History has a tendency to repeat itself, a point that Jetstar exemplified this week.
The Australian budget carrier is getting flak for canceling a Perth-Bali flight on Jan. 27 after a crew member called in sick, according to WA Today.
And the funny thing is, Jetstar pulled the same stunt a year ago, back in January 2016, when a crew member called and sick and the carrier was forced to profusely apologize for canceling the flight last minute.
Australian aviation regulations require flights, depending on the aircraft, have a fixed number of crew on duty.
Passengers for this year’s cancelled flight say they had already checked in and made it through custom when they got notified.
“We were all ushered back through to the airport entrance where our suitcases were waiting for us,” a passenger, Leanne, told WA Today.
“We were so disappointed, we lost a whole Bali day for a trip we’d been planning for 18 months.”
Jetstar claims that they were unable to replace the crew member because of the last-minute timing of the crew member’s falling unwell.
“We always have crew on standby, however as this flight was close to departure we were unable to replace the crew member in this short timeframe,” a Jetstar spokeswoman said.
The airline says it offered full refunds, or put passengers from the cancelled flight on alternative flights later that same day and the following day.
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