Having trained during the pandemic to “calculate” potentially dangerous tourists who are not feeling well, the flight crew does not plan to lose their skills. As the British dailystar writes, one tourist was left without a vacation in Rome — she was kicked out of the flight because she was sweating. As a result, the airline — which was Jet2 — had to fork out for compensation.
According to the newspaper, tourist Helen Taylor, 56, from Durham, was about to fly to Rome. The tourist also said that she has type 2 diabetes and menopause, due to which she periodically sweats profusely.
They flew out of Newcastle International Airport together with the tourist’s husband, David. “I was desperate to go to the bathroom, so I asked one of the flight attendants while people were still boarding if I could go to the bathroom. She replied, “Yes, no problem.” But when I got out, I started sweating and felt a little dizzy. The stewardess saw and asked: “Are you all right?” and I said, “I’m fine, I just ate after not eating all day, and I have type 2 diabetes, so it’s just my blood sugar. All I need is to sit down and drink water, and everything will be fine,” said the tourist. According to her, after a couple of minutes, she came to her senses. But then the stewardess returned and informed that the tourist needed to undergo a medical examination.
“She asked my name and my condition. I replied, “I have type 2 diabetes and I take medicine for it.” She also asked my husband if this happens often and he said, “Sometimes when she doesn’t eat every few hours. This is normal,” said the tourist. But after the “examination” the stewardess returned and stunned the tourist: “We decided that you will have to leave the plane, we think that the flight will be dangerous for you.” “What is diabetes? Do I look bad right now?” – asked the tourist. However, neither negotiations with the captain of the plane nor other measures helped – she was required to leave the board.
“We were escorted through the airport, and had to return our purchases at duty-free shops, and were interrogated by border control officers. “Instead of enjoying our vacation, we had to take our luggage and call a taxi home,” the tourist complained. They also had to contact the hotel and the shuttle to warn about the no-show.
“I can’t believe how they treated us. It was crazy. They cannot do this to people,” said the tourist creating a scandal. She claims that the flight attendants “made decisions based on unconfirmed evidence because they were not doctors”, while they did not make any attempt to help the woman – they simply removed her from the flight, informing her that she was unfit to fly. However, even the carrier did not refund their £1,800 holiday money the first time.
“We often fly with Jet2 on short trips and they have three flights booked next year. We have never had this problem. I want to talk about this, so I hope Jet2 will think twice before doing this to someone else,” said the tourist.
As a result, the carrier stated that he apologized to the victim and confirmed that he would reimburse her for the cost of the vacation. “After engaging with independent aviation medical professionals, our crew made this decision as the health, well-being, and safety of our customers is always our top priority. However, after further investigation, as a matter of absolute priority, we contacted Ms. Taylor to apologize and refund her vacation money as a gesture of goodwill,” the airline representative said.