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National Jet Express (NJE) has been slammed for a recent charter flight where staff reportedly had to “manually scoop toilet waste” into basins.
The TWU says the four-hour flight, which carried the Fremantle Dockers AFL team home from Launceston to Perth on Saturday, 13 July, ran out of water after around half an hour, disabling the toilets and posing a “significant health and safety risk”.
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Passengers were also reportedly “compelled to use basins for urination”, the union said, adding to an “unsanitary and unsafe environment for both cabin crew and passengers”.
“This situation is utterly unacceptable and demonstrates a glaring neglect of duty of care towards both our members and the passengers they serve,” said Tim Dawson, WA state secretary of the TWU.
“Our cabin crew members should not be subjected to such hazardous working conditions, and passengers should not have to endure such distressing experiences.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for NJE, which is owned by Rex, said the airline is looking into the incident.
“NJE is aware of the situation on board a Launceston to Perth charter flight recently and is conducting a thorough investigation into the incident to ensure any failings are addressed immediately,” the spokesperson said.
“Crew and passenger welfare is of the utmost importance and as such we are taking this matter very seriously.”
While neither the TWU nor NJE confirmed the specific aircraft involved, VH-ULQ, a 17-year-old E190, operated a flight tagged NC443 from Launceston to Perth on Saturday night. VH-ULQ was the only aircraft in NJE’s fleet to fly that route on that day, according to FlightRadar24 data.
The TWU continued its calls for a “Safe and Secure Skies Commission” in the wake of the NJE incident, with Dawson pointing to the “severe breach of basic hygiene standards” that occurred.
“Ensuring the safety and well-being of our members is our top priority. This incident highlights the critical necessity for HSRs and to have a strong voice for workers to report these incidences before the plane is in the air,” he said.
“We are committed to fighting for the rights and safety of our cabin crew members, and we need to make sure preventable incidents like these don’t happen again.”
