Karl Stefanovic has called out “rude” Jetstar staff for intimidating his daughter Ava Willow Stefanovic over her excess baggage.
Karl Stefanovic discussed the incident with his The Today Show co-host Ally Langdon on this morning’s episode.
“Can I talk about your daughter?” Ally asked Karl, referring to the Jetstar encounter. When Karl nodded, Ally explained, “She was flying with Jetstar the other day, coming back from the Sunshine Coast. Her bag – she had carry-on luggage – was 500 grams over and they made her pay excess [baggage charge]. They wouldn’t let her take something out and throw it out. She wanted to take something out and wear it, like an extra jumper, and they said ‘no’.”
Karl interjected, “She said can she put it [the extra luggage] in her handbag and they said “[yes,] if you want to throw your handbag out”.
He continued, “It was so rude. It was so rude and it made my daughter, who’s only 17, feel completely intimidated.”
Jetstar’s current rules state that passengers who don’t purchase checked baggage are allowed to bring 7kgs of hand baggage onto domestic flights, and if the luggage weighs more they will be charged $15 per extra kilo.
The airline found itself in hot water after cancelling a large number of flights in September due to “engineering issues” and leaving between 1,000 and 4,000 Australians stranded in Bali.
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“We sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience this disruption has caused our customers,” a Jetstar spokesperson said in a statement at the time.
It continued, “Our teams are looking at every option to get passengers on their way as soon as possible, including seats on Qantas flights and operating ad hoc services where possible.
“A flight credit or refund will also be made available to passengers who no longer wish to travel.”
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