Two young sisters were left "crying the whole way home" after their flight for their first ever holiday abroad was cancelled after they'd already boarded the plane. Jonny McClelland from Swansea said he felt like he'd "let down" his daughters Nuala, 7, and Connie 5, when their entire two-week trip to Tenerife was scrapped at the last minute by travel agency TUI.
Jonny and his family were part of a group of devastated holidaymakers on board a plane at Cardiff Airport on Tuesday, which was due to take off at 1.25pm. Passengers claim it was delayed by an hour, and then they waited another hour after boarding the plane because they were told it had a malfunctioning part.
But just as it looked like this was being repaired, they received text messages and emails from the German holiday giant informing them that their entire holiday - including the flight and accommodation - was cancelled. Holidaymakers claim that even airport and airline staff were unaware of the last minute decision, and angry and upset scenes at the airport ensued. One passenger from Porthcawl said his family were "absolutely devastated" by the U-turn, as it had been for a "special holiday" for his daughter who is terminally ill. You can read more about that here.
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TUI has said the flight was cancelled due to "operational issues". It assured that customers will receive a full refund, a gesture of goodwill and, where applicable, flight delay compensation. It comes as TUI and other travel companies have collectively axed hundreds of flights in the last week at several UK airports, leaving tens of thousands of people across the country affected. Explaining what happened, Jonny, 38, said that his family's holiday had already started on the wrong foot after his wife Jemma's passport arrived late, causing a lot of stress in the run-up.
After they finally received the passport the day before their flight, apart from take-off being delayed by an hour, he recalls everything went smoothly and there were no issues with boarding - until the captain announced that there was a problem with part of the plane. An engineer was called and they were told they might be able to get a replacement part from another plane or one all the way from Luton. In the meantime, children were invited into the cockpit to pass the time.
"So we queued up, and we were literally at the door of the cabin, when my phone went off and it was a message from TUI. It was basically saying: 'Your flight is cancelled, your package holiday is cancelled,'" Jonny said. "The air hostess looked shocked, because she didn't even know that. The pilot didn't know it."
Passengers were told to sit down, and an announcement was made informing customers that "there's no airplane coming, and there's no part coming". Jonny added: "They said there would be no overnight stay, nor flight tomorrow. Basically: 'Your whole holiday is cancelled. You need to take your bags and get off the plane."
Jonny said that passengers were sent to the departure lounge, were "given no information", and were initially told to wait for 20 minutes, which ended up being an hour. "It was only when people started to ask questions to the staff that they brought in the manager [from TUI]," he said.
He claims the manager reiterated everything the captain had told them and everything that was in the email. "There was a lot of upset people," he said. "There just seemed to be no effort made to rectify it. It was just: "Here's your bags, there's the door, goodbye.' They're offering compensation and a voucher, but nobody wants that."
Meanwhile Jonny's friends and family searched for alternative last minute flights for the four of them. He considered booking a flight from Birmingham on Wednesday, but, being double the price and with a stop-off in Germany, it "just wasn't feasible."
"So then we had to drive home and listen to my children crying the whole way home," he said. Explaining the impact the cancellation has had on his family, he said it had been a "really difficult year" for both himself as a paramedic and his wife who works for 111. Jonny said he had taken time off for stress and depression due to "traumatic" events at work, so he and his wife "really needed" the trip for their wellbeing.
But he added that it was the impact on his children, especially after the worry of the delayed passport, which is the bigger disappointment. "I told them: 'Don't worry, Daddy will sort it.' So I spent all that time sorting the passport out. And then to have your daughter screeching, crying, saying: 'Daddy, you promised me, you promised me', I felt like I'd let her down. It was difficult."
Jonny is given leave at a specific time of year with his job, and his wife had "worked hard" to get the same leave as him so they could get time off together. "So this is it, and then I don't have time off then up until Christmas. So this is our summer holidays and the girls' as well," he said.
He has criticised the "massive miscommunication" between TUI and Cardiff Airport. " How could they go from one minute looking for a part and all of sudden everyone's getting a message saying their holiday was cancelled? It seems very rash and very rushed. To me, that's saying it wasn't due to an airplane part. [TUI] said: 'We don't take these decisions lightly'. Well, it seems like they did take it quite lightly," he said.
He continued: "People don't book their holidays a couple of days before, so they know how many people are coming, they know what staff they need - or they should know." He also believes there is "something going on behind the scenes" with the various travel companies who have cancelled flights. "If [operational issues] were impacting one or two flights here and there, you can understand that. But surely all these operators can't be facing technical problems?"
He has managed to find a flight to the same destination from Bristol Airport with EasyJet on Friday, June 3, but he admits he and his wife are apprehensive about whether that flight will too be cancelled, as Bristol Airport has faced the brunt of the disruption. "As a father, I feel like I have to try and do something for my children," he said.
A spokesperson for TUI UK said: “We’d like to apologise to Jonny and his family who were travelling on flight TOM6286 from Cardiff to Tenerife which was unfortunately cancelled due to operational issues. We understand that last minute cancellations are incredibly disappointing and we would like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything we can to get them on holiday as planned.
"Whilst every cancellation is regrettable, the vast majority of our flights are operating as planned, with more than 26,000 customers taking off yesterday on holiday. We’d like to apologise again for the inconvenience caused and we thank customers for their understanding.”
Spencer Birns, Cardiff Airport CEO said: "We are hugely disappointed that a number of the TUI flights, that the operator planned to fly from Cardiff in the last week were disrupted and that has had a big impact on those passengers. We know customers are really looking forward to their trips and it is heart-breaking for them all when the disruption like this takes place.
"We were informed by TUI that their flight to Tenerife yesterday was cancelled due to a safety related issue with their aircraft. We are actively encouraging our airlines to make sure they look after their customers when disruption does occur. At Cardiff Airport, safety and security for our customers and staff is our number one priority.
"We are currently planning for normal operations over the coming days and have teams recruited to ensure we can facilitate safe travel through the airport for our passengers when taking flights with their chosen airlines. In the event of any disruption, customers would typically be informed directly by their airline or tour operators. Once Cardiff Airport informed, our flight information system is updated and this would be available to monitor via our website.
"We recommend passengers planning to travel this weekend, arrive at the airport as per their airline’s stated check-in opening time, which is between two and three hours prior to scheduled departure time." To get more travel stories sent straight to your inbox every single day, click here.
