This little snippet from Sunday Times.
I would never have noticed it except for the fact that we encountered exactly the same shambles on a recent round trip to Faro.
Dreadful place, mind you.
August 28, 2005
Directions: Readers' rants
I have been a regular traveller with EasyJet for the past six years, and have been happy with the service, including the boarding procedure — that is, without an allocated seat number.
However, I have noticed an increase in the number of people granted priority boarding, allegedly because they require assistance. I have seen parties of four or more apparently healthy people boarding early, with the only sign of disability being one person with a slight limp. While I accept that some passengers have a genuine need, I believe the system is being abused.
On a recent flight from Malaga to Belfast, all the seats by the emergency exits were occupied by people who had limped aboard. Surely, to occupy these, you have to be reasonably fit? I would be interested in EasyJet’s view on what seems to be a scam by some passengers to jump the queue.
Mr XYZ
EasyJet replies: “EasyJet is not aware of any issue surrounding passengers developing a sudden limp in order to receive boarding assistance. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that safety regulations stipulate that passengers with reduced mobility are not allowed to sit by the emergency exits, not to compromise the evacuation of an aircraft. Therefore, your readers should be left in no doubt that abusing our boarding assistance is counterproductive, on top of being wholly dishonourable towards those passengers in genuine need of assistance.”
