This was on the travel letters page of the Telegraph on Saturday.
Security is no joke
M Ashworth from Lancashire wrote
My wife and I checked in for an EasyJet flight at Liverpool airport on October 16. I was asked the usual security questions and then shown diagrams of various weapons and asked if I was in possession of any. At this moment, my wife arrived and, in a jocular manner, I asked her if she was carrying her pistol. I was incredulous when the check-in agent said she was calling security.
We were whisked away by four airport security people and a policeman. They searched our bags and we assumed they were then satisfied that we were harmless senior citizens. To our amazement, we were told that we would not be allowed to fly until the following day. When we asked why, we were told that this was EasyJet company policy and that 74 customers had been refused flights in the previous week for similar security infringements.
Our pleas that we were travelling to Belfast to look after our grandchildren because their parents were going away fell on deaf ears. I asked for a refund of our fare, but this was not forthcoming. Eventually, we were given a copy of our flight confirmation with a handwritten comment that we had been refused travel for breach of security questions.
We finally flew from Manchester with British Airways the following morning. So the question "Have you got your pistol, dear?" ended up costing us £80 for an overnight hotel and £248.80 for air fares. Were EasyJet's actions legal and what is the airline's policy on refunds to customers it refuses to carry?
Gill's response
On behalf of EasyJet, a spokesman said: "Everyone is incredibly sensitive about security and we have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards people who don't take it seriously. Our view is that, if you're going to mess about and say things such as this, you're not going to travel with us. This is not the time for gags or stupidity."
The airline is within its rights to refuse to carry you under Article 8 of its conditions of carriage "for reasons of security".
As for a refund of your unused flight tickets, I am afraid that EasyJet will not grant this. "We did offer to fly this couple the following day," said a spokesman for the airline, "but because they chose not to take up this offer the tickets are non-refundable."
Your letter provides a timely reminder to air travellers to take all questions about security seriously these days. Any jokes about guns, bombs, knives, anthrax and so on are going to land you in big trouble, not just with EasyJet, but with many airlines that will not hesitate to invoke their right not to carry you.
What can you say?
Electronic Telegraph
[ 12 November 2001: Message edited by: Capt PPRuNe ]