Updated with short, belated Qantas response
It’s almost a week since the Australian Frequent Flyer forum published a detailed and excruciating account as to how QF636 to Brisbane on 8 August found itself at the Gold Coast airport when it ran low on fuel and its passengers were then poorly treated by what purports to be a full service carrier.
It’s also almost a working day since Plane Talking sought a full explanation of the events of that night, and inability of the country’s largest airline to help its customers, or be accountable to the travelling public.
It is necessary to read that thread on the forum and the 12 screenloads of discussion that followed.
Qantas was not to blame for the air traffic delays that saw QF636 eventually give up its lengthy wait for a clearance to land at Brisbane, which has no curfew, only to become stranded at the Gold Coast airport, which does have a curfew.
But what subsequently happened to the passengers reflects very poorly on the capacity of Qantas to care for disclocated passengers.
There are references in the thread to Qantas satisfying in some way some of the passengers in confidence on the flight. That is of no benefit to those who are dissatisfied with their treatment, and reasonably would like to know more about whether Qantas no longer gives a damn in situations like this, or was just having a bad night, and will now individually contact and compensate the passengers and provide some assurance to its customers that this won’t happen again.
Whether this is a new caring policy by Qantas, or just a stuff up, something is wrong at Qantas, and it needs explaining and fixing.
This morning a Qantas spokesman offered the following response:
This was an unfortunate sequence of events which meant that passengers on one of our flights to Brisbane were significantly delayed. The flight was diverted to Coolangatta Airport as Air Traffic Control at Brisbane Airport put the aircraft in a very long holding pattern. After landing in Coolangatta, passengers were then transported to Brisbane via arranged busses and taxis. We also offered hotel accommodation for those not wanting to travel to Brisbane that night. We have apologised to the impacted customers and provided compensation.
