Schoolgirl netballers left stranded after Jetstar flight cancelled

An Auckland schoolgirl netball team was last night stranded in Palmerston North after a sudden flight cancellation, sparking a marathon 1000km rescue mission by road.

The group of 11 players plus support staff had travelled to the Manawatu city to compete in the five-day New Zealand Indoor Netball Junior Nationals tournament.

But the trip turned from sweet to sour yesterday when they went to fly home only to find their 7pm flight had been canned due to crew sickness.

With players tired and worn down from games, a group of parents staged an overnight long-haul convoy to rescue the stranded Manukau Flamers and take them home - after Jetstar airline informed the team the next available flight out was not till Tuesday.

Everything had gone well, the team had flown down for the tournament, placing second in one category and fourth in another.

But hours before the scheduled departure they received a text from Jetstar informing them of the flight cancellation.

Amanda Assinki, a parent of one of the players, got a call at home in Auckland from the team's support crew yesterday saying, "it had been cancelled and we don't know what is going on".

"There wasn't a flight available until Tuesday and there is no accommodation, they [Jetstar] wouldn't stump up," Assinki said last night.

In response, she and her step son's mother mounted a mission in their two seven-seater vehicles to retrieve 10 of the players plus the parental support staff.

But the journey was long, about a 1000km return trip, and they estimated it would cost them around $600 in fuel as well as lost wages since several parents had to take today off work.

"All the kids are absolutely knackered," Assinki said. "Flying was the quickest, safest way, now we have had to drive all this way in the dark and through the Desert Rd."

She said Jetstar needed to put things right.

Members of the Manukau Flamers netball team from Auckland were holed up in a hotel room in Palmerston North with another team after Jetstar cancelled their flight home. Photo / Supplied

"At the very least there should be a refund on the flights that are cancelled and covering the petrol cost would be good."

A Jetstar spokesman said the airline apologised to affected customers last night.

Due to crew sickness the company was unable to operate two Palmerston North flights yesterday, resulting in their cancellation.

The airline had contacted all customers by SMS and email at the time of the cancellation, including the netball group, the spokesman said.

"The email outlined the options available to customers. This included offer for a refund, or if they continued to travel with us we offered all affected customers hotel accommodation, meals and transfers.

"We can confirm this email was sent to the email addresses provided in the booking. They declined our offer to travel by bus to Wellington and fly to Auckland."

Some customers had been bussed to Wellington to fly back to Auckland on Sunday and Monday, the spokesman said.

However, team coach Ihaia Burns said only correspondence he had with Jetstar was the initial confirmation that their flights had been cancelled, he said.

"I thought they would have put out an email or a text, there had been no communication other than to say the flights were cancelled."

Jetstar later contacted Burns about 8pm - after the Herald made inquiries - offering to arrange accommodation or buses to Wellington.

However, the rescue mission was already under way by that time so the offer had come too late, Burns said.

"This is the first I'm hearing of it.

"We had a really good weekend, it's been a long couple of days, we are sore and tired."

After the cancellation they tried calling and emailing Jetstar but only got a response when using the company's website "chatbot" virtual assistant.

It said there were no flights available until Tuesday.

"I think there are a few other people affected," Burns said.

The rescue mission was due to reach the stranded players about 10pm last night.

The team had hunkered down in a motel room while awaiting retrieval with another team which was due to fly out today.

"We are out having to buy the kids' dinners, that's another expense," Burns said.

Earlier this year Bruce Springsteen fans from Palmerston North and Napier in February were irked after flights to Auckland were cancelled due to crew illness.

Passengers were given the option of an immediate refund or could take a seat in the next flight, Jetstar spokesman Phil Boeyen said.