Mum left fuming after 11-year-old son kicked off a flight – leaving him stranded

A MUM has been left fuming after her 11-year-old child was kicked off a flight and left stranded at an airport.

Emma Garland’s two children Jack and Scarlett were due to be making the flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast with their father, but he got called into work and was no longer able to fly.

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Emma called ahead and asked airline Jetstar if the kids be allowed to make the journey, with Scarlett, who is 13, on hand to supervise.

She was told it would be okay, but things played out differently once the pair had boarded the flight.

The plane’s cabin crew members removed Jack, 11, from the flight, saying he wasn’t permitted to fly without an adult present.

However, Scarlett was left alone on the plane without any real explanation as to why she and her brother had been split up.

Mum Emma said both kids were beside themselves and neither could understand what had happened.

She told Today: “It was one of the most horrendous days of our lives as a family,” Emma told Today.

“Just the fact that Scarlett and Jack were flying on their own for the first time was stressful enough, then to get the call from Jack saying he had been taken off the flight and he didn’t really understand why – he was just beside himself.

“No one had told Scarlett what was going on and by the time she got to the Gold Coast she was beside herself not knowing what had happened to her brother.”

Fortunately there were family on hand to go to the airport and collect Jack after the mistake, meaning he wasn’t on his own in the airport for long.

Jetstar told Today: “We sincerely apologise to Ms Garland and her family for the extremely distressing situation and acknowledge our teams should have handled the situation better.”

However, Emma claims she is still yet to hear from the airline, despite being promised a refund.

According to the Jetstar website: “A young passenger is regarded as being able to travel independently if they are currently attending or enrolled in secondary school and:

• can show proof at check-in that they are currently attending or enrolled in secondary school; and
• can meet Jetstar’s Independent Traveller Requirements

“For a young passenger aged 12 years or over, proof of age can be acceptable as proof of secondary school enrolment, because in Australia and New Zealand, anyone 12 years and over is generally required to be enrolled in secondary school.

“Children who are not yet 12 years old, enrolled in or attending secondary school will be regarded as unable to travel independently and must be accompanied by an appropriate accompanying passenger.

 “An accompanying passenger for adults must be at least 15 years old.”

A Jetstar spokesperson told Simple Flying: “We sincerely apologise to Ms Garland and her family for the extremely distressing situation.

“While we enjoy welcoming young passengers on board our flights, Jetstar does not offer an unaccompanied minor service and young passengers must meet certain requirements in order to travel independently with us, including being of secondary school age.

“A secondary school passenger can travel independently but must be at least 15 years old to accompany a child under secondary school age.”

Sun Online Travel has gone to Jetstar for a comment.

Meanwhile, this man was slammed for getting a woman kicked off a flight.

And this is why taking pictures on a plane could get you removed from the aircraft.

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