A woman has accused Jet2 of “blatant sexism” after the airline sent a compensation cheque to her husband ‒ despite her being the lead passenger who had paid for their flights.
Caroline Cartwright and her husband Paul were due to fly from Malaga to Birmingham on 2 June, on flight LS1204, scheduled to depart at 12.25pm.
It followed a long-awaited trip to Spain to see Ms Cartwright’s sister who lives there, and who she had been unable to visit through two years of the pandemic.
However, shortly after arriving at the airport, Jet2 phoned Ms Cartwright ‒ the lead passenger on the booking ‒ to say their flight would be unable to take off that day due to a technical issue.
The airline offered the couple a new flight to Leeds the following day, but after assessing their options they decided not to take it; instead they opted to accept a refund from Jet2 and pay for an alternative Ryanair flight to East Midlands airport later that day.
Ms Cartwright had booked their flights, along with a rental car and insurance, on Opodo.co.uk, from which they would receive a full refund weeks later.
However, she knew they would be also entitled to EU261 compensation from the airline due to the susbtantial delay in getting home.
The couple waited for seven hours at Malaga Airport before the Ryanair flight home. While in the terminal, Ms Cartwright says both she and her husband completed Jet2’s delay compensation form online, as they “had time to kill”.
Their son drove to pick them up from East Midlands Airport at midnight.
Ms Cartwright says she considered the booking her responsibility. “I paid for both the original tickets. I was the first traveller listed on the itinerary. I dealt with the desk staff at the airport,” she told The Independent.
So she was “flabbergasted” when, six weeks later, the compensation amount for both passengers arrived in the post in cheque form, made out to Mr Cartwright.
She feels this is an act of everyday sexism that should be called out.
“This type of behaviour goes almost unnoticed, and may seem benign, yet it reinforces sexism and perpetuates the attitude that it’s OK to act as if some people are less worthy than others.”
“Who decided it was right to send my compensation amount to my husband? The correct course of action would have been to send individual cheques so that we both received the compensation amount due.
“Jet2’s actions are sexist, out of date, dismissive of my rights and it is infuriating that a huge…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…