Disabled man ‘kicked off’ easyJet flight after cabin crew overheard him say one factor

Barry Dobner, 79, was due to travel from Manchester to Athens with his wife Alison and a friend – but he was unceremoniously removed from the plane minutes before take-off

A disabled man has accused easyJet of forcing him off a flight for not being able to walk to the toilet. Barry Dobner, 79, was set to board a flight from Manchester to Athens on April 3 with his wife Alison and their friend Sheila.

The trio, who had prepared for a two-week holiday in sunny Greece with wheelchair-friendly arrangements in place, faced an unexpected challenge just as they were ready to jet off. Barry, from Rock Ferry, alleges he was humiliatingly escorted off the aircraft shortly before take-off upon the crew’s realisation that he wouldn’t be able to use the onboard facilities during the trip.

Having been wheelchair-bound since a stroke 18 years ago, Barry explained: “The whole plane was standing up watching what was going on. You can imagine how that made me feel.”

According to Barry, easyJet had prior knowledge of his disability as wheelchair assistance was requested and granted at the time of booking. The couple was seated comfortably in row 11, all set for the four-hour journey, scheduled for a 4.40 pm departure, reports the Liverpool Echo.

However, the situation took a turn when a cabin crew member noticed Barry’s portable urinal bottle among their hand luggage. Recounting the incident, Barry said, “A stewardess walked by and she said ‘excuse me, do you have a urinal bottle?’. My wife said yes, in case of emergencies. She said ‘hang on a minute’; she came back and said ‘can your husband walk to the toilet’?”.

“My wife said ‘no, my husband can’t walk at all’. They said ‘you have to get off this plane’. My wife asked why and they said ‘because he can’t walk to the toilet’.”

Outraged Barry recounted how his entire party was turfed off the flight and had to hitch a lift home from the airport with a mate. Alison, aged 67, was flabbergasted: “We have flown with easyJet and with Ryanair before, and we have never had anything like this before.”

She was especially incensed by the discourteous treatment of her husband: “What upsets me the most is the way he was spoken to. To treat a disabled person like that was appalling, especially when they had all the information beforehand. It’s just ludicrous. The other passengers were sitting there gobsmacked.”

Barry himself lamented, “I’ve always been a happy go lucky chap but this has knocked me back a bit. I feel like just an object, I’m not a person any more. My self respect had gone right down.”

He shared his emotional plight post-stroke: “Since I had my stroke I’ve been in a wheelchair and I’ve been trying to keep not maudlin and carry on. But when someone says that to you it knocks the stuffing out of you. It’s that sort of feeling. Your confidence just disappears”.

Despite previous air journeys going without a hitch, Barry said: “I’ve flown six times since my stroke and it’s always been fine before this. They knew I couldn’t walk when they put me on the plane.”

The couple’s dream holiday for Barry’s impending 80th was scuppered, leaving them out of pocket by about £2,000. They’re now wrangling with their travel insurers and have lodged a formal gripe with easyJet.

Barry shared his frustration, saying: “We had hotels booked in Athens. We had a hire car paid for to pick us up at the airport, and we’ve lost £2,000. We’ve lost everything. We don’t know if we’ll get the flight money back. When I asked if we’d be reimbursed for the flight, we just got told to call easyJet.”

A spokesperson from easyJet expressed regret: “We are very sorry Mr and Mrs Dobner and their companion were unable to fly as planned with easyJet. We are in touch with Mr Dobson and his party to apologise for this error and to refund them in full for their flight and provide them with denied boarding compensation.”

“As an airline, we are committed to making easyJet accessible to everyone. easyJet carries around one million passengers requiring some form of assistance each year and our research shows that 87% of easyJet passengers who require this are satisfied with the services we provide.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.