#Fail: Singaporean Jetstar passengers’ Bangkok meal voucher melt down (video) *updated

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There is no shortage of video clips on the internet of Chinese tourists behaving badly in Asean, with Singaporean netizens being equally as scathing as their Thai counterparts at times. Now the shoe is on the other foot, and personally we would hate to be this guy once Singaporean social media picks up this clip.

This video above was taken at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and shows a Singaporean Jetstar passenger bullying, and intimidating a Jetstar staff member tasked with providing passengers whose flight had been delayed with complimentary meal vouchers.

“How much is a bowl of mee (noodle soup)?” the man shouts, while towering over the Jetstar staffer. He becomes almost apoplectic when she replies Bt360 (US$11.04/ S$14.87), pointing out that the complimentary meal voucher is only worth Bt250 (US$7.66/ S$10.32).

“How to pay?” he demands, before wagging his finger in the face of the Jetstar clerk and telling her she should pay the difference. “You come with me now and pay”, he can be heard shouting.

Other Singaporean Jetstar passengers can be heard telling the man to clam down to no effect. What appear to be male Jetstar staff stand on the sidelines, while what appears to be a female Jetstar staffer peers over the balcony, appearing to look for someone… presumably airport security or police. The video ends with the man shouting “don’t bluff me”.

It is not known if airport police or security were called to the the incident above, nor how long the Singaporean bound passengers had been stuck at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The exorbitant charges levied on passengers at Bangkok International Airport for everything from duty free goods to food is no secret though, as is Jetstar’s poor on time performance.

According to Australian government figures Jetstar, in October, had the worst on time arrival and departure performance out of seven airlines monitored. Jetstar Australian flights for the month arrived on time on just 77.1 per cent of occasions, while only 74 per cent of departures left on time, mirroring similar poor performance recorded for the financial year ending June 30, 2017 which saw just 75.7 per cent of flights arrive on time and 72.6 per cent depart as scheduled.

While the behaviour of the Singaporean Jetstar passenger above is totally unacceptable and would no doubt see the rapid appearance of police and security guards if done at Changi International Airport, Singapore, JetStar is not without blame.

Jetstar Asia is ranked 6/10 by Skytrax passengers
Jetstar Asia is ranked 6/10 by Skytrax passengers Skytrax

Passengers pay for a ticket and expect to be transported efficiently and safely, they don’t pay to sit around airport departure terminals. If Jetstar can’t get its aircraft where they are supposed to be on time then it should at least ensure its meal vouchers enable the people it inconveniences to purchase a proper meal.

AEC News Today has approached Jetstar for a comment on the above incident and will update this story if or when the company replies.

In the meantime, this Singaporean Jetstar passenger once again proves that not everyone should be allowed to fly, while the old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ is once again found to be far from true. In this instance the passengers had paid for a flight and were kept waiting, waiting, waiting to the point that meal vouchers were necessary, which when provided wouldn’t even cover the cost of a bowl of noodle soup. Hardly good enough.

 

Update: This story was last updated at 09:08 on December 5, 2017:

AEC News Today put a series of questions regarding the above incident to Jetstar Asia, including specific questions relating whether it was true that prior to the incident the passengers had been advised on two previous occasions that their flight was ready, only for it not to be; whether airport security had been called; and whether any action was being taken against the passenger over his bullying behaviour. We also asked about the apparent risk to the Jetstar staffer, and whether any counseling was required.

In an emailed response Jetstar avoided answering the majority of the question, going to great lengths to obfuscate the fact that the passengers had been delayed in Bangkok for almost 24 hours.

We apologise to all affected passengers who had been inconvenienced by the delay of 3K1514 from Bangkok to Singapore on 29 November 2017, due to a series of technical issues with the aircraft.

The flight departed from Bangkok on Thursday, 30 November at 2000hrs and arrived in Singapore at 2330hrs.

The Jetstar spokesperson also declined to provide detail of the airline’s policy on how long a delay must be experienced before meal vouchers are provided, or whether the airlines’ meal vouchers actually covered the cost of obtaining a meal at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

In a tightly worded statement the airline said:

We apologise to all affected passengers who had been inconvenienced by the delay of 3K1514 from Bangkok to Singapore on 29 November 2017, due to a series of technical issues with the aircraft.

To ensure the well-being of our customers, passengers were provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers including refreshments at the airport.

The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority.

Adding, ‘We take a serious stand on safeguarding our team members against all forms of abuse by passengers. In this case, we empathise with our customers and their disappointment regarding the lengthy delay. Every day, we are in constant contact with our team members on the ground and in the air, especially when they need to escalate or call out any form of customer behaviour to higher authorities, which they had deemed was unnecessary for this case.

 

 

Feature video Channel NewsAsia/ Oh Huimin

 

 

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