Mother in turmoil after being told son not on flight

DAVID HALLETT/The Press

WORRIED SICK: Stephanie Kelly spent 13 hours wondering what had happened to her son Jordan Kelly-Houston after Jetstar told her he was not on board one of their flights.

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A Christchurch mother waited 13 hours to find out if her son was safe after Jetstar wrongly informed her he was not on board one of its international flights.

Stephanie Kelly's 18-year-old son, Jordan Kelly-Houston, boarded a flight to Honolulu from Sydney on the morning of New Year's Eve.

Kelly said when she rang Jetstar's customer service line to check if the flight was on time she was told her son had cancelled the flight for a refund and had not boarded the plane.

She was worried about what had happened to her son because he had called earlier to say he was boarding the flight. She feared the worst for 13 hours until Kelly-Houston finally called after he had arrived safely in Honolulu.

"I was terrified," she said. "We just had no idea if he was slumped over in a toilet somewhere or was being investigated by Customs ... I waited for hours and hours so a lot of thoughts went through my head. Had someone put drugs in his bag?"

Kelly contacted Christchurch police and Sydney Airport during the 13-hour wait to try to locate her son.

She discovered her son had gone through immigration and Customs at Sydney Airport, but could not find out if he was on the flight.

Kelly-Houston was flying to the United States to begin a prestigious tennis scholarship at Florida State University. Tennis New Zealand named him junior player of the year for 2009.

Kelly said the Jetstar staff member who told her he was not on the flight was "aggressive" and "pushy".

"She was adamant and quite pushy. She said they did not have to find him because he is not their responsibility because he is not on their flight." She wanted an apology and compensation from Jetstar.

"It was quite surreal. How could a company completely lose track of one its passengers?" she said.

Jordan Kelly-Houston's flight to Honolulu had already been delayed from the previous day. Jetstar paid for his overnight hotel accommodation while he waited for the replacement flight at 10am the next day.

Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said the airline would look into whether wrong information was given out.

"The reality is he is an adult and he was booked to fly, he checked in to fly and he flew. As to whether his mother was given false information at any time we would have to look into it. It is unusual for the wrong information to be given. It was regretful if wrong information was given and it wouldn't have been deliberate," he said.

"Our systems are very solid and it seems very strange and at odds with the good customer service we provide."

- © Fairfax NZ News