Table of Contents
A Heswall dad has hit out at easyJet after his family lost almost a day of their £4,000 holiday following an 11-hour delay.
As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Stephen Gilfoyle, 39, was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Antalya, Turkey with his wife and eight-year-old daughter on August 31 for an all-inclusive break.
Their flight was due to board at 7:45 am. However, they were in for a rude awakening, as they were told the captain was ill and the flight would be delayed. The family waited around two hours, boarded the plane, and were then told there were more delays due to weather issues.
Their flight eventually took to the air, around five hours late, but that wasn't the end of the delays to their holiday.
Around two hours after taking off, passengers were told their flight was being diverted to Milan because the cabin crew would go over their contracted working hours if they continued the longer flight to Antalya.
Stephen questioned why the flight had been allowed to leave Manchester if the crew were already at risk of exceeding their hours, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The family was told they would be transferred straight onto another flight in Milan, but Stephen said they found the departure was delayed by a further five hours.
Passengers were given €25 food vouchers, but Stephen said they were effectively trapped in part of the airport where the only food spot was a Pret A Manger. With a flight full of people, there were long queues and food quickly ran out.
The family didn't use the food voucher and said they were "absolutely starving" at that point. The Heswall dad also described how his daughter was "in tears", presumably because she hadn't eaten, and they couldn't go to the nearby McDonald's as it was past the passport control gate at the airport.
With a delay of 11 hours, the family finally arrived in Antalya around 1 am instead of their scheduled 2:30 pm arrival.
Hotel staff brought Stephen and his family food to their room when they arrived.
On his daughter, Stephen said: "My daughter was absolutely knackered. It triggered her. She doesn't want to fly anymore; she seems a bit traumatised by it all."
After the bad experience, the family complained to easyJet. For their troubles, they were first offered £150 as a "goodwill gesture," according to the Heswall native.
He called the compensation offer "disgusting", saying it was "nowhere near" what he'd expected.
Manchester Evening News were contacted by Stephen, who shared his story, and after this, easyJet doubled their offer to £300 in compensation, although the father considered this a "kick in the face".
An easyJet spokesperson said the flight was delayed due to air traffic control restrictions caused by weather issues across Europe. They also mentioned that flying the scheduled route would make the crew exceed their allotted hours, so they stopped in Milan to replace them with a new crew.
They added that the company had contacted Stephen, issued food vouchers, and provided information about the next steps.
