A young couple was terrified when Qantas changed the flight that their 13-month-old daughter was supposed to take, and they then had to wait 20 hours on hold to have it changed.
According to a significant study by a watchdog, the Home Office’s response to the sudden increase in migrants arriving in small boats across the English Channel is “deficient” and “overwhelmed.”
It stated that a total of 227 migrants vanished from supposedly safe hotels between September 1 and January 10 and were still unaccounted for.
Two of the missing people were included on the Police National Computer’s Warnings Index, which notifies authorities to those who may be relevant to national security.
Also made fun of were the outdated tools and workspaces used for processing, including a Covid-19 isolation chamber housed in a rusted shipping container.
‘The number of small boat crossings in the Channel has reached such a level that it has been described as a crisis and the number one priority for the Home Office,’ Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration David Neal wrote in the report’s foreword.
“The volume is extraordinary, and the system is obviously overloaded on some days.”
The Home Office has performed poorly in providing an effective and efficient response to the problem posed by the rising number of migrants arriving through small boats, the speaker continued.
“In my opinion, the main cause of this is a failure to go from an emergency response to what has quickly evolved into a steady state, or business as usual.”
Every aspect of the Home Office’s reaction is infused with this reluctance.
Systems, processes, and resourcing channels have been provided with “best effort,” even though they should have been routine, standardised, auditable, and well-known months into the crisis. This is insufficient.
Despite recognising there are “worse places to be stuck,” the family is now required to spend a significant amount of money on another two weeks of lodging in Rome and they are still desperate to get back to Australia.
Beyond spending almost an entire day on hold, Qantas finally consented to put the group on the same flight, 12 days after their original departure date.
“We are furious. I should be at home, Andrew said.
Hopefully, we’ll succeed eventually in 13 days. We won’t really feel secure, in my opinion, until we board the aircraft and it takes off.
According to a statement provided to Daily Mail Australia by Qantas, the airline “sincerely apologises” to the family and claims that the child’s automatic transfer to another flight was caused by a “backend administrative error” between Qantas and partner KLM.
A spokesman stated, “We are reaching out to the family to offer support and will provide a refund for their lodging.”
They are not the only ones who have issues with the airline, which has drawn criticism for Alan Joyce’s management of the company.
After Qantas separated her and her young kid on flights, another mother turned to social media.
The woman announced on Reddit that she was currently waiting for the famed airline offshore call center—where customers have complained of wait times of up to seven hours—to resolve the evident problem.
“Qantas just put my three-year-old on an aircraft that is not mine” (his Mum). Is their incompetence ever going to end? She spoke.
“We’re trying to fix this absurdity right now,” it says.
A second woman has pledged never to travel with Qantas again after the company misplaced her bags for a week and then charged her $380 for extra luggage on the return flight.
On July 2, Corrine Olsen and her husband Peter took a flight from Sydney to Bali’s Denpasar Airport.
The airport officials eventually gave them $60, a set of pyjamas, and one toothbrush after they waited three hours for a bag containing toiletries and other necessities to arrive.
The pair waited for the package to come over the following few days, but they claim the online monitoring system was broken and there was no phone number to call.
Five days before their flight back to Sydney was scheduled to depart, their bag finally arrived after they had spent a week in Bali.
The couple had since replaced their lost items, but on July 14, when they went to check in for their return flight, they were informed that they would have to pay $380 for 11 kg of extra baggage.
They made an effort to explain their predicament, but a Qantas staffer responded, “Either you pay or you stay.”
Mrs. Olsen, who was stunned, has now vowed never to travel with the airline once more.
She asked the Daily Telegraph, “Why should I have to pay for additional baggage when they misplaced the luggage?”
I was quite dissatisfied on numerous levels. I believe that Qantas is in trouble. I’ll never, ever go on a trip with them again.
Although Qantas promised to pay the Olsens back, it also asserted that the price would have been repaid if they had brought up the matter after they were back in Australia, which Mrs. Olsen said she doubts.
‘We accept that these passengers shouldn’t have to pay excess luggage in these circumstances, and we have issued a refund for the additional charges,’ a Qantas spokeswoman said.
The term “Joyced” was created by irate Qantas customers on social media as the embattled CEO continues to face criticism from customers who have experienced lengthy delays, cancelled flights, and misplaced luggage.
The TWU and CFMEU have even endorsed the saying as the formerly mighty airline reels from the effects of laying off thousands of employees, altering working conditions, and transferring call centres overseas.
A frustrated man wrote, “Just got #Joyced at Perth Airport, one-hour after the aeroplane landed and still waiting for my bag, got to love how wonderfully the priority tag and platinum tags work so well.”
A woman commented on social media, “Qantas flight from Albury to Melbourne delayed this morning with no explanation…I have been #Joyced.”
The 6:15 am flight was cancelled, therefore I was put on the 7 am flight. Another person chimed in, “7:57am and still at gate in Melbourne #joyced.”
New Australian terminology for delayed flights and misplaced bags is “joyced,” CFMEU National Secretary Dave Noonan tweeted.
I’ll be late for the meeting because my flight was delayed, I said.
My bags were Joyced, so I’ll need to buy some new clothes.
Although Qantas asserts that its services are operating at pre-pandemic levels of effectiveness, consumer dissatisfaction persists.
Authorities have in the meantime opened an investigation into the Qantas pilots’ forced declaration of a mid-air emergency after they nearly ran out of fuel as a result of runway delays at a Western Australian airport.
On Monday, while in the landing queue, the pilots of Qantas Flight 933 from Brisbane to Perth issued a “mayday” call to air traffic control while the aircraft was still a few hundred kilometres from its destination.
The Boeing 737 reached Perth’s airspace with an extra 20 minutes of fuel, but due to a large number of approaching aircraft, it was told to maintain a holding pattern, according to The Age.
The pilots were informed by air traffic controllers that they would need to declare a mayday in order to receive priority for landing when the wait time reached 16 minutes.
Under a “fuel mayday on descent,” an uncommon emergency condition for pilots, the aircraft eventually made a safe landing.
If the pilots had not sounded the mayday, the plane might not have landed with enough fuel on board, as required by law.
The “low fuel occurrence,” which happened 335 kilometres east of the city, above Wave Rock, is currently being looked into by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.
Due to the amount of gasoline on board, the crew declared an emergency during descent and made a safe landing in Perth. The aircraft’s reserves were unharmed upon landing, it said.
“A final report will be made public after the investigation is over.