"Not good enough": Karl takes aim at airline cancellation
Karl Stefanovic has ripped into Aussie airline Bonza, who cancelled all their flights at the last minute and left people stranded all across the country.
One of the travellers who were left abandoned was Tracy Hilbert, who was due to fly out of Melbourne on Tuesday morning to see her family after her father suddenly died on Monday night.
However, instead of being with her mother and brother, she instead spent the day stuck inside the airport after a fellow passenger informed her their flight had been cancelled with no warning.
Tracy spoke to Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo on Today to share how let down she felt by the airline, as they failed to communicate the cancellation with their customers.
“I text my husband. He said, ‘yes, it’s been cancelled’ and sent me all the details,” Ms Hilbert told Today.
“Then the crew came in and about a 5.45am they said that it’s been cancelled.”
Ms Hilbert fought back tears as she told Karl and Sarah the heartbreaking reason why she was so desperate to make her flight.
“I’ve actually had my father pass away last night, so I needed to get up there because my brother text me and said that he’s not in a good way.”
Ms Hilbert’s husband quickly booked her a flight with the budget airline last night, not realising that as of this morning, services will be “temporarily suspended”.
“I’ve never had this problem with them before,” Ms Hilbert said. “It’s only a two-hour flight but now it’s going to take me all day to get up there.”
Thankfully for Ms Hilbert, along with thousands of other stranded passengers, Virgin and Jetstar said those who were affected by the cancellation would be assisted to get to their destination.
“We are aware of the temporary suspension of Bonza flights,” Virgin posted on X.
“We will immediately support any passengers stranded mid-journey by offering complimentary seats on Virgin Australia-operated flights to the airport nearest to their final planned Bonza destination.”
While wondering if she would receive a refund for her cancelled flight, Ms Hilbert said she was frustrated with the lack of communication with Bonza, saying, "You can’t talk to anybody, it’s all through emails.”
Ms Hilbert said it’s all been “very hard” as she should have been with her mother, brother and other family now.
“Oh, sweetheart. Hey, Tracy, we’ll let you go,” Karl quickly responded as Ms Hilbert continued to break down in tears.
“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of people who are inconvenienced. You’re inconvenienced in a whole lot more emotional away. And it’s such a big thing for you to be handling right now. And we’re so sorry for your loss.”
Karl hit out at the airline saying the very least they can do is communicate with travellers who have been left in the lurch.
“It’s not good enough just to say something is cancelled. They might be going through the most, you know, horrible business morning of their lives, but that shouldn’t stop you from communicating with people."
“It’s just a basic human necessity. And especially for people like Tracy.”
On Tuesday, Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said services will be “temporarily suspended” while discussions surrounding the “viability of the business” take place.
Image credits: Today