A frustrated holidaymaker claims hungry passengers were left to watch staff eating and drinking tea while being banned from the food trolley on a delayed flight.
Carolyn Doughty and her husband were two of a large number of Brits who've found themselves on a frustrated on a plane this summer.
The 58-year-old accused holiday firm TUI of providing "absolutely no customer care" when their three hour journey to Corfu turned into a seven-hour schlep.
The palliative care nurse said passengers went hungry and thirsty, staff were rude and no apology was offered for the lengthy delay.
TUI has said staff were simply following protocol during the flight and that the "safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always (their) highest priority".
Carolyn began her journey already slightly concerned there would be issues, after her daughter's return flight was diverted to Gatwick two weeks before - landing her with a £160 taxi ride to get back to Bournemouth.
A fortnight on Carolyn's journey got off to a slightly wobbly start when the flight out of Bournemouth Airport was delayed by more than 40 minutes.
"The first officer came on to say that we didn't have a pilot, but they would get one," she explained.
"About ten minutes later a pilot turned up. He was completely dishevelled, had half his uniform on. The door open to the flight deck and he was in there getting dressed. Someone took him in a cup of black coffee."
The Mirror has previously reported on the great stress many in the airline industry are under, with pilots and cabin crew often covering shifts at the last minute due to intense demand.
The original captain on Carolyn's flight had reported sick before duty, so another pilot had to be called out which caused the initial delay.
TUI explained that both pilots, when they arrived, were wearing their uniform to standard, which allows them to take off their jackets in the summer time.
By the time the plane took off the passengers had been sitting onboard for an hour and 20 minutes, Carolyn said.
"The stewards at the front didn't want to engage with us, they spent the whole time talking about what they were doing the next day," she continued.
"They had no interest in anyone's welfare."
Her unhappy journey got worse when the plane almost reached Corfu and started circling round and round, before heading to Athens on a diversion due to running low on fuel.
Carolyn expressed dismay that the food trolley was kept shut for the vast majority of the flight, from before it approached Corfu to when it finally landed several hours and a diversion later.
"The stewards were standing at the front having tea and biscuits, but there were no refreshments whatsoever for anyone else," she claimed.
"When I was waiting for the loo I could hear the cabin manager say 'no she can't have anything, it's too bad the child is hungry. Go up there and sort out the situation. She's moaning'.
"(When we finally landed) it was a good five hours with no refreshment offered. They didn't ask if we were alright. There was no water.
"Everyone was hot, tired and completely fed up."
Carolyn believes TUI and other airlines - which appear to have been struggling to get their services up to full tilt following the coronavirus pandemic - should "buck their ideas up".
"I'd like them to apologise and retrain their cabin crew on customer care," she continued.
"People are frightened about going away now."
A spokesperson for TUI explained that the food trolley was unavailable on the aircraft during the diversion to Athens as the plane was circling, meaning opening it would've been a safety issue.
It wasn't opened after taking off from Athens so the plane's flying slot wasn't missed, they said.
"We’re sorry to customers who flew on TOM652 from Bournemouth to Corfu on 8th July, which was initially delayed while we sourced a new crew member due to one of the pilots falling ill", the spokesperson continued.
"The flight then had to briefly divert into Athens due to thunderstorms in Corfu and waited for conditions to improve.
"We can confirm that the crew onboard provided a full food and beverage service ahead of the diversion into Athens, and the short time this service was not available was due to safety reasons.
"The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always our highest priority and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding."
