Jetstar tells mother she can't fly with twins

[Slats7]

Jetstar tells mother she can't fly with twins | News.com.au

JETSTAR has been forced to issue a refund to a young mother who was told she couldn't fly with her twin daughters.

Aimee Moutray turned up at Auckland International Airport, New Zealand, with her 18-month-old twins Arliyah and Janade on Monday only to be told the girls were not allowed on the flight.


Ms Moutray had booked the NZ$481 ($379) tickets online over a month ago so the toddlers could be flower girls at her cousin’s wedding this Friday, the New Zealand Herald reported.

 

[serfty]

The JQ agent handling the 'phone booking was quoted as being at fault.

Children under 2 years old accompanied by an adult (sitting in their Lap) fly free. As far as 1:1 goes it's not clear from the "Family Travel" page:

Booking Your Tickets - Flying With Jetstar - Family Travel - Jetstar Airways

• We call children under 2 years infants. Infants who don’t need a seat may travel for free on our domestic and trans Tasman services. International flights (excluding Japan) will incur a small fee per infant.
• Anyone 2 years or older needs an allocated seat and must purchase a full fare.
• All infants must be accompanied by an adult (15 years or older) or their mother.

This does not specifically indicate a one to one Infant to Adult ratio, although, from the comments of the JQ rep in the article this is the case.

 

[simongr]

What a strangely worded quote:

All infants must be accompanied by an adult (15 years or older) or their mother

This implies that if the mother is under 15 the child can travel with her...

 

[Dave Noble]

What a strangely worded quote:

All infants must be accompanied by an adult (15 years or older) or their mother

This implies that if the mother is under 15 the child can travel with her...

It also actually states that the plane could have 150 infants accompanied by one 15 year old since "all infants" must be accompanied by an adult

I do seem to recall hearing somewhere of a limit of how many infants that 1 adult can be responsible for, though it would seem that the jetstar page is not very well worded in relation to what seems to be their policy

Dave

 

[futaris]

Air New Zealand are going to fly this family:

Twitter / Andy_Shudall: @AirpointsFairy my wish to ...

@AirpointsFairy my wish today is for you to sort out the mess that failstar have created in this family's life

Twitter / Airpoints Fairy: Your wish @Andy_Shudall ha ...

Your wish @Andy_Shudall has been granted - I am in contact and sorting flights as we speak

 

[NM]

I do seem to recall hearing somewhere of a limit of how many infants that 1 adult can be responsible for, though it would seem that the jetstar page is not very well worded in relation to what seems to be their policy

The issue is not one of how many children one adult can be responsible for. Obviously a mother of twins know she can manage two children at a time. Its a matter how to seat them during take-off and landing. An infant (defined as a child under 2 years of age) must sit on an adult's lap, using a child seatbelt, during take-off and landing. An infant sitting in their own seat is not properly restrained using a regular seatbelt and could be a danger to themselves and to other passengers in the event of an accident or even severe turbulence. And its not safe to have two infants on one adult's lap for take-off and landing.

So, while I agree the policy outlined on their web site is vague and poorly defined, I agree that each infant needs its own adult lap and child seatbelt during take-off, landing and at other times when the captain decides the seatbelt sign needs to be illuminated.

Its time for Jetstar to update their web site to accurately state the policy for travelling with infants so that it reflects both the intention of the policy and common-sense infant safety.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

simongr

This implies that if the mother is under 15 the child can travel with her...

Sadly in the NT and I'm sure elsewhere in Oz, mothers under 15 do exist.

Don't most adults know that when infants are free (domestically) and pay 10% (internationally) this does not include a seat for the infants? If it was a full flight and no spare seats does the woman really think she can juggle two 18month old toddlers on her lap???

Besides from a legal/safety point of view as there is only one spare oxygen mask per block of 3 seats in each row on both sides of the aircraft ie ABC & DEF so you can't have any more than 4 beings whether adults or infants sitting over 3 seats.

If you have a couple with 2 infants and the flight is full they would have to sit in opposite aisle seats or they could sit in seats A&C or D&F provided the middle seat was not occupied.

I've seen this happen on QF where a travel agent booked a woman with about 5 kids which included two infants 3 months & 22 months however as none of her older kids had reached the age of 15 they couldn't be responsible for one of the infants.

Pax had advised the travel agent of all the kids' dates of birth etc so agent made the error and had to wear the cost of a return ticket for another adult. A friend of the mother who was seeing her off at the airport also ended up travelling too albeit at very short notice.

 

[samh004]

I’d have thought it was common sense that you can only fit one infant on your lap within the child seatbelt. Sure, we can all argue that the website is a little vague in the fact, but seriously, it’s common sense.

Maybe she’s not that frequent a traveller. Obviously the JQ phone rep made a mistake here, but most people would have picked up on it without a call, surely.

The flight must have been full for them not to be able to give her a second adult seat, and I suppose that’s fair enough. Wouldn’t be right to bump someone else because they made a last minute ticket purchase. She should have asked someone else on the flight to hold her baby, there would have surely been a good samaritan on the flight!

 

[anat0l]

Maybe she’s not that frequent a traveller. Obviously the JQ phone rep made a mistake here, but most people would have picked up on it without a call, surely.

Mothers travelling with multiple babies/children is not unusual on other forms of public transport (it is tough, though!); I don't think it is blatantly obvious and I could see the confusion.

The flight must have been full for them not to be able to give her a second adult seat, and I suppose that’s fair enough. Wouldn’t be right to bump someone else because they made a last minute ticket purchase. She should have asked someone else on the flight to hold her baby, there would have surely been a good samaritan on the flight!

I believe that it would have been possible to get a second seat or to find someone who would hold the baby, but apparently at check-in she was not allowed to consider either of those options (i.e. it's our way or the highway).

Not a smart move and a stuff up by JQ. Full points to NZ and the Airpoints Fairy for sorting things out!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Mum and twins get grounded - National - NZ Herald News

With the help of a Jetstar representative, Ms Moutray placed an online booking for one adult plus an infant and an extra child seat. She was told this arrangement would cover her and the twins.

It would seem from the above quote (see link above for entire story) that the mother has made a booking for two seats - an adult airfare for her (plus infant no. 1 on her lap) plus a second child airfare for infant no. 2.

The problem being that despite purchasing a seat for one of the infants, the policy is that an infant can't sit by itself and must be on the lap of someone 15 or over.

She told check-in staff that the twins were capable of sitting in a seat and asked if one of the flight crew could hold one of the girls during take-off and landing or if they could ask another passenger if they would be willing, but she was told this was not possible.

Sure thing, one of the flight attendants could hold the infant whilst manning the emergency exit door & just hope there's not an evacuation. Never mind an infant being distressed because it can't see it's mum from a flight attendants lap or stranger's.

It doesn't sound like there's a fault in the actual booking engine but it does need human intervention to ensure every infant (even when holding a child seat) is accompanied by an adult.

By the where are JQ reservations located? In Oz or in an overseas call centre somewhere?

 

[samh004]

By the where are JQ reservations located? In Oz or in an overseas call centre somewhere?

I think it depends what department, but definitely out of the region for the majority.

 

[ChrisBNE]

I think it depends what department, but definitely out of the region.

We speak to people in an Australian Call centre as well as the international call centre.