Jetstar Airways, an Australian airline company, has recently made headlines after they decided to remove an 11-year-old child from a flight. This incident took place back in October when the child was traveling with his 13-year-old sister to visit the Gold Coast.

One airline’s problems are another company’s opportunity. An expensive, last-minute booking has a happy ending–Qantas removed the man as a passenger before he realized that cutting his children off from their father was what he really wanted all along.

Jetstar offers different policies that accommodate a range of circumstances. For example, they have to give passes on travel during school holidays when school is in session.

“We sincerely apologize to Ms. Garland and her family for the extremely distressing situation that we were unable to resolve earlier. While Jetstar does not offer an unaccompanied minor services, secondary school-aged passengers can travel independently and must be at least 15 years old to accompany a child under secondary school-aged.”

Unaccompanied minors in-flight on Jetstar and Qantas

Jetstar has a policy posted on their website, which states that “an accompanying passenger for children and infants aged 2-11 must be at least 15 years old.”

Jetstar has issued an official apology for the miscommunication and explained their policy for unaccompanied minors, saying,

“We apologise to Ms. Garland and her family for the distressing situation. While we love welcoming passengers on board our flights, Jetstar doesn’t offer an unaccompanied minor service and young passengers must meet certain requirements in order to travel independently with us, including being at least 15 years old. A secondary school student can travel independently but must be at least 15 years old.”

Unaccompanied minors on Jetstar and Qantas

Jetstar’s policy on children flying with infants, children aged 2-11, is that all accompanying passengers must be at least 15 years old.

Making headlines for the wrong reasons

Jetstar has now confirmed that a full refund has been processed.

“We’ve also apologized to Ms. Garland for the delay she’s experienced in obtaining a refund, and can confirm that refunding is underway for her entire stay.”

This case is now considered resolved, but that doesn’t mean Jetstar passengers should continue to trust this carrier. In the past, Jetstar has made headlines due to how it reacts to situations. Case in point: earlier this month, Jetstar Asia Airways came under fire when a passenger was denied an aisle wheelchair on a flight from Singapore (SIN) to Bangkok (BKK).