Jetstar Passenger Crawls Down Aisle After Allegedly Being Told To Pay For Wheelchair, Airline Apologises

Jetstar Passenger Crawls Down Aisle, Says She “Never Felt So Degraded”

Recently, an Australian woman had her holiday marred when she had to crawl down the aisle of the Jetstar plane she was on.

Describing the experience as the “most humiliating experience” she has had travelling, Ms Natalie Curtis alleged that staff said she had to pay for wheelchair service.

The incident occurred when she was travelling from Singapore to Bangkok last week.

Jetstar has since apologised to Ms Curtis, explaining that a miscommunication resulted in the delay of an aisle wheelchair being made available.

The airline emphasised that they are committed to providing a safe and comfortable travel experience for all customers.

Flight attendant allegedly told her to pay for wheelchair

In a Facebook post dated 27 Oct, Ms Curtis shared that she requires wheelchair service, and when boarding a flight from Singapore to Bangkok, she used an aisle chair without issue.

However, when she landed in Bangkok, a flight attendant allegedly told her she had to pay to use an aisle wheelchair. She refused as she had never had to do so before.

But she admitted that there was a slight language barrier between her and the staff, and she didn’t quite comprehend the situation.

Speaking to 7NEWS, Ms Curtis said the staff sat around for a while, causing her to feel that her only option was to get on the floor and crawl.

Crawls down 4m aisle of Jetstar plane

Ms Curtis then crawled down the plane aisle to reach her wheelchair, a journey of about 4m.

She shared that she had “never felt so degraded in her (my) life”.

At that time, she was travelling with her friend Natasha Elford, who filmed her crawling down the aisle.

Ms Elford said she wanted to carry her off the plane but could not due to a knee injury.

She felt hopeless and could not believe the situation unfolding before her.

Staff had offered to lift Ms Curtis and carry her. But if they had dropped her, the situation would have been much worse, said Ms Elford.

According to 7NEWS, Jetstar staff were informed upon arrival in Bangkok that an aisle wheelchair was unavailable for at least 40 minutes.

Ms Curtis’ wheelchair was brought onto the plane but was too big to fit down the aisle.

Jetstar apologises & offers refund

A Jetstar spokesperson shared that they have apologised to Ms Curtis for her experience, but maintained that the wheelchair was not withheld due to a payment request as alleged.

The spokesperson said the airline is committed to providing a safe and comfortable experience for all customers, including those requiring specific assistance.

“Regrettably, this was not the case for Ms Curtis following a miscommunication that resulted in the delay of an aisle chair being made available at the gate on arrival,” they said.

Jetstar is now urgently looking into what happened on the day, reported 7NEWS.

The airline also offered Ms Curtis a refund and additional compensation.

Despite this, Ms Curtis said she would never fly with Jetstar again after the incident, which she described as “extremely humiliating”.

She added that she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she had experienced.

Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.

Featured image adapted from 7NEWS Australia on YouTube.