A dad from Heswall has hit out after being offered £150 compensation from easyJet. Stephen Gilfoyle, 39, lost out on a day of his £4,000 family holiday after a diversion and delays of around 11 hours.
Stephen was due to fly to Antalya in Turkey from Manchester Airport on August 31. He was heading out for a week-long all-inclusive package holiday with his wife and eight-year-old daughter. However, shortly before they were due to board a coach to take them to the plane for their 7.45am flight, they were told they would be delayed as the captain was "ill".
After a delay of two hours, they did board the plane, but once they were seated, they were told they would be further delayed due to "weather problems", reports Manchester Evening News. They eventually took off five hours late but Stephen said the disruption did not end there.
Diversion to Milan
Just two hours into the four-hour flight, Stephen said they were told they would be diverting to Milan as members of the cabin crew would go over their allotted hours if they continued to their destination.
Stephen said: "My question is why they allowed the flight to take off in the first place if they knew the crew would go over their hours?"
He said they were reassured they would be boarded "straight onto" a connecting flight in Italy, but said when they got into the terminal, the departure boards showed it was delayed by five hours. They were given a €25 food voucher, but Stephen said they were "trapped" in an area of the Milan airport with just a Pret A Manger, and that due to the number of passengers, there were massive queues and the food quickly ran out.
He said: "We didn't end up using it. We were all absolutely starving by this point. My eight-year-old was in tears. We just weren't expecting it. We could see a McDonald's through the glass but we weren't allowed through to get to it because it was the other side of passport control."
He said they arrived in Antalya around 1am the following morning, almost 11 hours after their scheduled arrival shortly after 2:30pm. He said staff at their hotel kindly offered to bring food to their room in the middle of the night. He said: "It wasn't for them we would have been absolutely starving."
Offer described as 'kick in the face'
Stephen explained they lost out on "most of the first day" of their trip and that the following day was also a "write-off" as they were exhausted from their late-night arrival. He said: "My daughter was absolutely knackered. It triggered her. She doesn't want to fly anymore, she seems a bit traumatised by it all."
He complained to easyJet but was simply offered a "goodwill gesture" of £150. He said: "It's disgusting. Nowhere near my expectations. I'm shocked by the lack of empathy from them. I wouldn't fly with easyJet again."
In their email response to him, easyJet told Stephen their decision was "reached following a full review of the information available to us and in line with our policies and the applicable aviation regulations." They said: "As such, we are unable to offer any additional compensation or refund beyond the goodwill gesture of £150 previously offered."
After being contacted by the M.E.N, easyJet contacted the family and doubled the amount they were offering to £300. However, Stephen said he believed it was still "low" and described it as a "kick in the face."
An easyJet holidays spokesperson said: "We're really sorry that Mr Gilfoyle and his family's flight was delayed due to air traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather across Europe. This delay would have pushed the crew to exceed their legally permitted hours, so a stop in Milan was arranged to replace the crew. The aircraft was refuelled and the flight continued onto Antalya.
"We did everything possible to minimise the impact of disruption on our customers, and as soon as we were made aware of the flight delay we got in contact with Mr Gilfoyle to apologise, issue food vouchers and advise on next steps.
"We understand that this was a disappointing start to the family's holiday and we're in touch to offer a further gesture of goodwill and support with expenses."
