A disabled Queensland woman has vowed never to fly Jetstar after she was told to pay for a wheelchair by Jetstar.
Natalie Curtis, a wheelchair user, used an aisle wheelchair to get to her seat on the last leg of her flight from Townsville to Bangkok.
Curtis claims that when it was time to leave the plane, personnel requested her to pay to use the wheelchair.
She declined, claiming that she had never been asked to pay before, and instead chose to crawl off the plane, a 4m distance..
Curtis agrees that there was a linguistic barrier between her and the personnel.
“When we landed, (staff) were asking us to pay, and I didn’t really understand it, and I was like, ‘no, I’m not paying to get off this plane,'” she told Sunrise.
“They all simply sat about for a while, and the only thing left for me to do was crawl on the floor.”
Jetstar’s Statement
“We unreservedly apologise to Ms Curtis for her recent experience while travelling with us,”
“We are committed to providing a safe and comfortable travel experience for all our customers, including those requiring specific assistance.
“Regrettably, this was not the case for Ms Curtis following a miscommunication that resulted in the delay of an aisle chair being made available at the gate on arrival and we are looking into what happened as a matter of urgency.