Blackfriar took his first, and last, flight with EasyJet over the weekend.
A wonderful trip to Venice was ruined by the foolish decision to save a few hundred pounds and catch an EasyJet plane rather than one that's accustomed to carrying humans.
The flight out was ok – as long as you don't mind being herded around an
d bellowed at. Plus of course the unseemly rush at the departure lounge in the desperate bid to sit next to your companions.
But the flight back was so awful that Blackfriar has vowed to never get on another EasyJet plane. Read this and you won't do either:
12.45 – Arrive at departure lounge ahead of 13.15 flight.
13.15 – No personnel to check us in, no announcement.
13.30 – The departure board informs us that embarkation has been put back to 14.00.
14.00 – It now says embarkation will be at 14.30.
14.30 – It now says 15.00...
This continues in a similar vein with no announcements. Blackfriar asks the woman at the departure lounge what is going on.
She shrugs and says there is a defect with the aircraft. Blackfriar asks why there hasn't been an announcement. She says because they don't know what is wrong with the plane or when it will be fixed. An airport worker informs us we can get a sandwich (inedible) and soft drink upstairs "courtesy" of EasyJet.
16.00 – An Italian passenger tells us his friend who works in Air Traffic Control says our flight has been cancelled.
16.30 – The Departure Board now says embarkation will be at 21.25. Still no announcement and no EasyJet personnel to be seen.
16.35 – Nice couple we met in Venice sympathise and tell us we should have booked with Jet2.com as they board their (on-time) flight to Leeds Bradford.
17.00 – A woman working for Venice Airport says we can have dinner (equally unpleasant) courtesy of EasyJet at 7pm.
21.15 – Airport staff open the departure gates, but then get up to leave five minutes later.
21.20 – Irate passengers led by two mothers with young children inform them they are not going anywhere until someone tells us what is going on.
21.25 – Scared-looking airport staff make phone calls and finally the departure gates are opened and we board the plane.
22.00 – Flight leaves. Suave-sounding captain informs us there was a defect with the original plane and he and his crew have rushed out from Stansted to rescue us.
23.45 – Flight arrives at Gatwick nine hours late. During this time there was not one announcement and not one EasyJet member of staff to tell us what was going on.
Blackfriar understands that sometimes planes have defects. What he doesn't understand is why passengers had to wait nine hours at the airport with no news of what was happening or when they might get home.
Fellow passengers were desperately juggling childcare arrangements, on-going travel plans and pick-up times and the worst was not having a clue what was happening. This is inexcusable and shows a complete lack of respect for passengers.
And before you say that if you pay cattle-class fares you should expect cattle-class service, these flights weren't cheap – £377 for two returns to Venice.
Neil Fowler, editor of Which? magazine, says: "You might think that you get what you pay for, but the best European no-frills airlines prove that you can offer a stripped down service at a good price and keep your customers happy – as for Ryanair and EasyJet... if you want great customer service then look elsewhere."
In future Blackfriar will heed his advice.
Not all low-cost airlines should be tarred with the same brush and it appears that Jet2.com, which flies out of Leeds Bradford, consistently
beats the other budget carriers when it comes to customer satisfaction. You have been warned.
