Qantas Faces Ire of Mother: Unaccompanied Boy Traveller Neglected
Australian air carrier Qantas Airways faces a possible legal clash, this time from a stricken mother after the labor beleaguered airliner admitted losing her unaccompanied child last month at the Hobart Airport.
Qantas Airways said it not only lost track of the 11 year old boy, but also lost the paperwork involving the boy's domestic flight. Adding more injury, the boy was left to wander on his own that late night of September 28 to look for his mother in a crowded airport.
Qantas Airways said the boy's flight was a particularly busy night, as storms in Melbourne caused flight delays, passenger disruption and lost baggage, turning the arrival hall of Hobart Airport into an eventual mess.
The airline, according to The Age, initially denied the allegations of Leanne Decleva, the boy's mother, claiming the boy was with a staff member he minute he landed at the airport at around 1 am. But Qantas Airways eventually admitted losing the child, citing "human error" cause the breakdown in procedure.
A child protection worker, Decleva fumed when she learned Qantas Airways had no paperwork to sign for her boy's collection and didn't know who was authorized to pick him up.
Anyone could have just come up and gotten him, and I could have lost my boy in a matter of seconds, Decleva said.
Decleva is seriously considering filing legal actions against Qantas Airways after declining a "peace offer" of a $1000 travel voucher.