I will no longer fly Jetstar after hearing that 78 year old disability advocate and wheelchair user Sheila King will be forced to pay court costs of $20,000 for fighting against a discriminatory policy by Jetstar to only allow two wheelchairs on a plane.
I promise to tell every one of my 1000 or so Facebook friends and my many more in real life friends why, and ask my friends with children with disability to no longer fly Jetstar until this policy is altered.
This is OUTRAGEOUS.
Comments
I had already received very
I had already received very poor care from Jetstar flying with them from Brisbane to Newcastle, although exhausted & disabled, with great difficulty walking using a cane, I was left to fend for myself down the stairs & across the tarmac to the terminal, a long walk even for the able bodied. I saw other passengers who needed help left to fending for themselves as well. Meanwhile, the steward had raced off without checking if any passengers needed his assistance & he was busy rushing the next lot of passengers past us onto the plane. I was not offered help by any other staff either. I faced an exhausting 9-10 hour journey to get home that day on my own & as I have chronic illnesses & pain problems, that lack of care added to the misery of a long stressful trip. I later emailed them in regard to this & suggested this was a serious failure of their staff training that needed to be addressed. I did not want or expect any compensation, I simply wanted someone, anyone from customer service to send me a simple response that it would be improved. Of course I never had a reply.
In contrast Virgin have taken exceptional care of me when travelling & nothing has been too much trouble. DO NOT let any of your ill, elderly or disabled friends or family travel with Jetstar, I've found there is no consistency in the service they provide & I would hate to think of my elderly parents being treated in the same manner. Now that they have sunk so low as to claim compensation from this woman, who has done amazing work as a disability advocate, I think it is time that the Australian public boycotted this airline. They have no concept of customer care & service & the 2 wheelchair decision is a penny pinching decision on their part. It is not for safety reasons. This is part of a broader picture of neglect & it will be your ill or elderly relative being poorly treated next.