Ryanair has raised eyebrows with its reaction to a couple’s airport grievance after they vowed to never fly with the budget airline again. Scott McCormick and his partner Helena Boshwick found themselves in hot water at Birmingham Airport before their flight to Palma de Majorca, Spain. The couple, both 33, hadn’t booked their seats in advance in an effort to cut costs, which ranged between £4.50 and £33 per seat.
This led to a significant hiccup when it turned out the flight was fully booked, and they were told only one could board. Suffering a “meltdown” over this news, they chose instead to book a new flight, for which the airline issued a refund. They also faced a £100 fee for “missing” the flight because of the unoccupied seat. Scott, from Birmingham, questioned Ryanair’s method of dealing with such situations, suggesting the airline should have got volunteers to give up their seats.
He said: “There was so much of it that was really frustrating, and it’s the lack of care, no empathy. You can be bawling your eyes out and they just don’t care, they’re deadpan.
“We had to go through check-in again and we had another four and a half hours until the next flight. We paid around £100. We just had to get over what happened, it was a terrible way to start a holiday.
“They said at ticket sales they would be doing this themselves and get everything over and start the process so I haven’t formally complained. I don’t think they did, I definitely haven’t got the money back.
“We just got caught in a big company’s terms and conditions. The biggest stress was at the gate when they said we aren’t going on this flight.”
Ryanair seem to be unfazed by the complaint – as they took to Facebook to share a post that appears to mock the couple. The post reads: “Today is a good day to separate couples onboard.”
The response garnered hundreds of likes and plenty of comments offering different perspectives. Some saw nothing wrong with splitting couples up, with one person joking: “You don’t even realise how many marriages you’ll save.”
And another said: “Don’t worry, I love it. A couple of hours away from the other half? Grand.”
However, others were less than impressed. One wrote: “Shame on you Ryanair.” Another said: “Today is a good day to buy a flight… but not with you.”
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca (1 May) was not ‘overbooked’ – it was scheduled to operate on a 737-8200 (197 seats) but for operational reasons had to be swapped to a 737-800 aircraft (189 seats).
“As a result, 1 passenger was unable to travel on this flight, and was reaccommodated onto the next available flight to Palma de Mallorca.
“Mr. McCormick’s travel companion was not refused boarding but chose not to board and travel on this flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca and was required to pay a Missed Departure fee (£100) to be booked onto the next available flight.
“Mr. McCormick was notified by email on the day of travel (1 May) that he was entitled to claim back reasonable receipted expenses, however Mr. McCormick has yet to submit any expense receipts to Ryanair.”
