Airlines accused of failing passengers during chaos

AIRLINE companies have been slammed by a number of Tyrone people caught up in the chaos this week when thousands of flights were cancelled across the UK.

Many passengers said airlines could have done more to help them after the UK air traffic control meltdown caused widespread disruption.

Serena Hamilton from Cookstown was due to attend Newcastle Freeman Hospital on Tuesday morning for a check up following a transplant 15 months ago.

However, upon arrival she learned that her flight was cancelled “with no notice or explanation.”

Having missed the vital appointment at 7.30am, Serena said, “It was an important appointment that would have essentially confirmed that everything was well following the transplant.

“Hopefully all is well, but it does leaving you wondering.

“The EasyJet app told us to go to the airport with no indication that the flight might be cancelled.

“When we eventually found out, also there was no access to any sort of EasyJet customer service.”

Cookstown man, Peter Martin and his wife were stranded in Holmfirth after their flight home from Manchester was cancelled.

Peter explained, “We had been visiting family in Holmfirth for a few days and when we arrived at the airport in Manchester we were informed the flight was delayed by an hour.

“We thought nothing of it, and went to grab a bite to eat in the meantime.

“Nobody was leaving and the crowds started getting bigger.

“It wasn’t until I seen a number of EasyJet staff walking through the airport that they were able to inform me that it wasn’t looking good for the rest of the day.”

Following the disruption, EasyJet shared a statement in which they acknowledged the issues saying, “We are providing customers on cancelled flights with the option to transfer their flight free of charge or receive a refund and recommend that all passengers flying with us today, regardless of their destination, check the status of their on on our Flight Tracker for real time information before travelling to the airport.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while these circumstances are outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to reassure customers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption.”