Tuesday 26 December 2017
A denial of carriage
Standing at the check-in counter allowed me to witness a denial of service by an airline. A gentleman was checking-in until the counter staff detects his passport has less than six months remaining and he is pulled aside and will be denied carriage. He actually took it reasonably well, he made a couple of phone calls to his friends and was planning to head back to the city.
He was given advice to immediately head off back to the city and get to the passport office that afternoon before the office shut for the Christmas break. I understand the reasoning, he needed six months remaining on his passport despite only taking a week's break in Bali. Should he get injured requiring hospitalisation then he will have an expired travel document but although plenty of people get involved in scooter accidents, most don't require six months work of medical treatment and should they need such treatment, it can be organised during the bed rest.
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That's close to the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. The statistical chance of being laid up for six months is infinitesimal, and should it happen I'm confident that the Australian consulate would render assistance towards the end of the period – to organise temporary travel documents. Even if that didn't happen, could any country really get that upset about someone who has spent six months in hospital? It's not like they disappeared into the underground workforce and overstayed their visa.
ReplyDeleteYou got me thinking so I looked up The Australian Passport Office requirements only to find that Australian passports according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are valid for travel right up to their expiry date. So then I checked Indonesian requirements at the Australian Embassy and they state airlines will refuse carriage at check-in.
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