A man who booked a flight with Jetstar is angry today after missing a flight because it departed at the time it was scheduled to.

JQ287, from Wellington to Christchurch, was scheduled to leave this morning at 8:15am, and did, in an unexpected turn of events that one passenger has described as “unacceptable.”

Noel Lucas, 25-year-old son-of-two, said he had been led to believe by bad jokes his friends told that Jetstar was “delayed all the time, every time,” and had specifically booked with the airline so that he wouldn’t have to turn up at what he described as a “prohibitive” boarding time.

But the airline is refusing to apologise for Lucas’ situation, saying that, over the past two years, they had “significantly reduced” delays, such that they now had no more than rival Air New Zealand.

A spokesperson for Jetstar said Lucas should simply have been paying “more attention.”

But Lucas is still angry, saying that the airline’s apparent “change in business model” was poorly advertised, and customers who had previously flown with them and had significant delays, should be made aware that their experience will now be different.

“I’ve flown with Jetstar now, maybe, five times?” he said. “And every single time, I’ve been late, and I’ve not missed my flight.

“But today, I turn up and what do I get? ‘Oh, sorry, your flight left 5 hours ago.’ Well, how was I to know that?”

Jetstar has offered Lucas another flight tomorrow at a discount, but could not guarantee him that it would be delayed.

Following his experience today, Lucas has made an official complaint to the Privacy Commission, who say they’re presently unsure what to do with it.