THREE young kids who were flying with no parents were forced to sleep in an airport store room surrounded by boxes after a Virgin Australia blunder.
Nine-year-old John Meredith and two other boys, who did not know each other, spent the night in the makeshift room after storms meant their plane diverted to Melbourne.
His mum, Katie, claims the airline did not inform family members about where John was or whether he was ok for several hours.
The boy was flying unaccompanied on last Thursday night’s Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Sydney, where he was visiting his grandparents.
His flight had been due to land in Sydney at 9.10pm – but his waiting grandparents were not told about the diversion until 11.40pm.
“My parents were waiting at the gate and no one was around to tell them it had been diverted,” Katie told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
“It was at 11.40 that night they were finally contacted by someone from Virgin telling them John had landed in Melbourne.
“They called on an unlisted phone and didn’t leave a contact so we were unable to get details about where he would be going.”
Katie had tracked the flight using an app and eventually saw the plane had been diverted, but she claims no-one from Virgin contacted her to reveal the news.
FAMILY’S FURY
“Let’s not forget we are talking about a nine-year-old boy, who last month had a heart operation,” she said.
“I would never agree to have him sleep on the floor at an airport.
“His godmother lives in Melbourne, she would have picked him up if I had the opportunity to know he wasn’t going to a hotel.”
John’s grandmother was listed as his nominated guardian.
Around 12.15pm John’s grandmother got a second call from the airline and was told staff had bought John food from McDonald’s and was looking for a hotel room for him, the Bulletin reported.
At 2.39am the grandmother was told John had been booked on a flight from Melbourne to Sydney at 10am the next day.
AIRLINE APOLOGISES
Virgin Australia said the child was under constant supervision and was made “as comfortable as possible” during the night.
The airline apologised for “any breakdown in communication” with the John’s guardian.
“In times of weather disruption, we do our best to accommodate guests onto other flights or provide accommodation when their flights have been diverted,” a Virgin spokesman said.
“We take the utmost care when transporting unaccompanied minors and aim to ensure their nominated guardians are aware of any developments as they arise.
“In this instance, our ground crew supervised the child and made him as comfortable as possible in a room in our Melbourne Airport Lounge ahead of his flight the following morning.
“We apologise for any breakdown in communication between our team and the child’s guardian during the course of the evening.”
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