A family claims a wheelchair user was removed from a flight and blamed for holding up other passengers.
Danielle Snowball, 27, was flying to Mallorca along with her brother Gary Scholes, 40, and other members of their family for a long awaited trip abroad when she says the humiliating experience happened. The family had arranged special assistance for Gary, who requires the use of a wheelchair, when they booked their flight with Ryanair weeks ago, and said they had never had any issues before.
But Danielle claims when they arrived at the departure gate at Manchester Airport on Saturday (August 20), Gary was told they didn't have an aisle seat and would be 'unboarding' him from the flight.
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While Gary and his devastated fiancé were delivered the news, Danielle claims she and other family members onboard heard a staff member tell holidaymakers they'd been delayed due to a passenger arriving late at the gate - something she alleges is a lie.
Danielle claims the family, from West Yorkshire, later discovered he wasn't able to board because wheelchair assistance arrived after the gate had closed. The family say they were forced to pay another £850 to book Gary and his partner on to the next available flight, and that the whole experienced has left them 'disgusted.'
Speaking to the M.E.N, Danielle said: "When we booked on my brother you can log that they require special assistance. We booked this weeks ago so they will have had lots of notice.
"We got to the boarding queue and Gary and his fiancé were waiting at the desk. When we got on the flight they hadn’t been let on yet. Then we got a call and he said that he was being unboarded from the flight.
"They said they didn’t have an aisle chair for him. This is unacceptable anyway because we alerted them that he was in a wheelchair. But he was just being ignored. Nobody gave him a proper explanation. It was like nobody cared. Him and his fiancé were really upset."
Danielle said the family had been waiting 'ages' to go on holiday together, and slammed the alleged treatment of her brother - which she says left him feeling distressed and humiliated.
"It was very uncomfortable that we were put in this position," she added.
She added: "I am just appalled. Whilst trying to find out what was going on, we received no help from Ryanair or Manchester Airport staff as each tried to blame each other or another department. We then found out the reason he was unboarded was due to wheelchair assistance arriving to him after the gate had closed.
"I couldn’t believe it. Nobody seemed to care. Just before we took off my dad managed to book him on to the 12.55 flight but that cost £850 but it was the only way we could get him here."
They have since demanded an apology and an explanation as to why Mr Scholes was treated this way.
"We just hope we can get all this resolved and that sharing what happened helps to improve the process they have in place for supporting disabled people and those who require special assistance," Danielle added.
Manchester Airport declined to comment directly on Danielle's complaints. A spokeswoman said airport staff were 'not directly involved and that the decision to offload Mr Scholes from the aircraft, plus the mix-up with his bags, were the responsibility of the airline and their ground handling contractor'.
A spokeswoman for Ryanair said special assistance at Manchester Airport is provided by a third-party and that the firm 'sincerely regret the inconvenience caused'.
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