Disabled man, 79, 'kicked off' easyJet flight after stewardess overheard conversation

A disabled pensioner has alleged that he was booted off an easyJet flight because a cabin crew member overheard a conversation with his wife. Barry Dobner, 79, was all set to jet off from Manchester to Athens with easyJet on April 3.

Barry, along with his wife Alison and their pal Sheila, were looking forward to a sun-soaked fortnight in , with wheelchair-accessible transport and digs lined up for their stay.

However, Barry, hailing from Rock Ferry, claims he was abruptly ejected from the aircraft just minutes before it was due to take off after the crew clocked he wouldn't be able to use the toilet during the flight.

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The septuagenarian, who's been reliant on a wheelchair since a stroke 18 years ago, recounted: "The whole plane was standing up watching what was going on. You can imagine how that made me feel."

According to Barry, easyJet was clued in about his wheelchair needs when he and Alison snapped up their tickets. They were helped onto the plane and plonked in row 11 for the four-hour hop, scheduled to leave at 4.40pm, reports .

The couple alleges that things went pear-shaped when a flight attendant overheard talk of Barry's portable urinal bottle stashed in his carry-on. Barry relayed: "A stewardess walked by and she said 'excuse me, do you have a urinal bottle?'. My wife said yes, in case of emergencies. She said 'hang on a minute'; she came back and said 'can your husband walk to the toilet'?".

"My wife said 'no, my husband can't walk at all'. They said 'you have to get off this plane'. My wife asked why and they said 'because he can't walk to the toilet'."

Barry recounted how their entire party was forced to disembark and a friend had to collect them from the airport to return home. Alison, aged 67, expressed her dismay: "We have flown with easyJet and with Ryanair before, and we have never had anything like this before.

"What upsets me the most is the way he was spoken to. To treat a disabled person like that was appalling, especially when they had all the information beforehand. It's just ludicrous. The other passengers were sitting there gobsmacked."

Barry shared his feelings: "I've always been a happy go lucky chap but this has knocked me back a bit. I feel like just an object, I'm not a person any more. My self respect had gone right down.

"Since I had my stroke I've been in a wheelchair and I've been trying to keep not maudlin and carry on. But when someone says that to you it knocks the stuffing out of you. It's that sort of feeling. Your confidence just disappears".

He added: "I've flown six times since my stroke and it's always been fine before this. They knew I couldn't walk when they put me on the plane."

The couple had organised the trip as an early celebration for Barry's 80th birthday. They reported a loss of around £2,000 due to the missed flight and have approached their holiday insurance providers about the issue.

Additionally, they lodged a complaint with easyJet. Barry lamented: "We had hotels booked in Athens. We had a hire car paid for to pick us up at the airport, and we've lost £2,000. We've lost everything. We don't know if we'll get the flight money back. When I asked if we'd be reimbursed for the flight, we just got told to call easyJet."

In response, a representative for easyJet commented: "We are very sorry Mr and Mrs Dobner and their companion were unable to fly as planned with easyJet. We are in touch with Mr Dobson and his party to apologise for this error and to refund them in full for their flight and provide them with denied boarding compensation.

"As an airline, we are committed to making easyJet accessible to everyone. easyJet carries around one million passengers requiring some form of assistance each year and our research shows that 87% of easyJet passengers who require this are satisfied with the services we provide."