Aussie teens left in tears after cancelled Qantas flight derailed ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to NASA Space Camp
EXCLUSIVE
A group of Australian teens have been left distraught after a cancelled Qantas flight derailed a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to NASA’s space camp.
Young women from St Columba’s College, Essendon, and Catholic Ladies College, Eltham, had been booked to fly from Melbourne to Huntsville, US, on Saturday at 11:53am.
The 28 teenagers were headed for a 10-day educational experience at NASA’s immersive experience – worth $10,000 per head.
But they were left in tears when their Qantas flight was cancelled less than 24 hours before it was supposed to take off due to a mechanical issue.
‘I’m upset and disappointed, as well as annoyed, as I’ve been preparing for over a year for this,’ Minami McCartney told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Now, I’m missing out on the opportunity to go to Space Camp, a once in a life opportunity.’
Ms McCartney, 15, is passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and had hoped it would be an opportunity to understand the disciplines in the context of space research and exploration.
Minami McCartney, 15, was left upset and disappointed when a cancelled Qantas flight put the once in a lifetime chance to visit NASA’s space camp in jeopardy
Ben McCartney (pictured) said he and his wife (pictured) chose to dip into their savings to give their daughter Minami the chance to travel to the US
Her father Ben McCartney was left disheartened on her behalf after the long-anticipated opportunity was cancelled.
‘I have zero belief that Qantas really understood what the kids and the families were going through,’ he said.
‘They weren’t the ones sitting with their kids last night as they were in tears being told that this thing they’re working towards for 12 months is now not happening.
‘If you’re a truly customer-obsessed organisation… you’re doing the right thing by that customer, even if it means you’re putting them on a competitor’s flight.’
Mr McCartney said he reached out to people at the company and had written letters to CEO Vanessa Hudson and the Board of Directors led by Chairman John Mullen but never received a reply.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for comment.
Victoria-based tour company Immersive Education had put together the ‘unique’ trip.
Organiser Dr Andrew McAlindon said that after they heard the flight might be cancelled on Friday, he and his colleague had been told by Qantas that there were potentially two options to get the students to Huntsville.
Qantas has worked with tour company Immersive Education to rebook flights for late April (stock image)
‘[Qantas] were working with us on the phone to explore things like splitting the group into smaller, manageable sizes that their partner airlines might be able to pick up,’ he said.
‘But the earliest that they’d be able to get the group out… to their final destination (was) on the Wednesday, which is at least 70 per cent through the Space Camp program.’
He said Qantas also offered to issue a full refund for the flights. Immersive Tours decided to explore other options.
‘It wasn’t until today, and I believe it was through that work of Ben (McCartney), being able to leverage whom he might know, to get to a point where Qantas then called us and said they could get us onto a flight earlier than first anticipated.’
Dr McAlindon said by then the schedules didn’t align but that led to Qantas offering to rebook the flights at a later point.
The trip has now been rebooked for four weeks later, in late April, according to Immersive Education and St Columba’s College.
Mr McCartney said he was worried about further costs after such a significant investment.
‘It’s a lot of money for us,’ he said.
Immersive Education told Daily Mail Australia that, due to the knock-on effect of the cancelled flights, parents will have to pay a further $1000 for the rescheduled trip (stock image)
‘We decided to dip into our savings and pay for it so (Minami) could go.’
However, late on Saturday, Immersive Education said parents who still wanted to send their children on the rescheduled trip would have to pay a further $1373.79 ‘out-of-pocket’.
While Qantas managed to rebook most of the flights and some expenses had been salvaged, the tour company said bookings for buses and a domestic US flight with United Airlines had been lost.
They also have not heard back from the original hotels they had booked.
‘It’s a knock-on effect of the cancellation,’ Dr McAlindon said.
‘This is the highest of values. If the original hotels can shift bookings, the cost will come down but, to get the trip happening, money is going to have to change hands again.’
The 28 teens were not the only ones to have their plans disrupted by Qantas delays and cancellations this month.
Michel Alam claimed he had missed a crucial immigration exam on March 20 after Qantas delayed his flight for hours so that passengers from another cancelled service could board.
