Jet2 blames ‘human error’ after holidaymakers put on wrong flight to island with a similar name in bizarre mix-up
JET2 has blamed “human error” after two pensioners were flown to the wrong island.
Disabled pensioners Linda Trestrail, 69, and Wendy Russell, 71, were left fuming after they ended up in Menorca instead of Majorca, ruining their holiday.
They had booked a package trip through Jet2 and despite getting their tickets checked five times by different members of staff, the pair were placed on the wrong flight.
It was only when the plane's captain made the announcement they were about to land in Menorca - that they became aware of the mix-up.
Jet2 have now issued an apology for what they described as a "human error" and blamed it partly on the third party special assistance provider at Bristol Airport.
But both Linda and Wendy say they are furious about the "catalogue of disasters" and have still yet to receive any compensation.
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Linda, of Plymouth, Devon, said: "You hear of bags going on the wrong flights but not people.
"The reason we booked Majorca is because of the short flight, we knew our mobility wasn't good so didn't want to do much travelling - we are disabled pensioners.
"You get compensated if you get delayed or loose luggage - but they lost us, not the b***dy baggage.”
The pair were given travel assistance on wheelchairs at Bristol Airport and helped onto the shuttle bus and onto the plane.
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Linda states they showed their tickets to the initial luggage desk, security, a person at the gate desk, as well as a member of ground crew staff on the bus - who even did a head count and confirmed the numbers.
She added: "Jet2 are the only ones who do double security check on tickets - so they did that, and then we were directed to our seats on the flight.
"One of the cabin crew came over to us and asked if we were sat in the correct seats, I said yes but she went off with our flight tickets - took them away and came back and said we were in our correct seats.
"Then the captain says we are arriving in Menorca in 10 minutes. All hell broke loose.
"I asked the flight attendant and told her we were on the wrong plane - and she burst out laughing.
"Five times our tickets were checked - even by the flight attendant twice on the plane itself.”
It turns out, three seats on that flight were empty, and Wendy and Linda were sat in two of them - and they sat in the numbered seats that they were given on their original flight to Palma De Majorca.
Wendy, who has had three brain operations and arthritis, said: "We went through five major checks there and no one picked up the error - it begs the question about what is going on."
To make matters worse, when the ladies enquired about what had happened to their luggage they discovered both their bags had made it to their correct destination, Majorca - without them.
The ladies waited in Menorca airport for several hours with a "kind" Jet2 manager until travelling on an internal plane with other workers.
Linda said they finally arrived at their resort around 17 hours after they left home at 3am on September 26.
The disabled pair then say they were offered a “free excursion” from a different Jet2 rep two days later, even though they cannot walk.
Linda said: "He told us that because of our ordeal, they were going to give us a free excursion - I said 'Are you joking - a what?
"Do you realise we can't even walk let alone go for an excursion? We've been in a state.
"He replied it was a gesture of good will for what we've been through, I honestly thought he was joking and said I'm putting in formal complaint before we leave - we couldn't go anywhere with our legs and feet swollen and we were in such a bad state."
The pair then flew back to England on October 6 and have been waiting ever since for contact from Jet2.
Despite their travel agent from Hays Travel contacting the airline, as well as their children, they only received an apology from Bristol Airport - but nothing else.
The pair are still looking for compensation for their "spoilt" holiday.
Jet2 have now apologised for the incident.
A spokesperson said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mses. Trestrail and Russell for this incident.
"This is an extremely isolated incident and although there was no security risk, we have of course investigated it as a matter of urgency, including with the third-party special assistance provider.
"We can confirm that the customers went through security correctly, and their luggage was also screened correctly.
"However, after these checks the customers were taken to the incorrect aircraft, which is the responsibility of the third-party special assistance provider at the airport.
"Upon boarding the aircraft, the incorrect destination on their boarding passes was unfortunately not identified and we apologise for this oversight which was down to human error.
"We have carried out additional training with the team to ensure this does not happen again.
"As soon as we learned of the issue, our team booked Mses. Trestrail and Russell onto the soonest available flight from Menorca to Majorca and they also provided all the assistance they could both throughout their journey and the rest of their holiday.
"We have been in touch with Mses. Trestrail and Russell to offer an appropriate gesture of goodwill and once again offer our sincere apologies.
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"We understand they are due to travel with us once again this year, and we look forward to welcoming them onboard and delivering the usual VIP customer experience that we are recognised for."
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said: "Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, we will continue to work with the airline and the special assistance provider to further investigate the circumstances and introduce improvements for the future."
