Australian teen claims she was harassed, forced to sit with strangers child on Etihad flight from Europe

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*********** teen claims she was harassed, forced to sit with strangers child on Etihad flight from Europe

An *********** teenager claims she was harassed and forced to sit with a stranger’s child in her lap for six hours when she was bumped from an overbooked flight from the United Arab Emirates.

Lin Winward, 19, was returning from a visit to Europe to compete in the Austrian athletics competition when she said she was pulled aside by Etihad airline staff during a layover in Abu Dhabi.

The teenager from Ulladulla on the NSW south coast, who was travelling alone, told Nine papers she was told her flight home was overbooked and that she’d be put up in a hotel 40 minutes away.

The 19-year-old claimed she proceeded to be harassed by another passenger who had also been bumped from the flight to Sydney, and who had tried to force her into a taxi cab with him.

Camera IconLin Winward was returning from Europe when she was stopped in the UAE. Credit: Newswire

“I was quite upset. I was crying, and I said, ‘I just want to get home; I don’t feel safe going to a hotel, especially with this guy bothering me’,” she said, noting she was dressed only in activewear.

A staff member was able to get Ms Winward back on her original flight, however she claimed the seat she was given was meant for a woman’s toddler who she had to hold the whole flight.

“I just think it’s not good enough, for someone who has paid $3000 for flights, it shouldn’t happen,” Ms Winward said.

The teenager claimed airline staff had initially not seemed to care about his distress in the airport, and despite her travel agent reaching out repeatedly to Etihad she was yet to receive an apology.

Camera IconOverbooking is a standard practise based on the assumption some passengers won’t turn up. NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia

It comes after the treatment of young woman travelling on Middle Eastern airlines was thrown into the spotlight after more than a dozen women were forced off a Qatar Airways plane in Doha.

The woman were forced to undergo invasive searches and examinations after a baby was found in the bathroom of the airport, which behind Dubai and Abu Dhabi is among the region’s busiest.

Currently, the *********** government allows airlines to overbook – a standard practise based on the assumption some passengers won’t turn up – though that could change under draft laws.

Etihad Airlines was contacted for comment.

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