Karl Stefanovic furious at Jetstar following “rude” treatment of his daughter

Karl Stefanovic furious at Jetstar following “rude” treatment of his daughter

Today Show host Karl Stefanovic has unleashed on Jetstar after the budget airline was “rude” to his daughter, leaving her feeling “completely intimidated.”

Stefanovic revealed to his co-host Allison Langdon that his 17-year-old daughter Ava was half a kilogram over the carry-on limit. When Ava asked if she could put an item from her suitcase into her handbag she was told no, in what Stefanovic referred to as a “rude” manner.

“So she [Ava Stefanovic] could take something out and throw it out, but she couldn’t take it out and wear it?” Langdon questioned.

“No, she [Ava] asked if she could put it in her handbag,” Stefanovic clarified.

“They [Jetstar staff] said ‘if you want to throw your handbag out. It was so rude. So rude.

“That made my daughter, who is only 17, feel completely intimidated.”

Ava reportedly had to pay extra for her excess baggage.

In a statement reported by news.com.au, Jetstar said: “We always strive to ensure our passengers have a safe and enjoyable journey when travelling with us.

“We apologise to Ms Stefanovic if this was not her experience and have reached out to her to better understand what happened.”

Karl said that on a separate occasion his flight to the Sunshine Coast was cancelled six hours before it was set to leave recently.

“I think when you go to the airports and all around Australia there are huge lines. Everyone accepts now that things are a bit more difficult and challenging,” he said.

“But for Jetstar, they need to improve communications and also their staff on the ground who are facing enormous pressure.

“Unfortunately they haven’t cleaned up their room yet and there are still passengers like you out there.”

These incidents come as the airline released a public apology following passengers getting stranded in Japan and Bali when a few of its Boeing 787s were out of action last month.

“We know we haven’t delivered to the customer expectation,” Jetstar chief operating officer Matthew Franzi told 9 News.

“We honestly do understand it has been hard, and frustrating and disappointing,” cabin manager Catherine Barker added.

A Jetstar spokesperson said all of the airline’s Boeing 787 aircraft were back in service.

“Our teams have been working incredibly hard to get these aircraft back in the air, with the 787s impacted by the lightning strike and damage from debris on the runway requiring complex repairs,” they said.

“To help manage the disruptions during the repair process we added special services and put customers on other airlines to get people home, sent engineering and customer teams around our network to support people on the ground and developed creative and resourceful processes in sourcing spare parts as a result of global supply chain issues.

“To further support our operations, we’ve also hired more people across all areas of our business, created a buffer between services by revising our boarding process and added more crew on standby and team members in our operations centre to help manage illness.

“We never want to cancel or delay a flight, but we will always prioritise safety. We appreciate it’s been a really frustrating time for customers recently and sincerely apologise to those who have had their travel plans disrupted, especially during the school holidays.”

The airline has blamed “bad luck” for its recent run of misfortune and is promising better results over the Christmas period.

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