'I watched dad's funeral online,' EasyJet customer says

Tracey and her two sons had to watch the funeral on a Zoom call

A woman has described how her family missed her father's funeral because their flight was cancelled by the airline minutes before departure.

Tracey was booked to fly from Geneva to Bristol with her two sons to attend her father David Dane's funeral.

Their flight was one of about 200 the airline cancelled at short notice on 26 May when EasyJet experienced IT system issues.

"I had to watch my dad's funeral online, inside a hotel room," she said.

Tracey was at the boarding gate in Geneva Airport when she heard the announcement that her flight had been cancelled.

Her 89-year-old father had been ill for six months before he died on 26 April and she had to get an emergency passport issued to attend his funeral in Plymouth.

"Unfortunately, we experienced IT systems issues yesterday and while this was rectified later that afternoon, unfortunately around 200 flights due to depart between 13:00 and 15:00 BST were cancelled yesterday," a spokesperson for EasyJet said.

Tracey missed the funeral of her 89-year-old father David Dane

Tracey said she tried to contact the airline for help.

"There was no easyJet representative in Geneva Airport, and when I tried contacting easyJet over the phone, I had no response."

She tried calling the airline's customer services in Switzerland, France and the UK.

"My problem isn't that the flight was cancelled.

"It was the fact that there was no one to deal with the situation, this meant I had to watch my dad's funeral from a hotel room."

EasyJet has apologised to customers for the cancellation of about 200 flights

She eventually managed to board an alternative flight earlier with her sons but arrived at Birmingham Airport nearly 24 hours after she had planned to arrive in the UK.

"We provided customers with options to rebook or receive a full refund, however we nonetheless fully understand the disruption this will have caused to people's plans and we are very sorry for this," a spokesperson for easyJet said.

"Our team are reaching out to [Tracey] to apologise for her experience and provide her with the compensation she is due."