Jetstar, Bali flight cancellations: Staff accused of laughing, joking at situation

The budget carrier has been slammed for its string of last-minute flight cancellations and delays which, it has been reported, impacted up to 4000 passengers.

Since September 1, eight return flights between Melbourne/Sydney and Denpasar have been cancelled; while other flights have been delayed up to 24 hours.

The airline issued an apology, but declined to say how many people were impacted, and instead insisted that just 200 passengers remained stranded.

Adam Saunders slammed the airline for its "poor customer service" after his flight from Sydney to Bali on September 2 was cancelled.

"Jetstar's staff have been laughing and joking about the situation," he said in a Tweet.

"One member of Jetstar staff said, and I quote, 'what do you expect from a budget airline?'."

Mr Saunders and his fiance were transiting through Sydney on their way to Bali and the cancellation forced them to stay the night.

"They gave us an allowance of $150 per night, that doesn't go too far in Sydney," he said.

While they were able to fly out the following day Mr Saunder said the 36 hour delay to our flight "ate into our much needed holiday time".

"Jetstar were not able to refund or reimburse us in anyway for the time and money that was lost," he said.

Janine McDermott's flight from Bali on Monday was cancelled, and on Twitter she accused the airline of leaving her stranded.

"Yes received your text guiding me to book another flight, nothing available before next Friday (overnight in Melb). The next direct flight is next Sat," she wrote.

A cancelled Jetstar flight from Bali to Melbourne on September 3 left Rahul Mehta stranded.

"Jetstar Airways u [sic] have been pathetic," he said on Twitter. "No options for us to fly back home for four days in any part of Australia."

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A Jetstar spokesman declined to address the accusations of poor customer service and staff joking about the situation, and instead issued ACM with a statement.

It said that five special service flights had been arranged to bring people home, with some seats booked on Qantas flights.

"The majority of impacted passengers have now been re-accommodated and our teams are working hard to find the remaining 200 or so impacted passengers an alternative option," he said.

"We have also offered a flight credit or refund to passengers who no longer wish to travel, and accommodation and meal vouchers for those who require it."

Jetstar blamed the cancellations and delays on a range of issues, including the need to source a specific airline part from the US.

"Our Boeing 787 fleet has been impacted by a number of issues, including a lightning strike, a bird strike, damage from an item on the runway and delays sourcing a specific spare part for one of our aircraft due to global supply chain challenges."

The spokesman said 26 Jetstar flights will operate from Denpasar to "key Australian ports" between Tuesday and Thursday.