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Following hot on the heels of its rating by an Australian consumer survey as the worst-performing international airline, Qantas is under fire again - this time for cancelling domestic flights without warning.
Three families' plans were thrown into disarray on Queen's Birthday weekend, because a flight they were
booked on did not exist.
The saga follows criticism of the Australian airline earlier this year - with Air New Zealand - for "bumping" passengers off overbooked flights. But it wasn't overbooked flights, so much as one that Qantas says it had not scheduled, that threw the Wellington families' plans into chaos.
Wellington mother RoseAnne MacLeod said she was put through a "nightmare" ordeal after a conversation alerted her to the cancellation of the flight her son Alasdair was booked on to attend an education forum in Auckland. She had planned to fly up early on the Thursday before Queen's Birthday (May 31) with Alasdair on a 7.30pm flight.
On Wednesday evening, however, MacLeod got a call from a friend, Carolyn O'Fallon, whose children were also attending the forum, informing her the 7.30pm flight had been cancelled, and that Alasdair had been re-booked on a flight departing at 8.30pm.
"Carolyn only knew that because Qantas had phoned her to tell her her daughter's flight was being rescheduled," MacLeod said.
"There was no notification or explanation. It was a complete and utter shambles."
O'Fallon said the information came to light only by chance. "We were discussing my daughter's flight when I mentioned that Shane and I were booked on the 7.30pm flight. She said 'you mean the 8.30pm?' and then told me there wasn't a flight at 7.30pm, and the time had been changed two weeks before."
The O'Fallons were finally put on the 5.30pm flight but when they got to the airport found that that flight had been delayed, so paid $120 for a flight with Air New Zealand.
Karori woman Deborah Maud also had her son, 15, booked on the 7.30 plane and was not notified of the cancellation.
None of the families have been offered compensation.
Qantas' Sydney spokesman Lloyd Quartermaine said the airline did not have a 7.30pm flight from Wellington to Auckland, and the women must be confused. However, the Herald on Sunday has the Qantas e-ticket, which clearly states 7.30pm.
Two months ago Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard said that under civil aviation laws passengers were entitled to compensation - up to 10 times the price of the ticket or the actual cost of the delay - from airlines if they were delayed or had flights cancelled because of internal airline issues.