Family slams easyJet pilot for ‘intimidating them off plane to Rhodes’

A British family has accused an easyJet pilot of intimidating them into needlessly abandoning their summer holiday.

The mother of the family has told how she boarded the flight without any problems after her hotel advised her it was not affected by the wildfires – but she still decided against travelling.

Both the woman and a BBC reporter said the plane’s pilot issued a warning over the Tanoy, telling passengers it was a ‘terrible idea’ to visit the island.

He warned them because of wildfires the flight was operating on an ’emergency basis’.

The woman told the MailOnline she felt she had ‘no choice’ but to get off the flight after the pilot’s ‘dramatic’ announcement.

But easyJet disputes the woman’s version of events, with employees at the airline’s head office understood to believe that customers were not warned to get off the aircraft by the pilot, nor did the captain say that passengers should not be travelling.

The pilot was flying UK holidaymakers but allegedly advised them to leave the plane before take-off, saying return flights were now ‘being managed by the military’.

The pilot is also said to have told the 37 people on the 180-capacity flight that they could get off and rebook for another time, with eight passengers then doing so.

One woman on the flight, who wished to remain anonymous, told MailOnline: ‘At first we were concerned so checked the Government website which was not giving any advice not to travel – it advised to contact the holiday provider or hotel.

‘We did both – the hotel advised they were far away from the affected area and everything was perfectly safe. We then contacted our holiday provider who said easyJet were still flying out there and our hotel was over an hour away from the areas affected.

‘With the Government advice, easyJet not cancelling the flight and the hotel being an hour away we felt we would be fine to travel, the hotel and customers were posting social media photos which showed the hotel perfectly safe and people having normal holidays.’

She continued: ‘We went through to our gate number and went to easyJet check-in and no staff raised any concerns.

‘We then waited to board, again, the staff had no concerns and others were being asked to complete customer surveys on the service, so to us it felt like a normal flight.

‘On boarding the plane we were greeted and welcomed by the hostesses as normal and we found our seats.’

However, the woman said the trouble began when the pilot appeared a few minutes later and ‘asked why we were here on this flight’.

She said he then gave a ‘stern message that we should not be travelling’, adding that the pilot’s words published by the BBC earlier this week were accurate.

The pilot’s quotes were first reported by journalist Gwyn Loader, who was on the flight to Rhodes to report for the BBC Wales Welsh-language news programme Newyddion.

Mr Loader quoted the pilot as saying: ‘Travelling to Rhodes for a holiday at the moment is a terrible idea.’

The pilot then cited stranded tourists sleeping in airports.

He is said to have continued: ‘As far as I’m concerned, this flight is being operated on an emergency basis. Return flights are now being managed by the military. If you want to get off the flight, you are welcome to do so.

‘I don’t know in what capacity you are travelling, but if you are travelling for leisure, my sincere recommendation is it’s a bad idea.’

The woman said: ‘It was dramatic and sent a shiver down our spines. We felt with that message we absolutely had no choice but to get off the plane.

‘Other passengers, some with families did stay on. Our children were upset and one of them crying.’

The woman said after they got off the plane, easyJet staff checked them off the flight and they then had to wait for an employee to assist.

She said: ‘I appreciate people saying we were mad to fly, but we made a decision based on the advice and information provided to us.

‘The holiday was not cancelled so we would be choosing not to go and likely would not be able to get a refund in these circumstances.

‘Even now the hotel continues to post photos of holidaymakers having a nice time.’

The woman added: ‘This has been really traumatic and we have lost our family holiday. At first the holiday provider advised their policy was not to reimburse as we chose to vacate the plane and not go on the holiday. However they have now agreed to reimburse us, minus the admin fee.’

She said they had therefore lost out on around £500 in total.

The woman said: ‘We feel really bad for those affected and due to fly. It’s a difficult situation but with so many mixed messages and information it’s very hard to know what the right thing to do was.’

Sources within easyJet head office are understood to believe that customers were not warned to get off the aircraft by the pilot, nor did the captain say that passengers should not be travelling.

The company’s report from the flight is believed to show one customer chose to disembark before departure after they received a message from their accommodation while they were onboard advising them it was no longer available.

Following this, one other group of passengers – believed to include the woman spoken to by MailOnline – also said they no longer wished to travel, according to the report.

The company’s report said after being made aware of this, the captain spoke to all customers on board.

And the report then claimed the group chose to disembark – but the flight departed with all other passengers on board.

The airline is also understood to be clear that it was a scheduled flight, not being operated on an emergency basis – and denies that the pilot said the flight was an ’emergency flight’.

An easyJet spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Customers are advised to follow official FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) advice.

‘For Rhodes this has not changed and our schedule continues to operate.

‘As we understand that some customers travelling to the affected area may want to change their plans we have put in place a flexible policy for customers travelling to Rhodes in the coming days with the option to change their flights for free to another date or request a flight voucher for the value of their unused flights if they no longer wish to travel.’

The airline has also issued this update to passengers: ‘We know the situation for many currently in Rhodes is very difficult and we are doing all we can to help customers and provide assistance.

‘easyJet has been operating repatriation flights from Rhodes to Gatwick in addition to our scheduled flights.

‘Customers can check the Government travel advice at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/greece.

‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.