Jetstar has been forced to apologise to an Auckland family for losing irreplaceable taonga.
Ginnaye Morgan took a Jetstar flight from Auckland to Wellington in May this year to attend her nephew’s tangihanga.
READ MORE: Lost luggage increasing as air travel ramps up
Amongst the luggage she checked in with Jetstar at Auckland Airport was a blue bag containing eight precious taonga.
These included greenstone and bone carvings belonging to whānau, and others which had been gifted when family members passed, all irreplaceable.
When Morgan landed in Wellington, she went to the baggage carousel.
"I stand there, and I wait, and I wait, and I just carry on waiting until my little blue New Zealand bag came through - but nothing."
Devastated, she logged her bag as missing with Jetstar, and was told the carrier would search for the lost bag.
When she asked for updates, she received several emails which looked identical, each just signed off by a different person.
Morgan felt dismayed by what felt like an inhuman response. Then Jetstar asked her to provide values and receipts for the items.
"I'm not going to go home dig up my loved ones just to ask them if they've got the receipts," she said.
"At the end of the day as Māori, we don't do that. How are we supposed to get prices for an heirloom that has been passed down from generation to generation."
As the kaitiaki – guardian - of these taonga, she feels responsible for their loss, and has struggled to explain to her wider family what happened.
“I feel like I'm not worthy anymore to look after my Māori taonga - Māori heirlooms.”
Jetstar’s response when approached by Fair Go was a short four-sentence statement, attributable to an unnamed "Jetstar spokesperson".
"We sincerely apologise for this situation and greatly appreciate the significance of these precious family heirlooms," they said.
"Our customer team has been working hard to try and trace and locate the customer’s luggage since May.
Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, we have not been able to locate the luggage.
"We understand how disappointing this is and are working directly with Ms Morgan on the best way we can support her in this situation."
Jetstar have now phoned Morgan. She’s happy to have finally had a "kanohi ki kanohi" talk to the company about her lost luggage.
It’s now hoped that a viewer might recognise the photos of either the bag, or the lost taonga – and get in touch with Fair Go.
SHARE ME