Qantas passenger fumes over ridiculous reason his flight was delayed: Ruthless
A man has missed a crucial immigration exam after Qantas delayed his flight for hours so that passengers from another cancelled service could board.
A man has missed a crucial immigration exam after Qantas delayed his flight for hours so that passengers from another cancelled service could board.
Michel Alam, 32, was waiting to board a Qantas flight from Kalgoorlie to Perth on Thursday, March 20 when the flight was delayed.
He was forced to miss a connecting flight to Sydney despite leaving a two-and-a-half hour window between the flights planned arrival at Perth and his subsequent Jetstar flight.
It was crucial to Mr Alam that he make that flight in time for an immigration exam with a mid-April deadline that cost him $445 to reserve.
Mr Alam was informed by colleagues the flight had been delayed to allow passengers on an earlier cancelled Qantas flight to board.
I would understand if it was weather circumstances or a technical problem or something urgent happened, Mr Alam told news.com.au.
But this is not a fair act or a good deal, because of some other people, we were made to wait.
Mr Alam said the flight took off immediately upon the earlier impacted passengers arriving.
Michel Alam (pictured) was forced to miss a crucial exam following a Qantas delay
A Qantas spokesperson told news.com.au the delay was caused by an earlier cancellation
It’s a big mess up and it can’t be a coincidence the moment everyone arrived then we were told to board the aeroplane.
When Mr Alam landed in Perth, he explained his situation to Qantas whose response he described as ruthless.
Despite finding a seat for an alternative flight on the Qantas website, the mining technician said he was refused assistance because his connecting flight had been booked through Jetstar.
I was not even given the option to pay for a discounted ticket or any alternative solution.
Instead, I was abruptly dismissed in an extremely rude and unsympathetic manner.
Mr Alam subsequently purchased a $90 ticket for a flight with a layover in Melbourne but was unable to make his exam.
An alternative exam is not guaranteed and Mr Alam said he must file leave with his employer to attend the exam at least one month in advance meaning he may not meet the mid-April exam deadline.
Skilled visas are awarded on a points system based in part on the applicants age - with more points awarded to younger applicants.
Qantas was last year ordered to pay $120million for booking customers on already cancelled services
Mr Alam has an upcoming birthday and it is therefore possible his immigration prospects will be negatively impacted by the delay.
He was provided with a taxi voucher a single nights accommodation in Melbourne as compensation for the delay.
Qantas has since confirmed a flight from Carosue Dam to Kalgoorlie on March 19 was cancelled due to mechanical issues.
Unfortunately, that bus service was delayed which caused a flow on effect to the Kalgoorlie to Perth service, a spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
We realise this would have been very disruptive to Mr Alam’s journey and we are reaching out to him to discuss further.
The delay occurred only days after a Qantas executive appeared at a Senate inquiry to oppose the introduction of a mandatory passenger refund law.
On Monday, March 18, Qantas domestic chief executive Markus Svensson told a Senate inquiry that a European-style passenger refund law would only make tickets more expensive.
Compensation-based regimes such as those in Europe and Canada have shown these schemes do not deliver better outcomes for consumers in terms of reduced delays and cancellations, and they increase the cost of travel, he said.
He told the committee the airline already provided refunds and rebooking arrangements when delays and cancellations fell within our control.