Yesterday we reported on the Jetstar flight JQ30 that was travelling from Bangkok to Melbourne when it was forced to stop in Alice Springs due to a medical emergency, at which point an electrical fault was discovered with the plane, and so passengers were left stranded on the tarmac for seven hours.
Well, the good news for passengers on that flight is at least they weren’t flying home from Ho Chi Minh City.
Last night, Jetstar flight JQ64, which was scheduled to fly back from Vietnam at 10:30 pm on Monday and land in Melbourne on Tuesday morning was delayed when a mechanical issue was detected.
“Unfortunately, one of our flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne has been delayed due to an issue with an aircraft door, which may require a part to be flown in from Singapore,” a spokeswoman for the airline said. “Customers are being provided with hotel accommodation and other reasonable expenses, and the flight is expected to depart Ho Chi Minh City tonight (Tuesday).”
That all sounds pretty standard. However, it seems that one hotel went a little rogue, telling some single travellers that they would be sharing rooms, which is very much not standard procedure. “They told one poor girl who is travelling alone, they will give the next single guest a key to her room when they check in,” one passenger told Jacqui Felgate.
Spending a night with a stranger in a Vietnamese hotel might be something Australians are used to doing when they’re 18 and on their first Contiki trip, but it’s certainly not for everyone. There are so many concerns that one might have about the experience, like: “Is this stranger going to snore?” and “Is this stranger going to murder me in my sleep?”
Of course, it is possible that some people might meet the love of their lives in these circumstances, which would make for a pretty original answer for when your friends ask: “So how did you meet? Tinder?” And you get to respond with: “A mechanical door failure, coupled with a budget Vietnamese hotel hellbent on cutting costs.”
To the airline’s credit, they are investigating the claims and have confirmed that it is not their procedure to make single passengers share rooms together. Phew! It’s helpful to know that the only time Jetstar wants to cram passengers into each other’s personal space is when they are flying in the middle seat.
Perhaps, the only good thing about Jetstar’s recent issues is that it finally makes Qantas look good again. For a while, Qantas flights were getting turned around so often that people started to think that the company’s budget alternative, Jetstar was the more reliable option for flying. So, at least the earth’s balance has been restored, and Qantas’ little brother is back to being worse again.
Anyway, let’s hope that part of Singapore managed to make its way to Ho Chi Minh City. Otherwise, some of these JQ64 passengers are going to be having another sleepless night.
