Qantas caught in 'unacceptable act' on the tarmac: 'I'd be fuming'

Qantas has been slammed after staff on the tarmac were caught leaving a pet crate and suitcases in the pouring rain for as long as 30 minutes.

A stunned passenger photographed the 'unacceptable act' unfold at Sydney Airport last Friday.

Sydney was hit by a heavy downpour at the time with parts of NSW recording a month's worth of rainfall within a single day. 

'Unfortunately the weather was unavoidable, but this luggage was left out in the open in Sydney for 30 mins and the animals for 15 minutes — one facing the rain,' the outraged passenger wrote on Facebook. 

She shared a startling photograph of the unbelievable act.

Suitcases and a pet crate were seen left on trolleys on the tarmac next to a Qantas aircraft.

No airline workers were visible indicating the pet had been left unattended.

Social media users were left outraged at the sight, accusing Qantas of neglect.

'[I was on] on same flight, my luggage came home wet. Thinking a cover in these conditions would be nice,' they wrote. 

'Those poor fur babies,' another wrote.

'I'd report this if I saw it after flying my little dude to and from New Zealand. Should have brought this to the attention of ground crew ASAP.' 

A third added: 'I'm unimpressed by the luggage but those pet carriers out there is absolutely unacceptable. I'd be fuming if my boy was stuck on the tarmac in a cage in torrential rain, making an already stressful situation even worse'. 

A Qantas spokeswoman told Yahoo they are investigating the incident and that the airline 'takes the safety and welfare of pets travelling with us very seriously'.

'In weather conditions such as last Friday, we have a policy of keeping pets undercover until the very last moment that they need to leave the terminal to be loaded into the aircraft,' she said. 

Qantas' website reads: 'We know you care about your pet's safety and comfort when flying just as much as we do.'

Last year, Qantas was slammed by model Tayla Broad, wife of Richmond defender Nathan Broad when her French bulldog Charlie was not on his scheduled flight to Perth. Qantas apologised for the delay.