the airline offered £100 to anyone prepared to leave the flight, but there were no volunteers. Then a group of passengers clubbed together to bump it up to £200 per person, and four volunteers appeared.
Very public-spirited, but misguided and unnecessary.
If everyone had held their nerve, EZY would have themselves upped the incentive until they had enough volunteers, and nobody would have been out of pocket.
Worth reading this account of the event on AOL, if only for some of the ludicrous comments:
EasyJet passengers whip round before take-off - AOL Money UK