A 21-year-old heavily pregnant woman was forced to sleep on the floor at Brisbane airport overnight after her Virgin Australia flight to Sydney was cancelled and she was refused access to the airline’s lounge.
Meghan-Rachel Cochrane, who is 36 weeks pregnant, was due to fly from Brisbane to Sydney at 8pm on Sunday night but the flight was cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather.
Initially, Virgin Australia staff promised to arrange accommodation for passengers but later rescinded the offer, claiming the weather “wasn’t their fault”.
Meghan-Rachel and other passengers were left to wait in the terminal until the next flight to Sydney, which wasn’t until 5am the following morning.
Meghan-Rachel
Being eight months pregnant, Meghan-Rachel asked to be allowed access to the Virgin lounge because the hard plastic seats in the terminal were too uncomfortable for her to sit in for nine hours.
“The staff said the lounge was only available for those who were flying business class or frequent flyers,” Meghan-Rachel says.
“Mum called Virgin Australia to plead my case and attempt to get them to show some compassion, but they said that while they understood mum’s concerns, it would be ‘unfair’ to let me in and not the other passengers who were also waiting.
“By 1am, I had no choice but to lie down on the terminal floor. Sitting up was no longer an option for me. It’s safe to say it wasn’t the most comfortable night I’ve ever had!”
Meghan-Rachel and her family are now safely back in Sydney and she and her unborn baby are in perfect health, but still very unhappy with the airline’s handling of the case.
“The baby loved it because I ate chocolate and gummi bears from the vending machines for dinner so she was up most of the night kicking away,” Meghan-Rachel says.
“But I wasn’t happy with the way we were treated. I understand that the weather wasn’t Virgin Australia’s fault, but it also wasn’t mine and a little compassion can go a long way.”
Sunday was a busy night at Brisbane Airport. Nine flights were cancelled due to storms and there were more than 1000 people left stranded until the next morning.
The Virgin Australia lounge was at capacity and customers who were squeezed in had to leave when it closed for the night.
Virgin Australia was contacted but does not comment on individual cases.
