directly on landing in Perth and said he spent 15 minutes waiting while there were attempts to book him on the next flight to Sydney.

“While waiting, I personally checked the Qantas website and found an available seat for $1600, which confirmed there was room for me on that flight,” he explained.

“However, after making me wait until the Qantas flight was fully boarded, (I was) suddenly refused (assistance) because my missed flight was with Jetstar.

“I was not even given the option to pay for a discounted ticket or any alternative solution.

Instead, I was abruptly dismissed in an extremely rude and unsympathetic manner.”

Now, he wants Qantas to refund him almost $900 for the stress and inconvenience of his experience.

This includes close to $400 for the missed Jetstar flight, the new flight he purchased for $90, which included a layover in Melbourne, and the exam fee.

News.com.au understands Qantas will refund cost of the flight Mr Alam paid to get to Sydney “as a gesture of good will”.

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He said he waited in the remote airport for more than two hours and missed his flight to Sydney: Picture: iStock

He is particularly concerned that the delay has now jeopardised his visa chances as he has a current deadline of mid April.

“Rescheduling the exam is not guaranteed, as spots are often unavailable for weeks or months,” he noted.

“To take the exam, I must request annual leave from work, which requires at least one month’s notice — making it even more difficult to meet the immigration deadline.”

To add to that, the visa is based on a points based system and the older he gets the more points he can lose – with his birthday looming in June.

Michel Alam has been left furious for the reason why his Qantas flight was delayed. Picture: Supplied

Mr Alam is also calling on Qantas to confirm the reason for the “unjustified delay” and acknowledge its impact on his travel and immigration process in writing.

“This statement is essential for my immigration case,” he added.

He said he was frustrated that all Qantas offered in the end was a taxi voucher and a night’s accommodation.

“I want them to have some empathy and that they on purpose took the decision to stop the aeroplane to make everyone to wait for those people to arrive,” he said.

“It’s a big mess up and it can’t be a coincidence the moment everyone arrived then we were told to board the aeroplane.”

He estimates there were 30 to 40 people that arrived at the airport.

News.com.au understands a large proportion of the customers on the Kalgoorlie to Perth flight were connecting from the impacted charter flight – and given the large number of customers connecting, a decision was made to hold the flight.

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