HEY Bonza, this was no way to treat your mates.
Fair dinkum, you’re an airline that markets itself as being “here for Allstralia” and your staff seem great, yet you completely bungled the handling of Tuesday night’s cancellation of the Sunshine Coast to Mildura flight.
And I am not just giving my view from the cheap seats here. My wife and I were among the many Mildura-bound passengers left stranded by your airline.
After a lengthy delay, the cancellation eventually came over the airport PA just before 8pm.
There was no information forthcoming from you guys, no offers of assistance, leaving airport staff to deal with the many confused customers.
We were told to collect our bags and were then effectively kicked out to the kerb because the airport was closing for the night. You wouldn’t do that to your mates, would you?
None of us heard from Bonza, except for receiving a $12 voucher via text message during the lengthy delay. Thanks for the drink, by the way, but that’s all it got us.
As Bonza only flies between Sunshine Coast and Mildura on Tuesdays or Saturdays, our alternatives were either stay or go. Both came at an enormous cost.
Those who decided to stay in Queensland still had to purchase new flights from Bonza through their app. We have been required to fill out an online form to claim a refund. We hope it is coming, but don’t know when.
For those of us who had to get home ASAP, finding next-day flights with the the likes of Qantas is no cheap exercise, let me tell you.
Most of us spent at least $1000 per person to get home via Melbourne, or in our case, via Sydney and Melbourne.
That is on top of our Ubers and accommodation costs that we had to scramble to find on Tuesday night.
While we all understand flight cancellations can happen, what left a sour taste in all our mouths was the lack of care or responsibility from Bonza.
The first bit of information I read about the flight’s cancellation was on the Sunraysia Daily website.
After being contacted by the Sunraysia Daily, Bonza chief executive officer Tim Jordan said “a flight from Rockhampton to the Sunshine Coast experienced unexpected and severe turbulence, leading to some Bonza crew members needing to be assessed at Sunshine Coast University Hospital. All crew were cleared to return home last night (Tuesday).”
“Following the incident, we unfortunately had to cancel a scheduled flight between the Sunshine Coast and Mildura.”
Why did we have to read about it in our local paper the following day? Surely, you could have told us at the time.
The Bonza boss went on: “We deeply apologise to them for the inconvenience caused. We know how much a cancellation can impact customers and that’s why it only happens as an absolute last resort.”
But do you guys really know how much a cancellation can impact customers?
I mean, you weren’t there. There were no Bonza staff on the ground to see the distress it caused your customers. You were not contactable to answer questions, you offered no help, so understand why the apology kind of falls flat.
In truth, at the time, all us customers had was each other. And what we instead experienced was the kindness and humour of Mildura people in a crisis.
We came together to help each other out, with zero assistance from your airline.
One lovely couple even took care of an elderly lady to make sure she had somewhere to stay. They offered to assist her with rebooking flights. Good people. Where were you guys?
The thing is, as Mildura people, we want your airline to succeed. We want to be mates.
The direct flights to Sunshine Coast are warmly welcomed and the Gold Coast route is set to take off.
But there is already a trust issue with Bonza around flight reliability. And that is not just here.
If your airline is only offering flights between destinations like Sunshine Coast and Mildura twice a week, you need contingency plans for situations like Tuesday night.
Don’t treat us like you would an enemy, but talk to us as your customers, give us options and at least try to mitigate the distress.
Being a low-cost airline is not an excuse to do nothing. It’s no excuse to leave us so-called mates high and dry.
Keep doing that and there is only one way for an airline to go. And it ain’t up.
