Jetstar has apologized to the family of Adam Strange, who was killed in a shark attack in New Zealand, after the airline initially denied his mother's request to change her flight.
Strange, a film director, was killed on Wednesday when he was attacked by a shark off of a popular tourist beach in New Zealand. His death was the first shark attack related death in 35 years in New Zealand.
Stange's mother Jeanetter tried to get an immediate flight to Wellington but she already had a flight booked for the week after. Jeanette's sister, Kay Creswell asked the airline to have some compassion and change the flight.
"They put me on hold for 10 minutes to talk to a supervisor, then said they were very sorry but could not transfer the booking. She would have to pay $321 for a new ticket," said Craswell to Stuff.co.nz.
The airline initially denied the grieving mother's request and told her that she would have to pay the flight change fee of $265 or pay for a new ticket.
"I was disgusted with their lack of compassion, and hung up," Ms Cresswell told The Dominion Post newspaper. She said that another airline offered Jeanette a discount ticket once she explained the situation.
Jetstar said they would refund the fee if they sent documents proving that Strange made the change for compassionate reasons.
Jeanette wound up accepting the discounted ticket offer from Air New Zealand and she flew back to Auckland with them instead.
Jetstar now regrets giving the family a hard time and issued an apology.
"Jetstar appreciates this would have been a stressful situation and regrets if the service received by her relative from our call centre caused further distress," a spokesman said in a statement, according to Radio Australia. "We have contacted the relative and apologised for the way the call was handled."
A Jetstar spokesman said they still stick by their policy.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
