BONZA Airlines cancelled its two flights between Mildura and Melbourne at late notice on Monday because a pilot had gone home ill, it has been revealed.
The budget carrier, which despite its price-point popularity has struggled with schedule reliability, texted booked passengers on Monday afternoon to say that flights had been cancelled and that they would be offered refunds or an alternative bus ticket.
The airline later confirmed that a pilot’s illness had led to the cancellation.
Buses used to replace the flights left Melbourne at 6pm and Mildura at 8pm, meaning passengers would have reached their destinations in the early hours of Tuesday.
Bonza has apologised for the cancellations, chief commercial officer Carly Povey saying on Tuesday that it had sought the best remedy available in the circumstances.
“It became clear the quickest way to get customers to their destination on the same day was to organise a coach transfer,” she said.
“Whilst not ideal, our focus was to get customers to their destination as quickly as possible. Customers also had the option of a full refund.
“On behalf of all at Bonza, I apologise to those customers for the disruption to their travel plans.”
Ms Povey said the airline was “working hard to improve reliability outside of events beyond our control, like weather, that lead to travel disruptions”.
“We’re seeing great demand for flights to and from Mildura from our Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast bases and we thank the people of Mildura for their support,” she said.
Claims made on social media that Bonza had charged affected passengers $90 for the alternative bus trip, meanwhile, have been dismissed by the airline as untrue.
A spokesperson said there had been no charge for the bus services, which had been offered because there were no other Bonza flights between the cities until late in the week.
