NEWS: Qantas boots Vietnam Vet from business class

Hilarious. What a shit airline. This is the reason I stopped flying Qantas for work.

Qantas boots a passenger, already waiting in the business lounge at Melbourne Airport, from business class, so a pilot can fly business class to Adelaide.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/qantas-boots-vietnam-vet-from-business-class-on-melbourne-to-adelaide-flight/news-story/7e8764c43431a799c74dc20232ae63d4

An elderly Vietnam veteran from Adelaide was downgraded from his paid Qantas business class seat on Sunday so a young pilot could travel in luxury to the South Australian capital.

Stephen Jones, 78, and his wife were in the Qantas lounge enjoying a coffee on their way home from a holiday in Christchurch on Sunday when they got the news – just 30 minutes the final Melbourne to Adelaide leg took off.

The reason was that a pilot needed to get to Adelaide for a flight and could only do business class as per an enterprise agreement.

Speaking to Melbourne’s 3AW, Mr Jones said he was offered 5000 Frequent Flyer points and an apology after a letter of complaint.

He claimed that the pilot who took his seat next to his wife “wouldn’t look at her.”

Mr Jones, who served in Vietnam in a combat unit in the 1960s, claimed he turned down the offer of 5000 points because “I don’t think anything is going to change until there’s ramifications for Qantas, or costs for Qantas when they upset their customers”.

According to Qantas, Mr Jones was the pilot under an enterprise agreement stipulating they must fly business class.

news.com.au understands a flight from Adelaide may have been cancelled if they could not make it there.

Qantas confirmed it has apologised to Mr Jones, and offers, including a partial refund, were made available.