A “stand-up” protest by passengers ensured that it flew to its correct destination after an airline tried to divert a flight.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the Excel Airways jet was preparing to take off from the Greek island of Heraklion when the captain announced that it would be flying to Gatwick, rather than Manchester, because the crew was approaching the end of its allotted flying hours.
But the angry passengers refused to sit down and demanded an explanation; the flight was grounded for an hour until the carrier relented and agreed to fly to its original destination.
One passenger is quoted as saying: “At first I though I had misheard what the captain had said. He came on to the public address system and said he had some good news and some bad news. The good news was that we were leaving on time, the bad news was that we were being diverted to Gatwick.” A
spokesman for Excel reportedly said: “It was difficult to inform passengers about a situation such as this while they were at different stages of processing through an airport. It was better to inform them while they were on the plane, where they were all in one place and where delays could be kept to a minimum.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad Ltd
