A disabled woman who claims she had to drag herself to the toilet on the floor has blasted airline AlbaStar after cabin crew suggested she should have been wearing a nappy.
Jennie Berry, a wheelchair user who is paralyzed from the waist down, was traveling on an AlbaStar flight from Newcastle to Palma, Spain, last month when she needed to use the toilet but was told there was no walker to help her.
She said she was told by cabin crew that disabled people had to wear nappies on board planes and that she had to drag herself to the toilet on the aisle floor and be lifted up to the toilet by her partner.
Following the incident, AlbaStar said it had called Ms Berry to “personally apologise” over the shocking incident after it went viral on TikTok.
Jennie Berry (left) spoke about her experience on Good Morning Britain
Jennie Berry was on an AlbaStar flight from Newcastle to Palma when she had to drag herself up the aisle on the floor to use the toilet
In the picture: Jennie Berry is lifted to the toilet by her partner. She uploaded her experience on the AlbaStar flight to TikTok, which went viral
But Ms Berry has criticized the airline for showing no empathy whatsoever, “saying how broken they were as a company, as opposed to how I felt”.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Friday, Ms Berry told hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway: ‘Apart from saying how broken they were as a company, as opposed to how I felt.
‘I think devastated because of the reaction.
‘Their current policy is that my partner should have dragged me from behind with my feet backwards or carried me – never mind, I’m six feet tall, I can’t be carried in the narrow hole.
“It would probably be more painful if it were to happen, take longer, cause more of a scene.”
Ben then asked Mrs Berry: ‘And that would be more dignified? It seems extraordinary that these would be their key points.’
AlbaStar released a statement after the incident, defending not having a wheelchair on the flight
To which she replied: ‘There’s a lot to digest there, a lot of key points there where it’s just amazing that that’s the response we’re getting here as opposed to just giving access.’
Albastar said in a statement: ‘Our managing director has called Ms Berry to personally apologize and explain that on our many short-haul flights in Europe, the proper storage of these wheelchairs is an important safety issue in the event of an emergency.
“Hardly any short-haul aircraft in Europe carry these wheelchairs, including some very well-known British airlines.
“As it is against cabin crew regulations to lift passengers during the flight, the most important thing here is to ask why her partner didn’t help her get to the toilet instead of spending his time filming.”
Jennie Berry said she felt ‘humiliated’ after the incident on the AlbaStar flight
Jennie Berry (pictured) said she was forced to drag herself to the toilet on the flight floor after she said cabin crew refused to help her
However, Mrs Berry contested this. She said: ‘It’s a Boeing 737, which most airlines also use. And most airlines – including low-cost, low-budget airlines like TUI, EasyJet, Ryanair – all of these have the walker on board and they make room for it to be there. But this company simply says no, despite the fact that they have exactly the same plane.’
‘I am a disabled traveler who travels a lot.
‘Everything I do in life is planned in advance. It’s frustrating that they kind of turn it around like it’s my fault when in fact their policy says they don’t have a wheelchair on board and they don’t have the funds to have a wheelchair on board.’
During the flight, Berry said a flight attendant suggested she should have worn a diaper on board.
She said: ‘Again, another amazing comment to make which is just absurd. I don’t have to wear a diaper and just have that kind of response as opposed to – you know, I didn’t ask somebody to carry me, I don’t expect to be carried.
‘I know it is not within their competence to do so.
‘I was just expecting some empathy, help clearing the aisle and just problem solving in a scenario where we’re in mid-air, there’s no wheelchair on board, what do we know? And there was none of that.
‘I think they were furious because I stopped their drinking cart.’
Ben finished by saying: ‘The frustration is that the passengers on board showed more concern and care than the staff looking after you.’
Ms Berry said she would not travel with Albastar airlines again.
She continued: ‘Just getting down to talking to the chief executive – who has that attitude, has no understanding of disability or what it actually looks like for other passengers too, having to see it.
‘Or if I were to be carried, what if I were dropped on another? It’s not safe for anyone’.
‘If I didn’t film it, he wouldn’t have believed me.’
AlbaStar has been contacted for further comment.
Good Morning Britain weekdays from 06.00 on ITV & ITV Hub