Virgin Australia has come under fire after it offered a passenger just $75 in compensation after his suitcase was crushed during a domestic flight.
Mark Trenwith demanded Virgin Australia compensate him after his suitcase was badly damaged during a flight from Adelaide to Melbourne late last year.
Despite the bag being returned to him in an unusable state, Virgin Australian offered Mr Trenwith just $75 in compensation for a suitcase that cost him $219.
‘The bare minimum is you expect to just get your bag back working. I thought the wheel was busted, but on further investigation, it turns out the whole thing’s been crushed,’ he told Yahoo News.
‘My ideal outcome is that they replace the case, but it seems they’ve just graded it as a minor dent.’
Media pressure eventually forced Virgin Australia to revise its stance and the airline compensated Mr Trenwith for the entire cost of his suitcase.
The passenger said he was made to ‘jump through hoops’ which included getting in touch with police and filling out a ‘laborious’ claim.
Virgin Australia was queried by Daily Mail Australia about why Mr Trenwith wasn’t fully compensated right away.
‘We investigated this matter and reached out to the guest directly to apologise and provide compensation for the claim,’ a spokesperson said on Thursday.
‘This matter has now been resolved.’
Damage to luggage has become an all-too-common story in recent years.
In December 2022, two baggage handlers were sacked after they were filmed hurling luggage, with force, onto a conveyor belt at Melbourne Airport.
Many others have also had to wait months, and even years, for airlines to find their lost luggage.
Michael Pascale’s luggage was lost for 18 months despite only travelling from Brisbane to Sydney in 2022.
Sri Lankan Airlines, who was the carrier for Qantas, offered him just $150 in compensation, but, understandably, he wasn’t satisfied with the offer and took them to court and was awarded $2,700.
Incidents like these are why there’s been calls for an independent airline regulator to advocate for passenger rights.
