Thomas Cook apologises for confusion over treatment of autistic child
Thomas Cook has apologised for any confusion caused for a family whose autistic son was not allowed to fly home after their holiday in Turkey because he was deemed ‘unfit to fly’.
The tour operator said it is now liaising directly with the family to ensure they are compensated for the additional money they spent when they were forced to go to hospital to obtain a ‘fit to fly’ certificate, before taking another flight 40 hours later.
Arshad Sherbaz and Selina Begun were trying to fly home from Dalaman to Birmingham but told the Daily Mail that staff had stopped them at the gate and said they must get a certificate for their 11-year-old son, Mustafah, who suffers from autism.
They claim they were left feeling ‘angry and embarrassed’ and had ‘never been treated like this’, despite travelling many times before with their son and teenage daughter to Morocco, Spain, Italy and the US.
They had to go to a hospital to get the certificate, where Mustafah was also prescribed anti-anxiety drugs which he had never taken before.
When they returned to the airport for the next flight home, they say they weren’t even asked to show the certificate.
The family, whose week-long package holiday cost £2,300, say they have been offered £750 in compensation by Thomas Cook.
A spokesperson for Thomas Cook Airlines said: "We take the welfare and safety of all of our customers very seriously and we can confirm we are in contact with the Sherbaz family regarding their journey home from Turkey in June 2014.
"Prior to their return flight, the company we use for medical assistance advised that Mr and Mrs Sherbaz’s son would need to be seen by a doctor before flying home to ensure he was well enough for the flight. Our crew explained this to the family and we ensured they were able to travel to the hospital. They returned to the UK on our flight the next day at no cost and we also ensured they had support and welfare at the airport.
"Our customer services team are now liaising directly with the family to ensure they are compensated for the additional expenses they incurred and we’d like to apologise for any confusion caused during their holiday. At all times, our concern was for the health of Master Sherbaz."
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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