EasyJet apologises for overbooking incident
EasyJet has issued an apology after a 15-year-old boy was removed from a flight due to an overbooking.
The boy’s mother is calling for changes to the airline’s ticketing process after the youngster was asked to leave the plane because a man had been allocated the same seat.
Casper Read had been travelling from London Gatwick to Toulouse on his own to visit his grandparents.
According to reports, his mother said he was asked to go to the cockpit and believed he was going to be given another seat, but was taken off the plane and told to go to the information desk.
She said he was left to make his own way through the airport and that nobody from the airline was there to help him.
Furthermore, even though there were three more flights that day, he was put on the latest one which meant a 10-hour wait.
EasyJet said it was investigating how the boy was able to board the aircraft and why he wasn’t told at the gate.
A spokesman for the airline said: "EasyJet is sorry that Casper Read’s flight from London Gatwick to Toulouse was overbooked on 20 July.
"We are investigating why he was able to board the aircraft as he should have been informed at the gate.
"EasyJet has a procedure to protect unaccompanied minors but unfortunately this was not followed on this occasion and so this will also be investigated.
"One of our managers escorted Casper to reunite him with his mother who was already at the airport. We transferred him to an alternative flight later the same day and provided a voucher for refreshments whilst he waited. A member of our customer team will also be in touch directly to arrange for his EU261 compensation to be paid and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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