LEEDS- Jet2 (LS) refused boarding to a Leeds family at Rhodes International Airport (RHO) after their 6 year old daughter vomited once while they waited at the gate. The family had been due to fly home to Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA).
They were later forced to arrange an easyJet (U2) flight to Newcastle International Airport (NCL) the following day, with the family estimating that the disruption cost about £1,000.
Family Told It Could Not Fly With Jet2 for 24 Hours
Hayley Waters, 37, was travelling with her husband Jason, 40, and their children Addyson, 6, and Xander, 3. The family was part of a larger group of 9 people returning from Rhodes.
Their Jet2 flight to Leeds Bradford was scheduled to leave at 11.15 PM on July 31 but was delayed and eventually departed at about 12.05 AM.
While the family waited at the gate, Addyson was sick once. Waters said she cleaned up the incident immediately and believed her daughter had become exhausted after the delay.
Waters, a performance analyst from Leeds, said Addyson had not been ill during the holiday. She said the child was tired, it was around midnight and temperatures inside the airport were above 30C.
A Jet2 staff member saw the child being sick and the family was then stopped from boarding. Waters said they were told they could not travel with Jet2 for at least 24 hours.
The family was also told to arrange its own accommodation, transport and replacement flights.
Waters said nobody assessed Addyson after she vomited. She also said staff did not ask whether her daughter had an underlying medical condition, whether she had been unwell during the holiday or how she was feeling.
According to Waters, the decision was based solely on a staff member seeing the child vomit once.
She said the family received no medical assessment and no written explanation setting out why they had been refused boarding. She also said they were given no paperwork and believed the family had been left stranded abroad with two young children without adequate support. The family’s account was reported by the Manchester Evening News.
Replacement Travel Cost About £1,000
Unable to take the Jet2 service to Leeds Bradford, the family booked an easyJet flight to Newcastle for the following day.
Waters said the family had to cover the cost of the alternative arrangements themselves and estimated the total disruption had cost about £1,000.
The change meant the family returned to a different UK airport from the one originally planned, adding another stage to their journey home.
Jet2 Says Staff Followed Procedures
Jet2 said its team in Rhodes had followed its procedures and helped the family find somewhere to stay after they could not travel on the original flight.
The airline also advised the family to retain their receipts so they could make a claim through their travel insurance.
A Jet2 spokesperson said the safety and wellbeing of customers was the airline’s absolute priority. The airline said its teams had processes in place to help prevent the spread of illness on board aircraft.
Jet2 also said it was sorry to hear that Waters was unhappy with the experience and that it was in contact with her to discuss the matter further.
Jet2 Contact and Complaint
Waters disputed Jet2’s statement that the airline had been in contact with her.
Jet2 said it had promised a response within 14 days, with August 20 given as the expected response date, and said it remained on track to meet that timescale.
Waters said the family had not received confirmation that their written complaint had been received. She also said they had not been told what timescale Jet2 was working to for handling the complaint.
The disagreement left the family seeking clearer information about why the boarding decision was made, what procedures were applied and how their complaint would be addressed.
What Family Says Happened
The family’s account is that Addyson became sick only once after a long delay and showed no known illness during the holiday. Waters said the family was refused boarding without a medical assessment and had to make its own arrangements to remain in Greece and travel home the next day.
Jet2’s position is that its Rhodes team followed established procedures designed to protect passengers from illness on board and provided assistance with accommodation and travel-insurance documentation.
The key points of disagreement are therefore the basis for the boarding decision, the extent of the assessment carried out at the airport, the support provided after the refusal and the subsequent communication about the complaint.
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