27 January 2011
Jetstar have issued a statement and an apology after singer Jon Stevens was “forcefully escorted” off a flight by police yesterday (January 26).
Stevens had just supported Jimmy Barnes in Perth on Tuesday night and was on en route to Brisbane on an overnight flight for a flood fundraiser when he got involved in an argument with staff about seating.
In his own statement issued by management, the former Noiseworksfrontman and one-time INXS singer explained that as the plane was taxiing, he moved into a seat in an empty row behind him. A steward asked him to return to his seat and told him he could move back after take-off.
“The steward then stood there glaring at me,” Stevens stated. “So I asked him why he was glaring at me. The steward replied with ‘Are we going to have a problem?’ and I said ‘We already have a problem’”.
The steward then went to the cockpit, the aircraft turned around and Stevens was requested to disembark.
“I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding’, and told the steward I would not leave the aircraft, and that I needed to get to Brisbane to perform at a fundraiser concert for the Queensland flood relief.”
According to Stevens, police officers heavy-handedly escorted the singer off the plane where he was met by Federal Police and told there was a 24-hour ban imposed on him by both Jetstar and Qantas airlines. He flew with Virgin Blue Airlines later that morning.
Today Jetstar have defended their actions, with a spokesperson telling The Music Network:
“Safety is our number one priority and we want all of our customers to have a good experience when flying with us.
“We have guidelines we follow and our cabin crew were not confident of his willingness to follow instruction.
“We do apologise if Mr Stevens thought we were being heavy-handed and our senior management have reached out to him to resolve this issue.”
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