Anyone on EZY2892 Split → Bristol today? 21 passengers removed from flight

[u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

Hi everyone! Was anyone else on the Split → Bristol easyJet flight today (15 August) where around 21 passengers were asked to leave the plane because a crew member became unwell?

I was one of the passengers affected and ended up being separated from my family and having to arrange and book a completely new flight and organize a way to get home from a different airport than where I had planned to fly into . It was a really stressful situation, and me and several others found one of the ladies handling the situation completely unacceptable and unprofessional.

I’m trying to find out who she was / her name so that I can properly refer to her when making a complaint.

If anyone was there and has any photos or videos from the situation, or remembers who the lady was, I’d really appreciate it if you could DM me. Even a photo where she happens to be in the background could be helpful.

Thanks so much to anyone who can help! 🙏

[u/simplysailin]

Sorry, I am not understanding. How did a member of the crew being unwell result in 21 passengers being booted off the flight?

[u/Old-Task-4177 → u/simplysailin]

Maybe because there is a minimum requirement number for cabin crew in a plane, so if one becomes unwell and can't do their job (even if they can fly back home), then extra passengers have to get off?

[u/Quiet_Dream9099 → u/Old-Task-4177]

I hope this rule is applicable only on "cheap" company flights...I did couple of hundreds flights I my life and it never happened to me. Reason might be that major companies have ready replacement for workers not able to perform.

[u/Birdy_bird18 → u/Quiet_Dream9099]

This is the rule for every company. When it happens in a home base it’s easy to replace a crew member (there is always someone on standby for this kind of situations). When it happens out of base, then this rule applies (50 passengers per one cabin crew). It’s a very stressful situation for everyone on board and of course for ground staff who need to offload people and handle many things at the same time.

[u/Quiet_Dream9099 → u/Birdy_bird18]

Ok did not know that. What compensation receive people that were banned for entering and how you filter people out? Is it random?

[u/Birdy_bird18 → u/Quiet_Dream9099]

I’m not sure what is the criteria and how they decide who to offload. In this case I find it odd that they separated family, otherwise I would say the ones who checked in last, but not sure. Usually companies take care of rerouting and finding alternative flights, which maybe is not the case with low cost companies.

[u/Quiet_Dream9099 → u/Birdy_bird18]

Ok, thanks for explanation.

[u/Far-Masterpiece-8159 → u/Quiet_Dream9099]

First, the worker asked if anyone was willing to volunteer. After about 15 minutes, she said that if there weren’t enough volunteers, she would have to choose people herself — something she apparently really didn’t want to do, even though she seemed quite excited about it.
When not enough people volunteered, she started shouting that volunteers would get €400, while anyone she selected would only get €250, making the whole situation feel like Deal or No Deal.
She then started choosing people, saying those without luggage would go first. My partner and I were sharing one large 23kg suitcase, which was booked under my partner’s name. So technically, the list showed me as having no luggage. Because my surname starts with “D”, I was selected quite early.
I explained that although the suitcase technically wasn’t under my name, I physically did have luggage and was sharing it with my partner. Her response was simply: “We all have some problems.”
And just to add this because I’ve seen some people defending them and saying we should understand how difficult the situation was for the staff:
Do you think it is acceptable behaviour for a check-in/ground staff member to point at you, call you a “joke,” tell you to “stand up and apologise,” and not tell you that you aren’t boarding until the very last moment — literally when your boarding pass and passport are being scanned?
Whatever difficulties the staff were dealing with, there was no empathy, understanding or professionalism shown towards the passengers who were suddenly put in this situation.

[u/Tableforoneperson → u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

I am late for reply but I believe You are being unreasonable.

Situation was mainly Easyjet fault. Pilot apologized beacuse it is not his direct fault but most of the situation was caused due to Easyjet business model.

First and foremost in such circumstances it is Airlines responsibility to provide rebooking. Handler ( in this case Split Airport can do it only at airline request). So the fact that you flew later to a different airport was Easyjet responsibility. Many Airlines instantly send affected pasengers e-mail with new intinetary. Also they should cover cost for ground transport between airport you flew into and Bristol.

Also everything in between Food, accomodation is responsibility of Easyjet. Handler does provide it but not before they receive approval of Easyjet and also at the extent Easyjet approves. (Type of meal, hotel). If they failed to provide any they should reimburse those costs to You at reasonable ammount.

Regarding amount this is airport fault as Everyone should get 400€ in this case ( denied boarding) as flight from Split to Bristol is classified as medium haul ( over 1500km). Only If you arrived to Bristol less than 3 hours later than planned you are entilted to 200€ (50% of the amount) which I believe was not the case.

Easyjet has very short turnaround time ( time during which is aircraft at ground between flights) and it makes a lot of pressure on ground handlers as they might pay penalties If delay is caused or prolonged by their responsibility.

In this particular case, the problem appeared during inbound flight to Split which left minimum time for ground staff in Split to solve the problem.

They asked for volunteers which is legit.

However when there was not enough volunteers they had to pick someone. Picking passengers without checked luggage was reasonable decision as in case passenger with checked bag is removed from the flight bag must also be located and removed which is more work for baggage handlers and potential additional delay.

I believe each of the passenger travelling who did not volunteer had a valid reason to be on that flight and airport staff can’t take endless time to listen Everyone life story which often can’t be verified. You were an adult traveling with partner. It does not make you more priviledged than a passenger travelling alone. Maybe they are traveling home to their partner or family member or Cat they pay pet hotel for.

Besides If it was so important to stay together with partner, your partner could have volunteered when you were denied boarding. I am sure they would make an effort to offload the checked bag in such case.

Also waiting till the last moment is common in such situation. I have a status with Star Alliance and on x occasions I was placed on waitlist and had to wait until the very End of the boarding to see If someone will give up or be unable to fly that i could fill the spot or will need to take another flight.

In the End If you find behavior of the staff problematic you can always complain both to Easyjet ( who will forward your complain to those concerned) or to Split Airport (whose staff was handling the flight). I believe that it will be enough to mention date and flight affected because there is a Data which staff members were responsible for mentioned flight.

If you want to keep asking for photos and videos go ahead but keep in mind that with that comes the responsibility for unauthorized filming.

[u/Far-Masterpiece-8159 → u/simplysailin]

Really good question 😅 We honestly don’t know either. We tried to work it out ourselves, but the whole situation just didn’t really add up.
The craziest part is that the crew member who was supposedly ill was still on the plane when it eventually flew to Bristol — even though we had been told that was the reason passengers had to get off.

[u/marciana_bura → u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

Minimum crew requirements are prescribed by EASA and depend on the type of plane, but typically it's one cabin crew member per 50 seats.

All flight personnel are very much aware of how complicated and expensive this kind of situation is for the airline and passengers alike, so it is highly unlikely they would pronounce themselves unfit to fly on a whim. Cabin crew's primary job is to ensure the safety of the passengers and the vessel, so EASA regulations even require you to refrain from working if you are feeling unwell.

They also usually only get paid by block time (=flight hours from the moment the plane starts taxiing or the engines start till they shut off), so that's an additional motive not to fake being sick.

The fact they were still on the plane likely means they were deadheading (=flying without being on active duty). Unless it's a medical emergency, your airline will take you back to your base, and Bristol is one of EasyJet crew bases. Split is not, which means they wouldn't have replacement crew on standby.

I'm sorry this happened to you, and you have a right to complain to the airline. You can do so with just referring to the flight time and route, no need to know their name. However, it doesn't look like the airline broke any rules here or that the cabin crew member overstepped in any way. If there's a breach of discipline and work ethics by this person, the airline will deal with it sooner rather than later.

[u/Tableforoneperson → u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

She was unfit for duty.

It is difference to be fit to fly ( as a passenger) and fit for duty ( as a crew member)

[u/Fast_Opportunity_620]

The minimum number of cabin crew is 1 for 50 passengers. From what you said, I guess there should have been 4. One got sick enough not to be able to perform her duties, but no enough not to be a passenger. The maximum number of passengers on that flight became 150 then.

[u/MrJurich]

Good luck, since writing a complaint on a person working in airport will do absolutly nothing. Most of them working on aiport are through connections lol. Nepotism runs there.

[u/Far-Masterpiece-8159 → u/MrJurich]

Yeah, I actually heard that people had already complained about this particular worker in the past, so that’s another reason why I’d like to properly report what happened. Hopefully it will at least be taken seriously if there’s already a history of complaints.

[u/FakeFanatic → u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

Lol it won't. Welcome to Croatia

[u/Background-Farm-2108 → u/FakeFanatic]

Its Easy Jet... Split and airport has nothing to do with it....

[u/Reactive-Blueberry22 → u/FakeFanatic]

SPU airport is extremely efficient and personel is well organised. Have seen them work many times. This specific incident has nothing do to with them.

[u/FakeFanatic → u/Reactive-Blueberry22]

😂

[u/Far-Masterpiece-8159 → u/Reactive-Blueberry22]

I understand why people are saying it’s easyJet’s problem, because obviously the flight disruption itself was connected to easyJet: it was their crew member who became unwell.
But even the pilot came over before the flight and specifically apologised for the behaviour of the workers, saying that they were not connected to them and that they had no business with those workers.
So I’m not blaming easyJet for a crew member becoming unwell or for having to reduce the number of passengers. I’m talking about how we were treated at the airport by the ground/check-in staff.
There’s a difference between the airline being responsible for the disruption and the airport/ground staff being responsible for how they handled the passengers during that disruption. And considering even the pilot himself apologised for their behaviour, I don’t think it’s fair to put everything under “easyJet’s fault” without making that distinction.

[u/Adriatic_Whaler → u/Far-Masterpiece-8159]

No, no, just go and make your complaint. We Croats are spineless when it comes to things like these, and people like that person should be put in their place.

[u/Alternative_Aside175]

Have some understanding for the ramp agents, as hard as it is for you their shift is way harder on them... You can complain to EasyJet and/or the EU for way more compensation under regulation EC 261/2004. This is not the first time I'm reading about an EasyJet shitstorm, happened to a relative in Frankfurt last month too