UPDATE: |Disabled man ‘kicked off’ easyJet flight at Manchester Airport after crew heard what he told wife News

Barry Dobner was due to fly from Manchester Airport to Athens

A disabled man says he was kicked off an easyJet flight at Manchester Airport as he couldn’t walk to the toilet. Barry Dobner was due to jet off for Athens last Thursday (April 3).

The 79-year-old was supposed to spend a fortnight in the sun-drenched Greek capital with his wife Alison and friend Sheila. They had wheelchair-friendly transport and accommodation arranged for the trip once they landed in Greece.

But the trio never reached their destination, the Liverpool Echo reports. Barry, from Rock Ferry, Wirral, claims he was removed from the plane minutes before it was due to leave Manchester when staff realised he was unable to access the on-flight toilet.

Barry, who has used a wheelchair since suffering a stroke 18 years ago, said: “The whole plane was standing up watching what was going on. You can imagine how that made me feel.”

Barry claims easyJet had been made aware that he was a wheelchair user when he and Alison booked their flight. He said they were given assisted boarding and were seated in the 11th row for the four-hour flight, which was due to depart at 4.40pm.

The couple claim the trouble began when a member of cabin crew overheard that Barry had a portable urinal bottle in his hand luggage.

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’.”

Barry said the whole group got off the plane and had to be picked up from the airport by a friend to go back home.

Alison, 67, said: “We have flown with easyJet and with Ryanair before, and we have never had anything like this before.

“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 said: “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.

“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.

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“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 had planned the holiday as an early 80th birthday celebration for Barry. They said they had lost around £2,000 due to the missed flight, and had raised the issue with their holiday insurance providers. They also made a complaint to easyJet.

Barry said: “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 easyJet spokesman said: “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.”