A heavily pregnant woman and her two-year-old son were left “distressed” after she wasn’t allowed onto a flight from Sydney to Melbourne.
According to Yahoo News Australia, Aileen Chand from Victoria had spent the weekend in Sydney with her husband Sharneet and their son Jacob ahead of the birth of their second child.
As she was 34 weeks pregnant, Aileen had to obtain a medical certificate from her doctor beforehand, clearing her to fly. Despite having the document, Tiger Airways staff refused to let her onto the plane.
Mrs Chand told Yahoo7: “The lady let my husband and son pass and she had a stern look and said ‘are you pregnant?’ I was gobsmacked, it was very rude.
“I was really taken aback by the tone of the attendant and it came across, I said ‘of course, I am 34 weeks’.
“I handed her the medical certificate and she called through to a colleague who said not to let me on and that I would have to find a doctor in Sydney to write me a certificate to fly back to Melbourne.”
Pregnant woman slept at bus stop with toddler after Tigerair ‘refused her entry to flight’: https://t.co/JfLDPWRVkq pic.twitter.com/khXk41X0ND
— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) March 14, 2016
She explained that staff suggested that her husband and son fly back to Melbourne without her: “I became very distressed…”
“There was a lot of commotion and my little boy was getting very distressed, it was horrible and clearly wrong that they wanted to separate a young family like that.”
The couple then left the airport and found a bus stop to sit down at. Mrs Chand and her son soon fell asleep. It apparently took two hours for family friends to pick them up.
Their nearest and dearest also came together to cover the cost of a new flight and according to the website, they are due to fly home with Jetstar at lunchtime.
A Tiger Airways spokesman told Yahoo7 that Mrs Chand was refused entry because she had just entered her 35th week of pregnancy and their policy states that they “only accept pax passengers up to 34 weeks of pregnancy, not past 34 weeks.”
The representative added: “The safety, comfort and wellbeing of our customers is Tigerair Australia’s top priority and we never compromise on our safety standards…”
“Tigerair Australia apologises sincerely to the family for the inconvenience and in this instance, will contact them directly to offer a full refund for their full travel expenses.”
