Ryanair refuses to apologize to a 69-year-old woman who was denied permission to bring a change of colostomy bag with her on a Ryanair flight from Fuerteventura in Spain.
The woman from Louth, Frances Duff, tried to show the flight attendant a note from her doctor, but was ignored. She was then told to lift her shirt to prove she had a colostomy bag, reports TheJournal.ie.
“She just pushed it out of my daughter’s hand. She didn’t want to speak to me or know me. She humiliated me so much that I started crying in front of people. I cried all the way home and I’ve been crying ever since. One day she’ll be my age and by God I hope she doesn’t go through the same ordeal,” said Duff.
She was eventually allowed to board the plane with the colostomy bags in separate hand luggage, from which she was separated during the flight.
According to the airline, any passengers who need to carry and use medical equipment during travel must first contact Ryanair's dedicated special assistance line.
“This special assistance phone line is used by thousands of passengers each year, without issue,” the airline said in a written statement," said Ryanair in a written statement.
According to Duff, she tried to contact the special assistance line on three occasion, but each time she was forced to wait 30 minutes and could not get through.
“Why are they making me feel guilty? I did nothing wrong. I would like nothing more than to sit in a room and tell Michael O’Leary how hurt I am. I am speaking up for all the people out there like me. I am standing up to be counted.”
Gerry Adams, Duff's local TD, has called for a “full and fulsome” apology from the airline.
“Frances was treated in a disrespectful and disgraceful fashion. The staff lacked any empathy and Ryanair’s regulations did not allow for staff to exercise any common sense or discretion. Ryanair needs to examine its procedures and the resources and ensure that they have put in place the necessary resources for their dedicated assistance telephone line.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.seanomelb | Jul 24, 2012, 08:30 PM EDT
Schon you pathetic creature,I got rid of you on other posts because of your stupidity and inability to reply. Go chew your orange sock.
deirdrekeohane | Jul 23, 2012, 02:56 PM EDT
Should have dumped the bag over their heads! Ignorant airlines
RichardP | Jul 23, 2012, 02:37 PM EDT
This is Ryanais we're talking about here - what do you expect from a pig but a grunt? Nevertheless, Ryanair provides a service with an attitude and of a sort that people are willing tolerate. It used to be good value, that is now questionable.
IrelandNorth | Jul 23, 2012, 05:35 AM EDT
This article is about Ryanair Customer Service, and not reactionary political violence to the injustices of imperialism. Posters should resist the dubious temptations to extrapolate to indulge their self-righteous neo-colonial propaganda. The passenger in question could have asked one of the flight attendants to rinse out her used colostomy bag for recycling. Low payed staff of low fared airlines don't tend to be happy campers being exploited. Have flown Ryaniar to Malta and back last year and found them top class personally. Some people get off on whinging, though I do suspect IrishCentral is on a retainer for frequently reporting human interest stories as secondary commercial advertisement.
Schon | Jul 23, 2012, 05:06 AM EDT
seanomelb ... and Irish. Besides being cheap and nasty, they are Irish. I thought you supported all things Irish, you bigoted excuse for a slime ball.
ProudCanadian | Jul 23, 2012, 12:36 AM EDT
I am not condoning what Ryanair did to this lady it was dispicable. I have flown Ryanair many times and had no problem with them. I have had more problem with out joke of an airline, Air Canada.
rpannier | Jul 23, 2012, 12:07 AM EDT
irishpjk Why am I down on O'Leary? Simple. Ryanair is a crappy airline that has some of the rudest staff ever. There is a reason why it ranks just above Goryo airlines (the offical airline of North Korea) in terms of quality, service, etc. It's not even good enough to be MIAT (Mongolian Air).
seanomelb | Jul 22, 2012, 06:42 PM EDT
The bloody siege mentality of another American It could be terrorist related.On my many visits to Ireland never have and never will use Ryanair they're cheap and nasty.
EamonnDublin | Jul 22, 2012, 04:54 PM EDT
"Irishpjk" - I am not "down on Michael O'Leary" at all. I simply asked what do you expect, as it's Ryanair we're talking about. Ryanair do NOT apologise. Not not NOT. Regardless. Period. Never. Éamonn, Dublin.
alisaann | Jul 22, 2012, 04:11 PM EDT
that's just WRONG and if I was her and her family i'd be SUING their butts for their treatment of this lady....imo, with all the hassell...it just doesn't pay to fly....if i can't get some place by car....then, i'm NOT going. alisa
Scrivner | Jul 22, 2012, 04:07 PM EDT
With all the horror stories about Ryanair, why do people still patronize them? Is saving a few quid/euro/bucks worth it? Or is it that some people want a good survival yarn? ("They double booked my seat so I had to fly from Shannon to San Fransico hanging from the overhead on a bungee cord, but it only cost the price of a cheese sandwich!")
Paul Rutter | Jul 22, 2012, 04:02 PM EDT
OK it was an old lady, but in order to not have profilign behavior, all must go by rules that were set up for instances like this. A colostomy bag sounds like the perfect item for a terrorist to claim a need for. The woman failed to get it cleared. To protect me and others, I'm glad Ryan Air follows security guidelines. Yes, it is hard because the lady was older, but these times we have to treat everyone the same or receive claims of profiling.
biggles008 | Jul 22, 2012, 03:03 PM EDT
It's terrible.
susan724 | Jul 22, 2012, 02:59 PM EDT
We will be making a trip to Ireland next year and I guarantee you it won't be with Rynair! This woman has a classic law suit!
susan724 | Jul 22, 2012, 11:27 AM EDT
Psychopathic mentality. Boycott Ryanair
irishpjk | Jul 22, 2012, 11:07 AM EDT
wtf There are two sides to every story; I took my first flight in May of 1959 and hundreds since then on all kinds of airlines to almost all parts of the world. Over the years I find that the rules are there for a reason and if you follow them things usually go very smoothly. I also see people checking in who feel that the rules don’t apply to them, from their carry-on baggage to where they should sit. I do have a question for you, why are you so down on Michael O’Leary? I find him and his airline to be above board almost all the time, now and then you will find a bad employee with Ryan air but some bad employees are a problem all over the world.
EamonnDublin | Jul 22, 2012, 11:00 AM EDT
What would you expect? We are talking about RYANAIR. Éamonn, Dublin, Ireland.
Jacob | Jul 22, 2012, 10:05 AM EDT
I don't think I've ever agreed with Gerry Adams before. He's right about Ryanair's lack of consideration - but the question has to be asked, how many people are disabled BECAUSE of Adams' collusion with terrorism?