A mum has vowed to never use TUI again after the airline refused her a refund after her holiday was delayed by almost 17 hours.
Stacey Young booked the all-inclusive £2,000 package holiday to Gran Canaria with partner Steve and their two kids.
However, the 37-year-old said the flight on May 4 turned back towards Newcastle upon Tyne when the pilot fell ill.
She said the plane was "somewhere over France" when an announcement was made - before the mishap was followed by a "catalogue of errors".
Sales advisor Stacey told ChronicleLive: "If the pilot was that ill, why did we travel a further two hours back to Newcastle when it was a four-hour flight to Gran Canaria?
"We could have flown the entire way and landed, had our holiday and everything would have been fine, and if the pilot had needed to go to hospital in Gran Canaria, he could have done that.
"Instead, they turned the plane around, bypassed every single hospital on the way to Newcastle, then proceeded to circle around for another half an hour burning off fuel before landing and letting all the passengers and their luggage off.
"At this point, nobody knew what was going on, nobody was talking to us - I just don't understand why we endured a four-and-a-half hour flight to be no further forward, and if the pilot was that bad, why didn't we land at the nearest airport so he could get to hospital?"
On returning to Newcastle International Airport, passengers were informed they would not be flying out again until the following day.
Stacey said her family was put up at the Hilton DoubleTree, but the hotel struggled to keep up with the sudden influx of guests.
She also claims the £20 food voucher passengers were given was not usable and they went to bed hungry.
TUI sent an email at 12.30am informing them their new flight time was at 7.30am - just a few hours away.
Stacey only spotted after checking her phone in the night.
She suspects some passengers likely missed the message as on arriving at the airport there was another delay.
TUI has since refused to pay compensation to Stacey and other passengers who were on the flight.
They have cited European Regulation EC261/2004, which states airlines may have to pay compensation when experiencing a delay of over three hours on arrival, but only if the delay wasn't caused by "extraordinary circumstances".
With the medical grounds of a "passenger or crew member becomes seriously ill or dies on-board at short notice before the flight" TUI have considered this as extraordinary circumstances.
However, Stacey feels the airline should accept responsibility for the flight being returned to Newcastle.
She continued: "It was classed as exceptional circumstances but we were delayed for almost 17 hours and missed a day of our holiday, how is that okay?
"I've always holidayed with TUI but now I'm absolutely foaming with them.
"If they'd just say yes, we understand that you've missed your holiday, it would have been okay. Holidays are expensive, families spend an entire year paying for them, and they're just saying nah, you get nothing."
And Stacey says that the hellish journey "took the shine off" their holiday.
She finished: "We just wanted to get on with our holiday and enjoy it as much as we could but we felt like it had been cut short, because it had.
"We felt a little bit rushed because we felt pressured to go on an excursion as we arrived, rather than have time to settle in. Although we enjoyed our holiday, of course we did, it just took the shine off it."
TUI has been approached for comment.
