EasyJet pay up after kicking off Jo Wood
Jo Wood will get £747 compensation after she was left stranded in Spain when EasyJet kicked her off an overbooked flight.
The ex-wife of Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood, who had spent a romantic Easter weekend at her holiday home with her boyfriend, had booked flights from Murcia to Gatwick on Tuesday and checked in at the airport.
But when the couple went to board they were told there was room for only one of them – and were not offered another flight either that evening or the following day.
As they had work the next morning, the 62year- old and partner Paul Scarborough, 53, were forced to fork out £460 on flights with rival Ryanair. They did not arrive home until 1am – eight hours later than they were supposed to.
But after the Mail contacted EasyJet yesterday, the budget airline got in contact with Miss Wood to tell her she would be compensated. The mother of three will be given a full refund for the Ryanair flights, £167 for her EasyJet flights and £120 for a taxi to her home in north London, making the total £747.
The businesswoman, who founded an organic beauty brand, said: ‘They picked on the wrong woman didn’t they? Picked on the wrong woman, they did. They must have thought, “She won’t complain, she looks very sweet, she hasn’t got any luggage so we don’t have to drag her luggage off the flight, that’s fine, we’ll pick on that girl, Jo.” Little did they know.’
Miss Wood, who said she uses EasyJet ‘like a bus’, also lamented that airlines are not as professional as they used to be. She said: ‘I think it is terrible, unless you’re paying top dollar for your first-class seat. But I go to Spain all the time to my house in Murcia and I’m not going to pay top money. I use them like a bus.
‘Years ago you used to buy your ticket, and when you had your ticket in your hand you owned that seat on that plane – they’re not like that any more.
‘Now they feel they can just bump you off. If somebody isn’t as fortunate as I am, how do they get home? They could lose their job. What if they have kids? You can’t do that to people. You can’t treat people like that.’
An EasyJet spokesman said: ‘We were sorry to hear of Miss Wood’s experience and would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience.
‘While there was one seat available, we understand that she wanted to fly with her travel companion. We have been in contact with Miss Wood directly to apologise.’