Photo: Twitter / Matthew Harris
Travel enough and you see and experience all kinds of things, from flying in vomit- or poo-covered seats, to people sleeping on the floor, under the seats. But this, a backless seat occupied by a passenger, is a first.
It happened on flight 2012 Luton to Geneva, on easyJet. A man seated next to a broken, backless seat snapped a photo of a woman sitting on it. In his Twitter thread, Matthew Harris explains that the woman was moved after all passengers boarded the plane and that, this time, she got assigned a seat with a back and all.
Still, he wonders what would have happened if the flight had been fully booked. He believes easyJet cabin crew would have had the woman fly on the backless seat, which, as you probably agree, is the farthest thing from safe as possible.
The photo, which you will also find attached to this article, went viral, sparking jokes about the need to save space and harsh criticism for airline companies that seemingly cut corners for profit. EasyJet did not stay quiet for long, reaching out to Harris with 2 requests: to remove the photo and to talk about the incident with them via DM.
Harris declined both, so the airline was forced to go through the same public channel. Their explanation makes sense, even if not everyone believes it: the woman was seated there until boarding was complete and then moved to another seat. Had the flight been fully booked, another passenger would have been offered the option of an alternate flight, so she could have their seat. In the end, no matter what, the plane would have taken off with that backless seat empty.
“No passengers were permitted to sit in these seats as they were inoperative awaiting repair,” the airline says in a statement. “Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all safety guidelines.”
Still, he wonders what would have happened if the flight had been fully booked. He believes easyJet cabin crew would have had the woman fly on the backless seat, which, as you probably agree, is the farthest thing from safe as possible.
The photo, which you will also find attached to this article, went viral, sparking jokes about the need to save space and harsh criticism for airline companies that seemingly cut corners for profit. EasyJet did not stay quiet for long, reaching out to Harris with 2 requests: to remove the photo and to talk about the incident with them via DM.
Harris declined both, so the airline was forced to go through the same public channel. Their explanation makes sense, even if not everyone believes it: the woman was seated there until boarding was complete and then moved to another seat. Had the flight been fully booked, another passenger would have been offered the option of an alternate flight, so she could have their seat. In the end, no matter what, the plane would have taken off with that backless seat empty.
“No passengers were permitted to sit in these seats as they were inoperative awaiting repair,” the airline says in a statement. “Safety is our highest priority and easyJet operates its fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all safety guidelines.”
Hi Matthew, thanks for bringing this to our attention, before we can investigate this could I ask you to remove the photograph & then DM us more info regarding this, so we can best assist you. Ross https://t.co/Qq2zhBAizh
— easyJet (@easyJet) August 6, 2019
Hello Matthew, please see the below picture. - Dan pic.twitter.com/kjzRxYh3MH
— easyJet (@easyJet) August 6, 2019
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