After being kicked off a flight and accused of impeding other passengers, the family of a crippled man has taken Ryanair and Manchester Airport to task.
Gary Scholes, 40, was directed to “unboard” the plane as Danielle Snowball, 27, and other family members were travelling to Spain for a long-awaited vacation.
When the family booked their Ryanair ticket to Mallorca weeks ago, they made special arrangements for Gary, who has to use a wheelchair.
Danielle, however, asserts that when they arrived at the flight’s departure gate at Manchester Airport on Saturday, Gary was informed by employees that they lacked an aisle seat and that they would not let him on the aircraft.
His family, from Halifax, West Yorkshire, eventually learned that he couldn’t board because wheelchair help didn’t come until after the gate had closed, according to Danielle.
The family claims that in order to get Gary and his companion on the following flight, they had to spend an additional £850, and that this whole ordeal has left them “disgusted.”
When we made the reservation for my brother, Danielle said, you may note that they need extra help. Since we made the reservation weeks earlier, they had plenty of time to prepare.65
When we boarded the aircraft, Gary and his companion still hadn’t been admitted. After that, we received a phone from Gary informing us that he was being deplaned.
We informed them5 that he was in a wheelchair, therefore their claim that tWhey did not have an aisle chair for him is unacceptable.
Nobody offered him a thorough explanation; it seemed like nobody gave a damn.
His fiancee and he “were pretty unhappy.”
Danielle lashed out at the alleged treatment of her brother, saying it made him feel disturbed and ashamed and that the family had been waiting “years” to go on vacation together.
“I am simply disgusted,” she stated. We attempted to figure out what was going on but got no assistance from Ryanair or Manchester Airport workers since they all wanted to point the finger to one another or another division.
“We later learned that he was deplaned because his wheelchair assistance arrived after the gate had closed.
Nobody seemed concerned. My dad was able to get his seat on the 12:55 flight just before we took off, but it cost £850 and was the only way we could get him here.
Since then, they have requested an explanation of Gary’s treatment as well as an apology from both Ryanair and Manchester Airport.
We just hope we can get everything worked out and that talking about what occurred would help them make changes to the procedures they use to serve persons with disabilities and others who need particular assistance, said Danielle.
Special assistance at Manchester Airport is offered by ABM, not Ryanair, according to Ryan Air.
“We truly regret the hardship given to this passenger by ABM, who incorrectly neglected to re-accommodate him on another aircraft and failed to supply the mobility equipment necessary by this customer, resulting in his missing his departure.”