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A passenger who is dying of cancer was forced to sleep on the floor at Gatwick Airport after easyJet cancelled his flight and failed to provide a hotel.
Wayne Lawson, 63, a Royal Navy veteran, was returning to his home in Jersey on June 27 after what he expects to be his last trip abroad. He was diagnosed with stage-four cancer in August 2024 and was given between one and two years to live.
He planned the holiday to the Canary Islands, on which he was escorted by a friend, “to make special memories before I pass”. He told The Telegraph: “EasyJet destroyed my final holiday and have treated me without compassion.”
The journey back from Tenerife to Gatwick went as planned, with an overnight stay at an airport hotel. But thunderstorms meant his flight to Jersey on Saturday was cancelled late at night.
At this point easyJet’s obligation was clear. The airline was required to provide a hotel – and transport to get there – as well as a flight as soon as possible the following day.
But Mr Lawson says staff told him he would need to make his own accommodation arrangements. They added that no seats were available on an easyJet flight to Jersey for a further three days – but failed to explain that the airline was obliged to provide an alternative flight on British Airways if that would get him home sooner.
Mr Lawson, who served in the Gulf, said: “EasyJet left us to sort things out ourselves. There was no accommodation in a 20-mile radius. When we knew we would have to sleep on the floor of the airport that night my friend begged for a blanket for me, as I’m actually having palliative care and have only a few months to live. EasyJet were not interested and said we might get a flight on Tuesday. Their service was disgusting.”
He chose a place to sleep on the hard floor of the easyJet check-in area, using a bag as a pillow.
“I woke up at 3am and told a member of easyJet staff that I wasn’t happy that the airline would let a dying man sleep on the floor,” he said. “I was put on the 8.30am flight that Sunday morning.”
Mr Lawson later contacted easyJet to ask for compensation, but this was refused because the cancellation was caused by “extraordinary circumstances”.
Whatever the cause of a flight being grounded, airlines are still required to provide hotels for overnight stays. The Civil Aviation Authority insists: “Airlines should organise appropriate care, including overnight accommodation, for those who need it.” But if they fail to do so and instead passengers sleep at the airport, airlines save many thousands of pounds for each cancelled flight.
Air passengers’ rights rules stipulate: “The operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them.”
After The Telegraph intervened, easyJet apologised and refunded the air fares for Mr Lawson and his travel companion.
A spokesman for the airline said: “We are very sorry to hear about Mr Lawson’s circumstances and for the difficulty he experienced on his journey to Jersey after his flight was cancelled because of thunderstorms suspending operations at London Gatwick.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always our highest priority. We transferred Mr Lawson to a flight departing the following morning and while we always aim to secure hotel accommodation for customers where needed, as availability was limited we advised customers who booked their own that they would be reimbursed.
“We are in touch with Mr Lawson to apologise for his experience at the airport, which we are looking into with our ground handler at London Gatwick, [and will] reimburse any expenses and refund his flight as a gesture of goodwill.”
Mr Lawson added: “I’m still so upset as they spoilt my last holiday. But I served my country, so I’m a positive person and will go down fighting.”
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