ozbeachbabe
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2009
- Posts
- 6,459
Jetstar cabin crew offloaded 4 young passengers from a DRW/BNE flight last Fri 09 April because not all of them were able to provide photo ID from their high school to verify there were all attending secondary schools.
This was despite the fact ground staff had checked them in and were satisfied all pax met the criteria. JQ673 was due to depart at 0130 but was delayed at least 45 minutes while cabin crew procrastinated whether to take them or not then after consulting their crew manuals, decided they'd refuse to uplift them.
The delay was caused not only by offloading the pax but searching for and locating their bags. As JQ A320's are 'containerised', this can take time if bags are loaded in the cans loaded first, as you have to offload the other ones first to get to them.
With JQ children can only travel without someone 15 or over if they are a) attending high school and b) if they can present photo ID from their school which would show their date of birth on it.
The problem was not helped by the grandmother of two of the kids leaving the airport prior to flight departing - as in pushback not takeoff, so was already half way back to her rural location when she received a call at 0200 ish to come back and retrieve her grandkids. To say she wasn't a happy camper would be an understatement!
Also not a great PR exercise for the airline particularly as one of the kids was in tears by this stage and had to wait around in the airport terminal for family to retrieve them. It does appear there is some blame to be levelled on both sides though.
There was some conjecture about whether all the kids were in high school as checkin apparently were told by the guardian they were but when kids were quizzed onboard by staff one said he wasn't. Adults should never put kids in the situation where they have to lie about their age or anything else.
Also the ages of the kids were between 12 and 14 but again when one of the kids was asked how old he was he replied "14 in August" which is 13 in my book. Again it just sounds like a parent/guardian has coached them into talking up their age. It didn't really matter whether it was 14 or 13 as the issue was no school ID for a couple of them.
JQ rebooked and paid for them to travel later that afternoon DRW/BNE on a Qantas flight. As pax were 12 and over they met QF's criteria of 'young passengers'. Only children aged 5 up to and including 11 must travel as unaccompanied minors when travelling with QF.
The JQ website lists the conditions of carriage for young pax as follows:
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en//popup/childrensupervision.aspx
This was despite the fact ground staff had checked them in and were satisfied all pax met the criteria. JQ673 was due to depart at 0130 but was delayed at least 45 minutes while cabin crew procrastinated whether to take them or not then after consulting their crew manuals, decided they'd refuse to uplift them.
The delay was caused not only by offloading the pax but searching for and locating their bags. As JQ A320's are 'containerised', this can take time if bags are loaded in the cans loaded first, as you have to offload the other ones first to get to them.
With JQ children can only travel without someone 15 or over if they are a) attending high school and b) if they can present photo ID from their school which would show their date of birth on it.
The problem was not helped by the grandmother of two of the kids leaving the airport prior to flight departing - as in pushback not takeoff, so was already half way back to her rural location when she received a call at 0200 ish to come back and retrieve her grandkids. To say she wasn't a happy camper would be an understatement!
Also not a great PR exercise for the airline particularly as one of the kids was in tears by this stage and had to wait around in the airport terminal for family to retrieve them. It does appear there is some blame to be levelled on both sides though.
There was some conjecture about whether all the kids were in high school as checkin apparently were told by the guardian they were but when kids were quizzed onboard by staff one said he wasn't. Adults should never put kids in the situation where they have to lie about their age or anything else.
Also the ages of the kids were between 12 and 14 but again when one of the kids was asked how old he was he replied "14 in August" which is 13 in my book. Again it just sounds like a parent/guardian has coached them into talking up their age. It didn't really matter whether it was 14 or 13 as the issue was no school ID for a couple of them.
JQ rebooked and paid for them to travel later that afternoon DRW/BNE on a Qantas flight. As pax were 12 and over they met QF's criteria of 'young passengers'. Only children aged 5 up to and including 11 must travel as unaccompanied minors when travelling with QF.
The JQ website lists the conditions of carriage for young pax as follows:
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en//popup/childrensupervision.aspx
Independent Traveller Requirement - Children
The airline generally requires that passengers are able to travel independently. The airline does not have the systems, staff or facilities required to assume responsibility for assistance and supervision of passengers. Children requiring supervision will not be regarded as able to travel independently on the basis that they may cause a disruption or endanger themselves or others if travelling unaccompanied.
As a guide for Domestic Australian and International flights to/from Australia operated by Jetstar (JQ), children who are not yet attending secondary school will be regarded as unable to travel independently and will not be eligible to travel unless they are accompanied by an appropriate Accompanying Passenger*. Jetstar may require proof that children are currently attending secondary school at check-in. Despite these guidelines, if a child is attending secondary school but their parent or guardian considers that the child is not sufficiently independent to travel unaccompanied using the service provided by Jetstar, they must notify Jetstar. Jetstar is not able to carry such passengers unaccompanied.
*Accompanying Passenger means a paying passenger who, in our reasonable opinion, can travel independently and is able to and will provide the appropriate assistance, supervision, or both, as is required for the particular customer they are accompanying. As a guide, Jetstar generally will not consider a passenger to be an appropriate Accompanying Passenger for a child unless the passenger is at least 15 years old. Jetstar generally requires that passengers are able to travel independently. We do not have the systems, staff or facilities required to assume responsibility for assistance and supervision of passengers. Children requiring supervision will not be regarded as able to travel independently on the basis that they may cause a disruption or endanger themselves or others if travelling unaccompanied.
For Intra-Asia flights operated by Jetstar Asia (3K) or Valuair (VF), passengers below the age of 15 must be accompanied by a passenger who is 15 years of age or older, at the time of travel. The airline regrets that it is unable to accept carriage for unaccompanied minors.
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