Dad drove all night to France to 'save' family stranded by easyJet in airport
A dad drove through the night to rescue his daughter and grandkids after they claimed they were stranded in France by easyJet.
Jade Roberts and her husband allege they endured a sleepless night in Charles de Gaulle Airport as their young girls tried to get some kip by lying on top of their bags. The Berkshire family allege they were 'abandoned' at the Paris travel hub when their flight was cancelled last minute.
With nowhere to stay and no flights home, they waited in the "cold" terminal until morning, when Jade's dad Dan arrived having driven through the night from England. He managed to get them back home by 5pm the next day, finally crashing after a day and a half awake.
After he forked out £450 on last-minute Shuttle crossings and petrol, the Roberts are £800 out of pocket due to the missed flights. Jade's requests for a refund from easyJet has so far brought no luck.
Jade, an NHS nurse, told the Mirror: "I couldn't sleep at all. The kids slept on suitcases. They had no blankets, nothing. They (staff) refused to help. My daughter was terrified. She was so stressed. We tried to calm her down. They were not putting me and my children in a safe place."
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The family had had a great time at Disneyland (Jade Roberts)Having planned for the big trip to Disneyland for three years, the Roberts were overjoyed by how everything had panned out until the final day. They got to at the Paris airport only for the easyJet app to tell them their flight had been delayed twice.
The family had arrived at the airport three hours early so Jade's eight-year-old daughter, who has autism and finds new situations stressful, could receive the additional support they'd booked through easyJet. "We got there early to calm her down, and then all the staff started to go suddenly," Jade continued.
She alleged: "Lots of flights cancelled. It was so rude and abrupt. They just said 'it's cancelled'. They told us to line up and see what the next step is. We had to queue up for two hours, my daughter was really stressed. Then they cancelled the special assistance."
When they eventually got to the front of the queue, she claims a member of staff told them all the nearby hotels were full and that they'd only receive their money back if they booked a three-star stay or fewer, which they could not find. The next available flight home was in two days time, an employee told them.
"They all left us, I could not believe it. No one would talk to me," Jade said.
As the four of them tried to work out what to do, Dan jumped in his car in Reading and motored towards the Channel. "It was a bit of an adventure, but that's what dads do," he said of the 12-hour journey to the French airport.
"As I walked through the terminal I found a very distressed daughter, her partner and my two amazing grandchildren camped in a cold corner of the airport, with my daughter and her partner taking it in turns to sleep while the other watches over the kids," he recalled.
"I walked up quietly to her, she just looked up at me with sheer relief in her eyes. The only thing I could think of saying to ease her was 'C'mon love lets get you home.' EasyJet has ruined her holiday, left her stranded with a vulnerable child in a strange place with no thought for her or her children's welfare. But they were happy to take her money. She has simply asked easyJet to reimburse her costs for getting home.
"She is not a greedy person and hasn't asked for any unreasonable compensation, only her costs. Jade is a nurse and she doesn't make big money. She scrimps and saves to make sure the kids get what they need."
A spokesperson for easyJet said: "We are very sorry for Ms Robert’s experience at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport after her flight was unable to operate, due to the knock on impact of French national strike action affecting all airlines operating to and from France at this time.
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“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our highest priority and we always want to ensure our customers are taken care of if their flight is disrupted. We notified all customers directly with their options to transfer to another flight or a refund which we have already processed for Ms Roberts.
“We also sourced hotel accommodation and meals for all customers and advise anyone who needs book their own that they will be reimbursed, so we are looking into this with our ground handling partner at the airport and contacting Ms Roberts to understand more about her experience and reimburse her expenses, as this isn’t the level of care we expect to be provided to our customers.”
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