Megan Patrick says she was ‘in sheer panic’ when she and her children were denied boarding on a Jet2 flight from Palma Airport back to Newcastle after a four-day break in Majorca
A fuming mum says she was left stranded at an airport for a gruelling 15 hours with her two young children after Jet2 staff allegedly barred her from boarding her flight back home.
Megan Patrick faced a travel nightmare when returning from a four-day holiday in Santa Ponsa, Majorca, with her children Theo, nine, Saffia, four, and a friend’s nine-year-old son. The trip had been an unexpected treat for the kids as they broke up for the summer holidays – but things took a sour note towards the end, when they arrived at Palma Airport to find multiple flights delayed, including their 12.10pm Jet2 service back to Newcastle.
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She says she arrived at the airport two-and-a-half hours early, only to discover her flight was running one hour and 45 minutes behind schedule.
The 35 year old from Boldon, Newcastle, claims airport staff warned of possible further delays, and suggested monitoring the departure board.
She likened the airport to a “cattle market”, and said there were people in the departure lounge lying on the floor who “looked like they had been there for hours”.
Then, around 12:30pm, the departure board abruptly changed from ‘delayed’ to ‘boarding at Gate A20’, prompting the family to make a hurried 11-minute trek to the gate. But when she presented her children’s boarding passes, she says she was told they would not be able to board the aircraft.
She recalled: “I just went into sheer panic thinking what am I going to do? The kids were so upset. My four-year-old was hysterical and the whole place was looking at us. I thought they’ll have to let us on. The plane was there and the door was open, I could see it.”
“It was so frustrating that the plane was there, it was still showing as boarding, and the door was open. I was literally pleading with them saying that the door is open but they were saying ‘no, your bag is getting taken off’.
“I was saying by the time you take the bags off we could be sat on that plane, it would take us about 30 seconds. I even considered just running on because she’d already scanned my boarding pass and I thought if I could just see the staff on the plane they would let us on.”
Megan and her children were left with an eight-and-a-half-hour wait for an alternative flight, costing her an additional £390.
She said she encountered several other Jet2 passengers from the UK who had also missed their flights, and supported each other during their long wait.
Megan shared: “I was absolutely devastated. I didn’t know when the next flight was or what we were going to do. I was in absolute panic and had anxiety because I didn’t know what to do. It was the most horrible feeling being stranded.
She finally managed to get her family on the 9.35pm Jet2 flight, which took off at a later-than-scheduled time of 12.06am.
A spokesperson for Jet2.com and Jet2holidays told local media: “We are sorry to hear about Ms Patrick’s experience.
“Any flight delays are always communicated very clearly, and we always advise customers to check departure boards regularly if they are in the airport terminal. We are investigating this matter further, however we can confirm that all other customers boarded the aircraft. We will be discussing the matter directly with Ms Patrick.”