One family was forced to cancel their holiday after they claimed staff at Manchester Airport caused distress to their autistic child. The family have called their experience at Manchester Airport “traumatic”.
Luna Muñoz who is a career coaching consultant from Liverpool, was set to fly to Boston from Manchester Airport with her child Eli. 15 year-old Eli and her mum Luna were off to see family that they hadn't seen for three years.
Luna made enquiries before their flight last Wednesday (1 June) about the special assistance that Eli is entitled to. That includes giving Eli more time to process instructions, at places like security also finding ways in which they would be comfortable for her to be searched the MEN report.
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Sadly when they got to security, Eli triggered the metal detector and as a result would need to be searched by staff. Luna said she tried to speak to staff about carrying out the search in a way Eli would find manageable; this could have meant them giving Eli some time to process the instructions, however Eli had already been touched on their back and shoulder, even though she had started to cry and show clear distress.
In response a Manchester Airport spokesperson said that they are “satisfied” that their staff did what they could to reassure Eli and Luna in this instance. Luna said: "I don’t even hug my child unless I have consent."
“And it’s been a while. I understand this person has to do their job. But touching someone on their shoulders or their back is intimate touching, that’s not touching to do their jobs.
“They were trying to be reassuring, but for a person with special needs, that’s not reassuring.”
When they arrived at Manchester Airport, Eli was given a sunflower lanyard to show staff that they needed special assistance. That is something airport staff maintain was taken into account during the incident.
Luna has said that Eli started to “grimace” and cry when she was being searched. That was before she ran away in distress and also had a panic attack.
The family eventually got through security however despite Luna's best efforts to settle her daughter the impact from the encounter was still there.
“I had to excuse myself to the bathroom to just cry. I didn’t want Eli to see that. I thought, ``I don't think we’re going to be protected or safe beyond this point.”
After the ordeal the family decided to go home and sadly cancel their much-anticipated trip. Luna said she couldn’t face the possibility of further distress for Eli.
Luna said: “We haven’t seen family in three years now, and this was our chance. It has been a long, long time. It was a hard choice.
"But we talked about it as a family and thought no, it’s not worth it.” Luna has said that she understands her daughter had to go through the Airport security just like every passenger.
However she said that no attempts were made to make the experience more comfortable for Eli.
“You don’t expect special treatment, but there is a way to do it. You do expect a little more in terms of time and patience,” she said.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: “The security of our passengers and staff is of paramount importance and our security process must be applied consistently. In this case, the passenger activated a walk-through metal detector and so a hand search was necessary, in line with security regulations.
“Our security team explained to the passenger and his mother why this was necessary prior to conducting the search.
“Security colleagues are trained in how to engage with passengers who have hidden disabilities such as autism and we are satisfied that they did their best to reassure the passengers concerned in this instance.
“We are, however, sorry to hear they found the experience distressing and would welcome any feedback from Ms Munoz on how she feels the process could be improved.”
