Jet2 bans family from flight home from Greece after girl was sick at airport

Jet2 bans family from flight home from Greece after girl was sick at airport Hayley Waters says her daughter was only ill because it was 30C in the airport and their flight had been delayed A family was left stranded on a Greek island after Jet2 refused to let them fly home because their six-year-old daughter was sick in the departure lounge. Hayley Waters, 37, was waiting at Rhodes Airport with husband Jason, 40, and kids Addyson, six, and Xander, three, when the youngster vomited at the gate. She said staff immediately barred the family from boarding their delayed flight to Leeds Bradford Airport shortly after midnight. They were told they could not travel with Jet2 for at least 24 hours and would have to arrange their own accommodation, transport and alternative flights - which cost them around £1,000. Hayley, a performance analyst from Leeds, West Yorks., said: "While waiting at the gate, my six-year-old daughter was sick once. I cleaned it up immediately. She'd had no illness all holiday - she was simply exhausted after the delay, it was around midnight, and over 30C in the airport." The family had been due to catch the 11.15pm flight on July 31, which eventually departed at around 12.05am. They were travelling as part of a larger group of nine when a member of Jet2 staff spotted Addyson being sick. But Hayley said nobody assessed her daughter or asked whether she had been ill during the holiday before the family was stopped from boarding. She said: "The only explanation given was 'policy' because my daughter had been sick. "Nobody asked whether she had any underlying medical conditions, whether she'd been unwell during the holiday, or how she was feeling. No medical assessment was carried out - the decision was based solely on a member of staff seeing her vomit once." The family were forced to book an easyJet flight to Newcastle for the following day to get home. Hayley said: "We have no written explanation for why we were denied boarding, no paperwork, no medical assessment, no duty of care, and we were left stranded abroad with two young children." Jet2 said its team in Rhodes had followed procedures and helped the family find somewhere to stay. The airline said staff also advised them to retain their receipts so they could make a claim through their travel insurance. A Jet2 spokesperson said: "The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our absolute priority, and our teams have processes in place to help prevent the spread of illness onboard our aircraft. We are sorry to hear that Mrs Waters was unhappy with her experience and we are in contact with her to discuss the matter further." However, Hayley has disputed the airline's claim that it had been in contact with her. The airline said it had promised a response within 14 days, by August 20, and remained on track to provide one. Hayley said the family have not had acknowledgement that their written complaint has been received - and that they have not been told about the timescales Jet2 are working to.