Jet2 blasted after Grans put on flight to wrong Spanish island

Daily Record

a day ago

The pair were stunned when the pilot announced they'd be touching down in a different place.
Two elderly woman have slammed holiday giant Jet2 after a shocking airport mix-up saw them put on the wrong plane — and only realised it mid-air when the captain said they were landing in the wrong place.
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Linda Trestrail, 69, and Wendy Russell, 71, thought they were flying off to sunny Majorca for a relaxing break. But after five separate ticket checks — including one onboard — the pair were stunned when the pilot announced they'd be touching down in Menorca instead.
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The pensioners, who both suffer from mobility issues and had booked special assistance, branded it a 'catalogue of disasters' and accused Jet2 of treating them worse than luggage, reports the Mirror.
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Linda fumed: 'You get compensation if your bags go missing — but they lost us, not the bl**dy baggage!'
The pals, who both use wheelchairs, were given help through security at Bristol Airport, shown to the gate, and even directed into their seats by cabin crew before the horror realisation mid-flight.
'I burst into tears,' said Linda. 'I turned to Wendy and said, 'He said Menorca — not Majorca!' The flight attendant laughed when I told her. That's when the chaos started.'
The blunder was so severe even the captain admitted he'd never seen anything like it in his career. But despite offering to personally fly them to Majorca, Linda claims Jet2 bosses overruled it 'due to security.'
Wendy, who has undergone three brain surgeries and suffers from arthritis, said: 'It's terrifying how easy it was. They bang on about airport security, but two strangers got on a plane with five checks and no one noticed!'
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To make things worse, their luggage made it to Majorca without them — a major security breach that could've had dangerous consequences. 'Our bags flew without us. That's terrifying,' Wendy added.
The women ended up stranded in Menorca for hours before being put on another flight. By the time they arrived at their resort, they'd been travelling for 17 hours instead of five.
Linda said: 'Our legs were like balloons. We were supposed to be relaxing — we just collapsed in the room.'
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But their ordeal didn't end there. A Jet2 rep at the hotel refused to meet them, and when they finally got a call from the airline two days later, they were offered a 'free excursion' — despite both being physically unable to walk.
'I thought it was a joke,' Linda said. 'We couldn't even get out of bed, let alone go sightseeing!'
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Despite being the talk of their resort — with fellow holidaymakers recognising them as 'the ladies who got on the wrong flight' — the pair said their break was 'ruined.'
They've still not received compensation from Jet2, despite their travel agent and family contacting the company multiple times. So far, only Bristol Airport has issued an apology.
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Wendy added: 'This could've been so much worse. It was traumatic for us — but what if it had been someone with a serious health issue, or worse? This must never happen again.'
Jet2 has since apologised, blaming the blunder on a 'human error' by a third-party special assistance provider. The airline claims to have 'retrained staff' and offered the women a gesture of goodwill.
They said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mses. Trestrail and Russell for this incident. 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 that the customers went through security correctly, and their luggage was also screened correctly.
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"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 down 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 Mses. Trestrail and 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."
But for Linda and Wendy, the trust is broken.
Linda said: 'We were terrified flying home. You're supposed to feel safe in their hands. They lost people, not just bags. That says it all.'