A disabled passenger who was abandoned on a plane at Manchester airport for more than two hours, before having to phone the police to help get him through border control, has said it felt like being held “hostage”.
Daryl Tavernor, 33, who has spinal muscular atrophy, has called for a review of the airport’s services for wheelchair users. He and his carer were trapped on the aircraft after their Ryanair flight from Rome early last Thursday morning. After finally being taken off the aircraft at 4.40am, they then faced another hour’s wait to get through the abandoned border control area and was only let through after calling the police.
Tavernor’s ordeal, which left him “physically bruised and emotionally drained” comes after a string of similar problems for wheelchair users at UK airports. He said the long delays being experienced by thousands of passengers at UK airports due to staff shortages are an all too common occurrence for those in wheelchairs.
Speaking to the Guardian he said: “For general passengers, staff resources at airports are now a big issue, but for disabled passengers in the UK it’s always been an issue and it’s getting worse.”
Manchester airport said it was “sorry to hear that Mr Tavernor had a disappointing experience”, but it has offered him no apology or response to a detailed complaint.
The airport outsources its special assistance service to a company called ABM. It also expressed regret but no apology.
Tavernor, who is from Stoke-on-Trent and works in digital marketing, said: “Manchester airport need to review that contract. Either they’re trying to run it on a shoestring and can’t improve the service because of the budget or they just have not scaled up staff numbers after the pandemic.”
He said services for disabled passengers elsewhere in the world were “head and shoulders better than the UK”. He added: “For some reason in this country it really lacks the attention it needs.” Tavernor said he had suffered similar previous delays but not for this long.
In a letter of complaint to the airport, Tavernor said: “I have never experienced such a poor and inhumane treatment … I am now bruised and have a strained neck after being held up for so long …. How can you leave a passenger on a plane and then leave us with no way to get into our own country?”
Last week the BBC’s security editor, Frank Gardner, expressed his frustration at being left on a plane “again” when Heathrow airport failed to deliver his wheelchair. Gardner was among those who expressed sympathy to Tavernor after he tweeted a video about his ordeal.
Arrived at MCR Airport with no special assistance to help get me off the plane for 2 hrs, then no Border Force agents to allow me entry for another hour, we had to call the Manchester Police to get them to T3! @TheSun @guardiannews @MENnewsdesk pic.twitter.com/KS35YEi9mx
— Daryl Tavernor (@DarylTavernor) May 26, 2022
Fazilet Hadi, the head of policy at Disability Rights UK said: “The current situation for all airline passengers is appalling and for disabled people who need assistance, it’s a whole lot worse. Many of us need help to navigate through the airport and on and off planes, we are completely reliant on the assistance and when it doesn’t work the stress and anxiety is absolutely enormous.
“Airports should never let these situations occur, they have clear legal duties under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustments for disabled passengers and it is clear from incidents like the one described that this is just not happening.”
A Manchester airport spokesperson said: “We and others in our industry including airlines, baggage handlers and assistance providers, are experiencing staff shortages at present due to the rapid pace at which travel has recovered from the pandemic. We are working tirelessly to address this as quickly as possible.”
An ABM spokesperson said it was examining Tavenor’s experience, and added: “We are currently experiencing higher volumes of passengers who require special assistance than our busiest pre-pandemic peak while the entire industry continues to face resource challenges.”
