A mere 24 hours after the brutal United Airlines incident launched a global outcry, a British couple were told to leave their overbooked Easyjet plane, without an offer for compensation. Viddha, 35, and Manoj, 38, who paid £628 for flights from Luton to Sicily, claim they were told by the staff, after boarding, that they would have to leave as it was overstaffed.
The staff reportedly failed to tell them of their right to a replacement flight nor compensation, instead telling them there would not be another flight for the next four days. “This was an incredibly humiliating situation,” Manoj said. “The airline had overbooked and we were involuntarily off-boarded from the aircraft by two airport staff in front of a packed plane. The only difference between us and the chap involved with United Airlines is that we weren't physically dragged off.”
Easyjet issued an apology, blaming the fiasco on an error. A spokesman said, “The circumstances were very unusual and resulted from a manual error at the gate. We have listened to our call recordings and at no point did we refuse alternative travel or EU261. We want to reassure our customers that we will be providing additional training to our contact centre agents to make sure that future customers are not put through a similar experience. This should also have been handled better at the airport on the day so this has been picked up with the individuals concerned. We are genuinely sorry for what has happened.”
The couple had a six-day break planned, with a booking of non-refundable accommodation and transfers in Sicily worth £1,270. They had to eventually cancel the trip.
