Photo: GlobalNews.ca
One man’s dream family vacation turned into a nightmare when the flight attendants on a WestJet flight from Toronto decided that he was a “medical emergency” and, as such, unfit to fly.
The problem with that was that, as Stephen Bennett explains to the BBC, he was perfectly healthy and had even been cleared by airport medical personnel. He had only taken a sleeping pill before boarding, and the crew on his flight seemed to take issue with that.
Bennett says that he had flown all night before the Toronto flight and was tired. Before early boarding, he took a prescribed sleeping pill and, once on the plane, he dozed off with his head in his wife’s lap. As the plane was getting ready for takeoff, one of the flight attendants insisted that he be awake for takeoff in case anything bad happens.
It took Bennett 5 full minutes to become alert, and the crew deemed his response time too slow. Despite having a professional nurse on the plane check his vital and clear him, they still had him wheeled in a wheelchair off the plane.
Once back in the airport, medical personnel performed more checks on him, and all of them cleared him for flight. Bennett even got his doctor back home in British Columbia to email a note saying that he was healthy, aside from the fact that he had suffered a stroke a while back and couldn’t walk unassisted because of constant leg pain.
Still, WestJet decided to not allow him back on board. This meant spending 2 nights in Toronto, missing 2 days on his family’s $4,000 all-inclusive vacation in Cuba and incurring $1,600 in extra costs (the hotel room and the earlier flight out to Cuba). Perhaps more stinging that this extra expense was the sense of humiliation he felt at the way he was treated.
“It was so humiliating,” Bennett says, recalling he had tears in his eyes as he was escorted off the plane, with his wife and son in tow. “Basically, the stewardess became judge, jury and executioner.”
In a statement to the same media outlet, WestJet says it’s common practice not to allow passengers to fly who seem unfit, “out of an abundance of caution.” This includes people who consume alcohol or take drugs / pills prior to boarding and, in Bennett’s case, the fact that his doctor had prescribed the pill and that he was able to wake up from his sleep matter very little.
“We stand by our crew's decisions and believe that what we have offered to this guest is reasonable under the circumstances,” the statement adds.
Bennett is planning to sue the flight operator, seeking financial compensation and an apology in court.
Bennett says that he had flown all night before the Toronto flight and was tired. Before early boarding, he took a prescribed sleeping pill and, once on the plane, he dozed off with his head in his wife’s lap. As the plane was getting ready for takeoff, one of the flight attendants insisted that he be awake for takeoff in case anything bad happens.
It took Bennett 5 full minutes to become alert, and the crew deemed his response time too slow. Despite having a professional nurse on the plane check his vital and clear him, they still had him wheeled in a wheelchair off the plane.
Once back in the airport, medical personnel performed more checks on him, and all of them cleared him for flight. Bennett even got his doctor back home in British Columbia to email a note saying that he was healthy, aside from the fact that he had suffered a stroke a while back and couldn’t walk unassisted because of constant leg pain.
Still, WestJet decided to not allow him back on board. This meant spending 2 nights in Toronto, missing 2 days on his family’s $4,000 all-inclusive vacation in Cuba and incurring $1,600 in extra costs (the hotel room and the earlier flight out to Cuba). Perhaps more stinging that this extra expense was the sense of humiliation he felt at the way he was treated.
“It was so humiliating,” Bennett says, recalling he had tears in his eyes as he was escorted off the plane, with his wife and son in tow. “Basically, the stewardess became judge, jury and executioner.”
In a statement to the same media outlet, WestJet says it’s common practice not to allow passengers to fly who seem unfit, “out of an abundance of caution.” This includes people who consume alcohol or take drugs / pills prior to boarding and, in Bennett’s case, the fact that his doctor had prescribed the pill and that he was able to wake up from his sleep matter very little.
“We stand by our crew's decisions and believe that what we have offered to this guest is reasonable under the circumstances,” the statement adds.
Bennett is planning to sue the flight operator, seeking financial compensation and an apology in court.
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