Family forced to sit on plane floor after airline allocated them seats which didn't exist, it emerges

[steven36]

A family were forced to sit on the floor of an airplane during their flight home from Menorca after being told that their allocated seats did not exist.

 

Paula Taylor and her daughter, Brooke, were forced to sit on the floor during the flight

 

Paula Taylor, 44, her husband Ian, 55, and their daughter Brooke, 10, from Alcester, Warwickshire, arrived early at Mahon airport in June last year for their flight with TUI airlines.

 

They were given the seat numbers 41 D, E and F, but when they boarded the plane they could not find their seats and cabin crew instead offered them flip-up 'jump' seats tucked into the crew station.

 

They were later forced to the floor because flight attendants needed access to food and duty free items.

 

Paula Taylor with her husband Ian and daughter Brooke

 

"We made sure we were three hours early at the airport to check in early just to make sure we got seats together," Mrs Taylor explained to BBC One's Rip-Off Britain: Holidays. 

 

"We went straight to the front and we were very excited the fact we had managed to sit together." 

 

Yet, on the plane, they could not locate the seats stated on their boarding passes.

 

"We all just looked at each other as if to say 'where's our seats gone?'. There are no seats where our seats should be," Mrs Taylor said. 

 

 

Members of the cabin crew proposed that ten-year-old Brooke could take the last spare seat on the flight, and Paula and her husband Ian could sit in two spare flip-up chairs meant for the crew. 

 

However, after the plane had taken off, the couple were told that they had to vacate their seats as the attendants needed access to the food and duty free items, which were stored behind them. 

 

Paula Taylor's daughter, Brooke,sat on the floor on the flight

 

On the floor they were joined by their daughter and later the co-pilot of the aircraft, who thanked the family for their "co-operation and understanding". 

 

"He said that how calm we were and he was so grateful because he would have had to, he would have missed the time slot take off," Mrs Taylor said.

 

She said of the floor: "It's hard and it's uncomfortable and it's just filthy. It's just not an experience I ever want to repeat."

 

The Civil Aviation Authority, the body that regulates airlines in the UK, is now investigating the incident. It has asked TUI airlines to explain why the family was allowed to sit on the floor and is looking into a possible breach of regulations.

 

Passengers are allowed to sit in crew seats under certain conditions, but must not be left unseated during any stage of the flight.

 

 

After being contacted by the programme, TUI offered the family a full £1300 refund, blaming the incident  on a "last minute aircraft change".

 

However, Mrs Taylor said that she "got short shrift" from the airline when she personally complained immediately after the incident, despite having photographs of what had happened.

 

She alleges that, after explaining to the company that the seats were "physically missing", she was told that there was no record of the incident and offered a "good will gesture" of £30. Frustrated, she contacted Rip-Off Britain. 

 

A spokesman for TUI said: "We are sorry to hear about Mr Taylor and his family’s experience with us.

 

"Unfortunately a last minute aircraft change meant that the seats the family was originally assigned were unavailable as the alternative aircraft had a different seating configuration.

 

"We're also sorry for the way the situation was initially handled and we’ll be investigating this. We will also be contacting the customers directly to apologise and will be offering a full refund."

 

The episode of Rip-Off Britain: Holidays will be broadcast on BBC One on Tuesday at 9.15am.

 

Source

 

[xpkRAKE]

The airline should have accepted the mistake, denied them boarding and refunded them immediately...

 

while accommodating them in 'reasonable' comfort until the next available flight (not just dumping them in the airport terminal)

 

with food and refreshments and any extra costs also covered as well !

[mp68terr]

These are complete business and security failures of the flight company. Too many regulations and rules are in favor of flights companies, to the detriment of passengers/customers. A full refund is the minimum the company can do. Toooo easy, just refund as if nothing happened.

[Jogs]

These small refund amount doesn't affect the companies at all, they should be fined heavily.