Airline Made Unaccompanied Minors Sleep In Airport Meeting Room After Flight Diverted

Virgin Australia Airlines launched an investigation after three unaccompanied minors spent last Thursday (March 14) night in a meeting room at the Melbourne Airport after their flight was diverted.

Katie Meredith, a Queensland mother, said her parents reached the Sydney airport on Thursday night to pick their nine-year-old grandson, John. However, the boy did not show up at the gate. John’s grandparents weren’t informed that the boy was in Melbourne after his Brisbane-Sydney flight was diverted to the Victorian capital due to bad weather. Meredith too wasn’t informed about the same.

“My parents were waiting at the gate and no one was around to tell them it had been diverted. It was at 11.40 p.m. local time (8.40 a.m. EDT) that night they were finally contacted by someone from Virgin telling them John had landed in Melbourne. They called on an unlisted phone and didn’t leave a contact so we were unable to get details about where he would be going,” Meredith said, adding that the flight was supposed to land in Sydney at 9.10 p.m., Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Around 2.30 a.m. Friday, she received a message stating that the boy was booked on a flight to Sydney that was scheduled to depart Friday morning.

Meanwhile, with no hotel rooms available due to Melbourne hosting the first F1 race of the season, John, along with two other minors, ended up staying in a meeting room at the airport. Meredith said she and her family had sleepless night. She finally heard from her son the following morning before his flight to Sydney took off.

“I was terrified. There were so many things running through my mind. There's no-one to call and I think that is the biggest problem. The 13 number was on hold for hours during to the storm and the weather. There is no number for us as parents to find or locate our child,” she said, 9 News reported.

Meredith contacted Virgin head office Friday morning only to receive a voicemail saying the airline has launched an internal investigation.

A spokeswoman from the airline said, “We take the utmost care when transporting unaccompanied minors and aim to ensure their nominated guardians are aware of any developments as they arise. We apologize for any breakdown in communication.”