AN Easyjet worker has been caught on camera accusing a child with severe asthma of faking disability to get on a flight.
Abigail Campbell is seen lying on the floor of an airport terminal after her family were refused boarding because they were “late”.
Her furious dad, Keith, films the Easyjet worker and asks if the airline is happy to leave the sick 10-year-old on the floor.
The clearly irritated employee responds that Abigail is on the floor “because you want to” before disappearing into a staff area and closing the door.
Abilgail, from the Isle of Man, has Brittle Asthma, which is very difficult to control and can quickly become life-threatening.
She and her family had enjoyed a holiday in Turkey before flying to Gatwick on July 10 for an EasyJet flight to Douglas.
Keith, 45, says they arrived three minutes before the gate closed because Abigail was tired from her asthma. EasyJet insist the family were 17 minutes late.
In the video, Keith can be heard saying: “Easyjet is happy to leave a sick child on the floor are they? Is that what you’re telling me?”
The camera pans to Abigail who can be seen lying on the ground in the foetal position, cradling her head.
In response the Easyjet staff member says: “No no you have it [Abigail] on the floor because you want to, you are recording her because you want to.”
Keith then replies: “Oh so you think this is a set up do you? Are you telling me my child isn’t sick? Are you telling me my child is play acting?”.
The staff member then walks away from the scene and into a staff area, closing the door behind her.
Keith says other passengers were “shocked and horrified” after staff left his daughter lying on the floor for half an hour before they came to speak with him.
Another video from Keith shows Abigail hooked up to breathing apparatus in the middle of the busy airport after staff also refused to find somewhere for her to receive necessary treatment.
Keith and his family were left stranded at Gatwick for two days following the grounding of all flights from the airport on 10 July.
The next available flight back to Keith’s home in Peel, Isle of Man was two days after their initial booking.
Speaking today, Keith said: “I could see she was going downhill, it can be dangerous. She took really bad and needed nebulisers, so I asked could they provide somewhere to do it. They just said there’s a plug socket over there.”
“My daughter is really self-conscious about her illness, it upsets her a lot. She blamed herself for us missing the flight, she said ‘This is my illness spoiling things again’.”
An Easyjet spokeswoman said: “We are sorry for the Campbell family’s experience at the customer service desk. They did not receive the level of care we expect to be delivered by our ground handling partners and so we are investigating this with them.
“Unfortunately the family arrived 17 minutes late to the gate and, whilst we held the gate open longer than usual to try and accommodate them, we were eventually required to offload their luggage to ensure that the flight and all other passengers on board could depart.
“We provided Mr Campbell and his family with alternative flights free of charge, as well as hotel accommodation and expenses and have since been in touch with Mr Campbell to apologise for his experience and offer a gesture of goodwill.”
