AN Islander has recounted a ‘nightmare’ journey home after undergoing a knee-replacement operation in Southampton.
Steve Twyman said he was treated with disdain by staff at both Southampton and Jersey Airports, yelped in pain as his operated leg was swabbed by security staff, left to rely on a member of Costa Coffee staff after being ‘abandoned’ and finally forced to leave his wheelchair and complete his journey by foot.
Blue Islands has said it is ‘disappointed’ to learn about Mr Twyman’s experience, but added that assistance was not pre-booked, which the passenger said had not been an option when staff at Southampton arranged the post-operative trip.
Mr Twyman said that when his return journey was finalised, Blue Islands had said assistance should be booked on the day of travel, but then on arrival at Southampton Airport it had become apparent that arrangements were inadequate.
He said: ‘Eventually a woman appeared but she didn’t seem to have done it before. She mixed her belongings up with mine in the security trays, and then my wound was swabbed after I went through the X-ray, it was agony.’
After being left alone at Costa Coffee, Mr Twyman was alarmed to hear a boarding call for his flight, enlisting the help of a Costa employee to contact airport staff so he could reach the gate.
Eventually, he was able to board the plane, although not before his injured leg had been knocked against an umbrella stand and his crutches had been taken off him before he had ascended the plane steps, he said.
Cabin crew were helpful and sympathetic, Mr Twyman added, but his problems continued on arrival in Jersey, with an ‘impatient’ member of ground staff rushing him through the terminal.
‘I nearly bounced out of the chair at one point, and then when we got to the sliding doors at arrivals he said he was too busy to take me through, so I was forced to get out of the wheelchair, put on my backpack and go through on crutches,’ he said.
Mr Twyman described the experience as a ‘nightmare’ and said he hoped airlines, hospital and airport staff would deliver a far better service to people in his position in the future.
A Blue Islands spokesperson said: ‘Blue Islands relies on third parties to deliver all assistance requests. To ensure our partners are prepared and appropriate resource levels are allocated to meet individual requirements, we ask our customers, or those booking travel, to ensure assistance requests are submitted at least 48 hours in advance of departure.
‘Pre-booked assistance was not requested for this individual booking, as such our partners at both airports were not resourced for, or expecting to provide assistance for this flight.
‘However, while not pre-booked, we are disappointed to learn about this customer’s experience, naturally we are working with our partners to ensure customers with booked assistance consistently receive the best possible service when travelling through the airport.’
