EASYJET LEAVES PASSENGERS ON THE RUNWAY IN THEIR WHEELCHAIRS BUT DEPARTS WITH THEIR LUGGAGE

PEOPLE

 

EasyJet Leaves Passengers in Their Wheelchairs on the Runway — but Departs with Their Luggage

Three special assistance passengers, including famed Irish children's author Liz Weir, were left behind on a flight from Belfast to Edinburgh

By Cara Lynn Shultz  Published on June 26, 2024 01:00PM EDT

 

An Irish children’s writer was among the three special assistance passengers left sitting in their wheelchairs on the tarmac when an EasyJet flight took off — with their luggage.

 

Liz Weir, author of Boom Chicka Boom and Here, There and Everywhere, told the Belfast Telegraph that she arrived at Belfast International Airport early for her June 21 flight to Edinburgh, as she uses a wheelchair due to a heart condition.

 

"A lady in a high-viz jacket came and took me and another wheelchair user down to the runway as passengers began boarding at the gate,” Weir, 73, told the Belfast Telegraph.

 

"We waited for everyone to get on and thought it was our turn next, but then the steps were taken away from the plane and they closed the doors.”

 

The author, who was expected to speak at an event in Edinburgh, Scotland, explained, "I’m in my seventies, I have a heart condition, and I do not need the stress – and trust me, when you see your plane reversing without you on it, it is very stressful.”

 

And while the plane left without its passengers, it did depart with their luggage.

 

"Trying again on a flight leaving at 8:50. It’s bad enough when a bus leaves you at the stop but when a jet leaves you on the tarmac….how often do people say 'they won’t go without us!' Except they did!" Weir wrote in a post on X, the platform previously known as Twitter, where she also shared a photo of herself in a wheelchair at the airport.

 

As she told the Belfast Telegraph: "We were sitting there waving and screaming to the pilot. But he shook his head to say no and just kept moving off with my suitcase in the hold.”

 

In a statement shared to PEOPLE, EasyJet said, “We are very sorry that flight EZY55 from Belfast to Edinburgh on 21 June departed without three passengers who were being accompanied by the airport’s special assistance provider. This was due to a misunderstanding by our ground handling team and crew onboard."

 

“We did all possible to assist the passengers, arranging for flights to Glasgow and Edinburgh later that evening to get them to their destination as quickly as possible and our team looked after them throughout, providing refreshment vouchers while they waited for their new flight."

 

The statement continued: “We are sorry for the impact this disruption will have had on their plans and are in contact with them to apologise for their experience, reimburse their flights and any expenses incurred as a result of the delay, and provide the compensation they are due.”

 

"All the able-bodied people were on board and we were left behind," Weir told the Belfast Telegraph.

 

"What else could you call it other than discrimination?”