Jetstar keen to trace case defacer

The passenger found his luggage on the carousel defaced.

Jetstar says it will investigate who defaced a passenger's luggage in transit, using stickers to spell out "I am gay" on his suitcase.

The man posted a photograph of the red suitcase on Twitter yesterday, saying the wording was done using ticket stubs from checked luggage on his flight from Perth.

"Utterly disgusted to find my luggage front and centre on the luggage carousel looking like this," said the married father-of-two, who gave only his first name, Aaron.

The post caused anger among his followers, who described the incident as disgusting and unbelievable.

It is unclear when the stickers were put on the case, and who was involved. After it is checked in by airline staff, bags are usually handled by luggage contractors as it is loaded on to the plane.

Jetstar is determined to find out. After his public complaint a Jetstar spokeswoman apologised to the passenger on Twitter, asking him to provide more information.

"I'm very sorry to see that. So we can investigate this internally, please direct message us your booking reference," she said.

Jetstar Airways spokeswoman Emma Kearns told the Herald last night the man had not yet contacted the airline.

Until that happened they could not find out what had happened to his luggage.

"We are taking this matter very seriously," Ms Kearns said.

While some were calling for those responsible to be fired, the passenger was hoping for a different result.

"I'm sure Jetstar will handle it. I'd rather have broad consciousness-raising over job losses," he tweeted.