A family was left stranded on a Greek island after Jet2 refused to let them board their flight home when their six-year-old daughter was sick in the departure lounge. Hayley Waters, 37, her husband Jason, 40, and their children Addyson, six, and Xander, three, were at Rhodes Airport waiting for a delayed flight to Leeds Bradford Airport when the incident occurred.
Family denied boarding after daughter vomits
Addyson was sick once in the departure lounge, and Hayley cleaned it up immediately. Jet2 staff then stopped the family from boarding the delayed flight, which was scheduled to depart shortly after midnight. The family was told they could not travel with Jet2 for at least 24 hours and would need to arrange their own accommodation, transport, and replacement flights, incurring costs of approximately £1,000.
Hayley, a performance analyst from Leeds, West Yorkshire, said: "While waiting at the gate, my six-year-old daughter was sick once. I cleaned it up immediately. She'd had no illness all holiday - she was simply exhausted after the delay, it was around midnight, and over 30C in the airport."
No medical assessment carried out
The family had been scheduled to board the 11.15pm departure on Friday July 31, which ultimately took off at roughly 12.05am. They were part of a larger party of nine when a Jet2 staff member saw Addyson being unwell. Hayley maintains that no one examined her daughter or asked about any illness during their holiday before the family was denied boarding.
She said: "The only explanation given was 'policy' because my daughter had been sick. Nobody asked whether she had any underlying medical conditions, whether she'd been unwell during the holiday, or how she was feeling. No medical assessment was carried out - the decision was based solely on a member of staff seeing her vomit once."
Family books alternative flight, Jet2 responds
The family managed to book onto an easyJet flight to Newcastle the following day. Hayley said: "We have no written explanation for why we were denied boarding, no paperwork, no medical assessment, no duty of care, and we were left stranded abroad with two young children."
Jet2 maintained its Rhodes team had adhered to standard procedures and assisted the family in securing accommodation. The carrier stated staff had also recommended keeping all receipts to enable a claim through their travel insurance. A Jet2 spokesperson commented: "The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our absolute priority, and our teams have processes in place to help prevent the spread of illness onboard our aircraft. We are sorry to hear that Mrs Waters was unhappy with her experience and we are in contact with her to discuss the matter further."
Hayley has challenged the airline's assertion that contact had been made with her. The airline confirmed it had committed to responding within a fortnight, by August 20, and was on schedule to deliver that response. Hayley stated the family have received no confirmation that their written complaint has been acknowledged, nor have they been informed of Jet2's response timeframes.
