The 21-year-old Englishman claims the airline mistakenly banned him from their flights because of his last name.
According to The Mirror, Kieran Harris planned to fly May 25 from Liverpool to Alicante on an easyJet plane. According to the man, the day before the flight, he received a call from a representative of the company and said that he was removed from the flight due to “destructive behavior” in the past. Harris was also banned from flying easyJet until March 15, 2031.
“I was devastated. I no longer had a reservation and a seat on the flight,” Harris said in an interview with the publication.
As it turns out, the company confused him with another passenger who was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for “aggressive and offensive behavior” during a flight in 2021. The men had not only the same names but also the date of birth.
Ultimately, the problem was solved, but with only a few hours left before the flight, the man almost missed his plane.
“We booked a holiday a month ago and even checked in online over a week ago. They had so much time to contact us,” said a frustrated Harris, adding that he was unlikely to fly easyJet in the future.
After the situation was resolved, the company apologized to Harris for the misunderstanding and wasted time.
“We are very sorry that Mr. Harris was mistakenly informed that he cannot fly with our airlines. We have made this decision as Mr. Harris has the same name and date of birth and was flying from the same region of the UK as the passenger, whom we had previously blacklisted for a serious onboard violation As soon as Mr. Harris contacted us we resolved the matter and although he departed as planned we understand the frustration this caused so our team will contact him and offer compensation,” an easyJet spokesperson told the Independent.
This is not the only complication that Harris has faced because of his name. Last May, the Metropolitan Police came to his house for the same reason. Realizing their mistake, the authorities left the house, but Harris is still going to seek legal help to avoid similar problems in the future.