Customer fury over ‘disgraceful’ changes to Jetstar flights

Angry customers have claimed they will “never willingly fly” with the airline again after changes it has made with “zero communication”.

Furious Jetstar customers bound for Bali have trashed the airline after a multitude of flight changes.

One customer said she was given “zero communication” about changes made to her flight, and had to find out from a friend rather than the airline itself.

“I've lost total trust in Jetstar and will never willingly fly with them again; if they put flights on their schedule, they should honour it,” she said.

Some customers have vowed not to travel with the budget airline again after the disruptions. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

“If my friend hadn’t seen our flight had been changed, I would’ve turned up to Brisbane Airport for my flight, only to be told it had been moved to the following day.”

The customer also noted the airline had added an eight-hour layover in Sydney, as she had booked to travel from Brisbane to Denpasar and that she had been “punted” off business class.

“They seem to forget the massive impact it can have on people’s holiday plans … changing a flight by a day can cost people money on lost accommodation and literally put their plans in ruins.”

Jetstar says that it has had to make changes to flights as it is adding a new aircraft to its ranks, noting the rescheduling issues are not because of the engineering issues which plagued the airline through September.

“With the arrival of our brand new, next generation A321LR (NEO) aircraft earlier this year, we have made some adjustments to our international schedule, with some of our Boeing 787 Dreamliner services to Denpasar now being operated by the new NEO,” a spokesperson said.

Flights to Bali are the most impacted, according to customer reports. Picture: Johannes P. Christo

It also confirmed some customers had been kicked off flights due to the changes to its scheduling, saying this was because of the addition of the NEO aircraft to its fleet.

“Given the NEO is a smaller aircraft compared to our Boeing 787, a small number of passengers have been rebooked on an alternative service, with the majority travelling within 24 hours of their original flight,” the spokesperson said.

“We thank customers for their flexibility as we introduce new aircraft onto our Bali services.”

However, some customers have noted that even changes which are made within 24 hours can have a big impact on travel plans, such as on another customer’s girls’ trip to Bali.

The airline has blamed the introduction of a new aircraft to its Bali flights for the rescheduling issues and not engineering problems. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

“My friend was flying over for four nights for my 40th birthday, but she got bumped from her flight and has now been delayed by 11 hours – so it’s hardly worth it for her,” she said.

“The rest of our party was lucky enough not to get bumped, but it doesn’t inspire confidence.”

Customers have taken to social media to talk about dozens of flight changes, with some complaining they had been bumped off larger flights.

One described the “bad” change from a Dreamliner to an Airbus aircraft, saying he had to chase Jetstar for a refund as the on-flight entertainment he had paid for was no longer available.

“The customer service is atrocious; the first [Jetstar worker] I spoke to tried telling me there were no changes,” they said.

“I've since gone through the live chat complaints and a refund for the entertainment is being processed.

“Jetstar is in trouble … The general consensus is that they are unreliable,” another commented.