A passenger with a life-threatening food allergy has accused Jet2 of refusing to stop serving food and drink that could have sent her into anaphylactic shock on a recent flight .
Chloe Fitzpatrick, 23, has slammed the airline over what she says was a “degrading” experience while she was flying from Manchester to the Spanish island of Ibiza.
Sharing details on social media, she says she told cabin crew she was incredibly allergic to strawberries – at which point staff were allegedly “unhappy” about removing any products that contained the fruit, reports Deadline, adding that she believed the manager cared more about losing commission from selling certain items.
She was forced to step off the aircraft while staff had what she claimed was a “degrading, embarrassing and discriminatory” 45-minute discussion about her suitability to fly.
The airline has apologised but defended its staff in the wake of the incident, stating that cabin crew did “everything they could” for the passenger.
Ms Fitzpatrick alleged she was seen by an “extremely patronising” medic while waiting to be allowed back on the plane, before finally being permitted to reboard with the promise that her allergy would be announced over the tannoy system.
However, she claims crew members continued serving products containing strawberries, writing on Facebook: “They had decided to only not serve these products to people on the rows in close proximity to us, not the whole of the flight.
“As you can imagine I was petrified. I was thousands of feet off the ground surrounded by products that could potentially kill me.
“This was also extremely distressing and heartbreaking for my sister too who was terrified that I could go into anaphylactic shock, rendering me unconscious and could potentially die in front of her.”
Ms Fitzpatrick confirmed she had two EpiPens with her on the flight, adding: “I understand that they cannot guarantee a strawberry-free flight as they have no control over what passengers bring on board.
“But the airline does have a duty of care to minimise the risk by stopping serving the products they have onboard and to make an in-flight announcement to ensure passengers who may have brought these products on themselves are aware of my allergy.”
A spokesperson for Jet2 told The Independent: “Ms Fitzpatrick only alerted us to her allergies when she boarded the aircraft. In such situations, we are unable to remove products as we cannot ensure the complete removal of all items that may contain allergens. Additionally, it is possible that customers may bring onboard products that contain allergens.
“However, our highly trained crew did everything they could to look after Ms Fitzpatrick despite this. In our terms and conditions, we make it clear that anyone with a severe allergy should make our team aware of this at the time of booking, which unfortunately did not happen on this occasion. We also make it clear that if we are made aware of a severe allergy and the customer is not carrying their required medication, they may be refused travel.
“We are sorry to hear of Ms Fitzpatrick’s experience, however we took the necessary steps to address the situation, given the lack of notice, and provided Ms. Fitzpatrick with the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding her safety before continuing on with the flight.”
