A frustrated Aberdeen man has slammed Easyjet after flight cancellations left him stranded at Manchester Airport.
Bobby Bessant said he will never fly with the airline again after his flight from Manchester to Aberdeen was called off on Thursday, June 30 and July 1 due to 'problems with staffing' and 'air traffic control issues'.
The 33-year-old, who is hoping to get the next flight home to Scotland on Monday, said that the experience has “ruined what was a good break”, Manchester Evening News reports.
Bobby admits he had read about the issues at airports across the country but was gobsmacked by the Easyjet customer service, which he described as 'diabolical'.
He said: “We were all stuck in the terminal because the flight had been delayed, you couldn’t get anything to eat or drink because everything was shut by then.”
Bobby had been on hold to the customer service team for hours and was hung up on a number of occasions, he claims.
His flight was scheduled to go out on Thursday at 7.05pm but was delayed for almost three hours until it was cancelled.
The same thing happened again the following day, with Bobby desperate to get home to his family.
He insists Easyjet has taken no accountability for its actions and was angry to see staff vacate the terminal on Friday shortly before the tannoy announced the cancellation.
“From the word go I knew the flight was going to be cancelled,” he said.
“Being trapped in the terminal has really impacted on my mental health as I was on the verge of a panic attack.
“The staff couldn't care less. I just think Easyjet are a bunch of liars.
“They knew that the flight was going to be cancelled but they never gave us the answers to our questions. We had to wait with nothing.
“You don’t expect this to happen to you twice in the space of two days though. There should have been at least one member of staff to tell us what was going on.”
Birmingham-born Bobby suffers from a mild form of cerebral palsy which means he struggles to stand on his feet for too long.
He is also currently awaiting surgery which means the long queues and waiting around left him in agony.
The one saving grace, Bobby says, were his friends Victoria and Michael Thorneycroft, who he had met on holiday in Kos, Greece a few years ago and live in Sheffield..
He was able to stay with the pair as they took him on six separate trips from their home to Manchester Airport.
“They are life savers,” Bobby said.
“If it wasn’t for them I would probably be in hospital with stress.
“They are the best people I have ever met in my life. Not everyone would do what they have done for me.”
Easyjet has said staff will be in contact with him to apologise and reimburse him for the flights.
A spokesperson added: “We are very sorry for Mr Bessant’s experience on his flights with us from Manchester to Aberdeen.
"His original flight from Manchester to Aberdeen was unfortunately cancelled due to air traffic control restrictions which meant the crew due to operate the flight reached their maximum legal operating hours.
“While this was outside of our control, we did all possible to minimise the impact of this and gave customers the option of transferring their flight free of charge or receiving a refund as well as providing hotel accommodation and meals where required.
"We rescheduled the flight for the following day, however, it was cancelled due to the crew unable to operate the flight without exceeding their legally permitted flying hours after assisting a passenger with a medical issue.
“Unfortunately no replacement crew were available to operate the flight.
"While we notify customers directly and provide options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals, we fully understand the difficulty this disruption will have caused and are very sorry for this.
“Our team is contacting Mr Bessant to apologise for his experience and to reimburse him for any expenses.
"Once again we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
