Two women criticised Jet2, saying their holiday was ruined when they were flown to the wrong destination. Linda Trestrail and Wendy Russell said their boarding passes were checked five times, but they still found themselves on the wrong plane.
The pals only realised the mistake when the plane’s captain announced they were in Menorca, not Majorca, where they should have been. Jet2 apologised for the mix-up, blaming the error in part on a special assistance provider at Bristol Airport.
Linda told the Mirror: “You hear of bags going on the wrong flights, but not people. The reason we booked Majorca is because of the short flight. We knew our mobility wasn’t good so didn’t want to do much travelling – we are disabled pensioners.”
She told the publication: “You get compensated if you get delayed or lose luggage – but they lost us, not the b****y baggage.”
Wendy and Linda were provided wheelchair assistance at Bristol, with help boarding a shuttle bus and the aircraft.
Linda said the pair showed their tickets when they checked in their luggage, at security, at the gate and to a member of the ground crew on the shuttle bus.
She added that Jet2 staff double-checked their tickets and directed the pair to their seats. When asked by a member of the cabin crew if they were in the right seats, the employee checked and then confirmed they were, according to Linda.
She recalled: “Then the captain says we’re landing in Menorca in 10 minutes. Chaos ensued.
“I cried to Wendy, ‘Oh my god, Wendy! He said Menorca, not Majorca!’ I told the flight attendant we were on the wrong plane – and she burst out laughing.”
The pair were asked to stay on the plane, with the captain admitting to never having faced a blunder like that in his career.
Wendy said: “We went through five major checks there, and no one picked up the error – it begs the question about what is going on. They are banging on about security, security, security – but we could’ve been anybody.”
When the pair asked about their luggage, the pals said they were told their cases had arrived in Majorca.
The women waited hours at Menorca airport before joining a flight to Majorca. They arrived at their intended destination more than 17 hours after leaving their homes on September 26, 2023.
A Jet2 spokesperson offered the airline’s sincere apologies to the women. The spokesperson said: “This is an extremely isolated incident, and although there was no security risk, we have of course investigated it as a matter of urgency, including with the third-party special assistance provider. We can confirm the customers went through security correctly, and their luggage was also screened correctly.
“However, after these checks, the customers were taken to the incorrect aircraft, which is the responsibility of the third-party special assistance provider at the airport. Upon boarding the aircraft, the incorrect destination on their boarding passes was unfortunately not identified, and we apologise for this oversight, which was due to human error.
“We have carried out additional training with the team to ensure this does not happen again. As soon as we learned of the issue, our team booked Ms Trestrail and Ms Russell onto the soonest available flight from Menorca to Majorca, and they also provided all the assistance they could both throughout their journey and the rest of their holiday.
“We have been in touch with Mses. Trestrail and Russell to offer an appropriate gesture of goodwill and once again offer our sincere apologies. We understand they are due to travel with us once again this year, and we look forward to welcoming them onboard and delivering the usual VIP customer experience that we are recognised for.”
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said it would work with the airline and special assistance provider to investigate the circumstances and introduce improvements.