“Never been treated so poorly”: Stranded man’s fury at Jetstar after cancelled flight
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At least 100 passengers have been left in limbo in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands after airline giant Jetstar cancelled flights coming in and out of the area.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Brenton Barker from the North Island in New Zealand was at Rarotonga Airport with his daughter before Jetstar cancelled their flight five minutes before the scheduled boarding time, which was 1:30 am.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s impacted a lot of people. It’s very ordinary. It’s just not acceptable for a professional carrier” Mr Barker told the </span><a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12274047"><span style="font-weight: 400;">New Zealand Herald</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I think the worst part about it is the lack of communication.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“In 40 years of flying across the globe, never have I or my family been treated so poorly.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Jetstar spokesperson confirmed that the flight had been cancelled due to crew sickness.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We are working with all affected customers to re-accommodate them on alternative flights where possible or provide accommodation and meal allowances while we work hard to get them to their destination,” the spokesperson said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We appreciate this is very frustrating and apologise to our customers for the impact to their journey, however the safety of our crew and passengers is always our first priority.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, Mr Barker wasn’t impressed as he wasn’t informed of the reason for the cancellation at the time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It was the wee hours of the morning, everybody was tired. I think people there were pretty well behaved,” Mr Barker said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They did organise accommodation and they had a big line-up of the whole flight waiting.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But basically it was just a mess. The people there locally have done a fantastic job. They were struggling to even handle it.”</span></p>
