Passengers stuck on a grounded EasyJet flight from Gatwick for more than four hours claimed they were left without food with passengers trying to organise a ‘mutiny’ on board.
A full EasyJet flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia was stuck on the tarmac from 4pm on Monday amid spiralling temperatures and mass cancellations.
One passenger, Dominey Jenner, 44, said “tensions were rising” on the plane while she was onboard with her family, including daughters Martha, 10, and Dixie, 13.
Ms Jenner, from Wimbledon, claimed overheating passengers had to stand on the “packed” entrance stairs so they could cool down.
She told the Standard: “Various passengers, including myself, told the crew that a decision needed to be made.
“They just said they knew nothing. People were very patient, but after about three hours, you could feel tensions rising.”
She added her fellow passengers became restless and tried to force their way off the grounded plane with some even calling the police.
She said: “One couple had given notice to the crew that they were simply going to walk off the plane in half an hour. A few passengers called the police and I heard later that Gatwick police were about to come and escort us off.
“At about 8.30pm, the buses arrived to take us back to the terminal. We then had about an hour to get through passport control even though we’d not gone anywhere. We had no help at all from EasyJet. It was a total shambles.”
It came days after EasyJet’s chief operating officer Peter Bellew has resigned amid growing anger over flight disruption.
The airline has axed thousands of flights, including many on the day they were due to depart.
The move was also in response to caps introduced by Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol airports.
Mrs Jenner said: “We were treated appallingly. There was so little communication and no ground staff were there to help us when we got back in to the terminal. We’re never flying with EasyJet again.”
Yo @Gatwick_Airport @easyJet @dhlexpressuk any chance of our luggage? pic.twitter.com/2Y3PUHeMKv
— Hayley Whitchurch ✨ (@haywhitchurch) July 12, 2022
The family are trying to get to Dubrovnik by returning to Heathrow for a rebooked British Airways flight.
A source claimed that no police attended the aircraft and passengers were able to as normal “once they were able to”.
An EasyJet spokesman said: “Due to coaching delays as a result of staff sickness at Gatwick airport, customers were delayed in disembarking and while our crew did all possible to minimise the impact of the delay providing refreshments onboard, we fully understand and are very sorry for the difficulty this will have caused.
“We notified customers directly of their options to rebook or receive a full refund, along with information on how to arrange this online or via the app.
“Unfortunately there was limited hotel accommodation available in London Gatwick and so we advised customers who were required to source their own that they will be reimbursed. We would like to apologise to customers once again for the inconvenience caused by the delay and cancellation.”
