Virgin Australia threatens to kick family off flight for complaining about delays
Virgin Australia threatened to kick a family with a five-month-old baby off a flight if they complained about flight delays over social media.
Katie Kolenberg, her partner Jeremy Byrnes and baby August were flying from Canberra to Cairns on August 1 when they were told at check-in their Virgin flight would be delayed by five hours, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The supervisor on duty allegedly told the couple that they had to wait at the airport with their son and their flight would not arrive until 10.30pm later that night. Or the family could fly tomorrow, meaning they would miss a day of their holiday and a night’s accommodation,
“If we didn't have Augie we would've just gone home and enjoyed a day in front of Netflix. But it's a bit different when you need a car seat to get home and all your sh*t is packed etc,” Katie told the publication.
“We’ve been here since 11.30am. And we now fly out at 5.30pm,” she added.
Deciding to wait at the airport, Katie asked Virgin staff for assistance to find a comfortable place at the airport, so she could breastfeed and look after her son. But staff refused all their requests, including access to the Virgin lounge.
“Staff were rude, unhelpful, no compensation, no assistance,” Katie told The Daily Telegraph.
“I was really mad about how they were treating us and I said to her that I’d post on social media and maybe get a better result.
“(The check-in supervisor) said that she could prevent us from flying later in the day if I went on social media to complain.
“(She) told me that’s what WOULD happen if I complained about the flight stuff up and our subsequent treatment on social media.
“She said ‘we have the authority to do that’.
“It took three people and tears on my behalf before someone even offered us a meal voucher.”
The family were forced to look after their newborn in an airport lounge for six hours.
In a statement to the paper a Virgin Australia spokeswoman said the company was “looking into the issue” but did not provide any information if it was company policy to restrict customers speaking on social media.