Qantas apologises and offers free points to passengers affected by fog-diversion chaos at Geraldton Airport

Qantas has apologised and offered free points to passengers affected by a debacle that saw them forced to sleep on the terminal floor of Geraldton Airport and face delays of up to 18 hours. Up to 200 passengers on Perth-bound flights from Broome, Port Hedland and Newman were diverted to Geraldton on Tuesday night because of thick fog in Perth. While 20 flights landed at Perth Airport during the foggy period, pilots of five flights decided to divert to regional airports. Qantas claimed a shortage of hotel rooms meant the only option was for passengers to sleep in the terminal. “People (were) sleeping on the floor. Some guy found a cardboard box and opened that up and was sleeping on a piece of cardboard. One lady was under a newspaper as a blanket,” one woman said. Passengers complained of a lack of communication from Qantas, and that they were not even offered any blankets or food. “There was a lot of elderly people and there were no rugs, no nothing, no food, just water,” one man said. It’s understood some passengers were offered coffee, soft drink and chocolate from the aircraft, while the crew slept on the plane. City of Greater Geraldton Shane Van Styn claimed airlines should keep “rough sleeping backpacks” in case emergencies like this happened in the future and there was no alternative accommodation available. But at least one Geraldton accommodation provider contacted the Guardian to say they had room available. Geraldton Backpackers on the Foreshore manager Pippa Glynn said they had 23 dormitory beds, four queens and three twins available on the night in question. “Accommodation comes in a lot of different forms, there’s backpackers, Airbnbs and motels, not just hotels,” she said. “Given the choice between sleeping on the floor versus a hot shower and a bed I’m sure travellers would have chosen the latter.” A Qantas spokesperson said the airline did all it could through its accommodation provider around midnight on Wednesday to find last-minute bulk rooms for customers and crew, but the efforts were unsuccessful. They said the crew was forced to sleep in the aircraft overnight. The spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience, and confirmed the airline had provided Qantas points to affected customers to go towards their next flight. Some passengers indicated they would not fly Qantas again, with one passengers suggesting some of CEO Alan Joyce’s bonus should be used to compensate passengers affected by fiascos like this. Many of the passengers did not board the returning flight until 11am and were made up of FIFO workers returning home from their lengthy swings. FIFO worker Michael Vourne said workers were advised of a delay, but were not expecting to sleep in an airport overnight. “We sat on a plane from 11pm to 2.30am and were told that the crew had gone over their allotted working time so we had to disembark and spend the night at the airport,” he said. “We’ve been awake since 4.30am yesterday morning for our final shift of our swing and we still have to drive home from the airport when we get back to Perth.” A Qantas spokesperson confirmed the crew on diverted flights to Geraldton couldn’t continue to Perth because they had reached their working hours limit. Tiulipe Vea said she was visiting her son in Newman who was unwell in hospital and due for an operation, but decided to return home to New Zealand when the operation was postponed for six weeks. FIFO worker David Taylor said he couldn’t blame the staff for the weather or technical issues, however, he did not appreciate the lack of customer support from Qantas. “We were basically dumped here at the airport, sleeping on the ground,” he said. “It was cold — no one was weathered for it — everyone was freezing.“