An 11-year-old boy was reportedly kicked off a flight for travelling without an adult, in a dispute over child passenger rules.
Jack Garland was attempting to travel with his 13-year-old sister Scarlett on a Jetstar flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast in October, when he was told he could not fly and was removed from the plane.
Meanwhile, his sister was reportedly told she could leave the flight to accompany her younger brother who was being escorted back into the terminal.
The flight then departed and Scarlett arrived to the Gold Coast without her brother, and left terrified about where he now was.
Their mum Emma Garland said Jack was left "inconsolable" at not being able to travel, despite claiming she had checked with the airline beforehand.
The original booking had included their father. However, a change in circumstance meant he was no longer able to travel and his name was removed from the booking.
Emma said Jetstar was told the children would still be able to travel given her daughter was 13.
However, when the children were seated on the flight, her son was removed and no explanation was given to his confused sister.
Mum Emma said the incident had been "horrendous" for the family.
She told Channel 9's Today Show: "It was one of the most horrendous days of our lives as a family.
"Just the fact that Scarlett and Jack were flying on their own for the first time was stressful enough, then to get the call from Jack saying he had been taken off the flight and he didn't really understand why - he was just beside himself."
“No one had told Scarlett what was going on and by the time she got to the Gold Coast she was beside herself not knowing what had happened to her brother,”
Emma said Jack was "inconsolable" when she eventually spoke to him on the phone, reports news.com.au.
The budget airline has since apologised for the ordeal, saying staff "should have handled the situation better".
A Jetstar statement, sent to news.com.au, read: “We sincerely apologise to Ms Garland and her family for the extremely distressing situation.
“While we enjoy welcoming young passengers on board our flights, Jetstar does not offer an unaccompanied minor service and young passengers must meet certain requirements in order to travel independently with us, including being of secondary school age.
“A secondary school passenger can travel independently but must be at least 15 years old to accompany a child under secondary school age.”
The spokesperson said they would be looking into why Ms Garland “was not clearly informed of this before her son travelled” and how the airline could improve its processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“We also apologise to Ms Garland for the delay she has experienced in obtaining a refund and can confirm that refunds are being processed for her family’s entire booking,” the airline spokesperson added.
