A pregnant woman has claimed she was thrown off a Virgin Atlantic flight and left stranded in New York with no money after being told she wasn’t fit to fly.
Billie-Jo Robinson has said she wasn’t seen by any medical professionals and was left lying on a ‘cold airport floor’ at 1am in the morning after being removed from the flight from JFK airport to Manchester last Saturday.
The 28-year-old, who had been on holiday with her sister-in-law and a friend, said passengers were left waiting to board the plane for more than two hours, during which time she began to feel unwell and needed a sick bag.
But she claimed that soon afterwards she was told by a cabin crew member that the airline’s ‘ground staff doctor’ and deemed her ‘not fit to fly’.
Billie, who is 20 weeks pregnant and from the Wirral, said she was told to get off the flight and was left until the early hours of the morning with no money, food or accommodation.
She told The Liverpool Echo : "We were left waiting on the plane for ages because of missing passengers.
"It was really hot and I had really bad heartburn after having a McDonald’s in the airport and felt a bit sick.
"I saw an air hostess with sick bags and asked her for one, and I was sick a little bit – but not enough to leave my seat.
"I asked the air hostess could she get rid of the bag and she asked was I okay, to which I said I was fine and she gave me a bottle of water.
"It had been about 40 minutes since I had been sick and I was just sat reading my magazine when a member of the cabin crew came up to me and said I needed to get off the aircraft.
"She said a doctor on the ground, who had never even met me or seen me, had made the decision I was not fit to fly."
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said the decision was made after the situation was evaluated with "independent medical experts".
Billie, a children’s home manager who is due to give birth in April, said she was reassured by staff she would be put up in a hotel, taken to the hospital to get a doctor’s note and then put on the next flight.
But she claims that she, her friend and her sister-in-law were left until 1am "on a cold airport floor" with only $55 and travel cards between them.
Billie said: "I was crying when I was told to get off the flight but I was told by the cabin crew not to worry, Virgin will take me to the hospital to get a fit to fly letter, sort us a hotel and food, until the next flight we can be booked onto.
"However, when we got off the flight I was told to go and collect our luggage, which was a 15 minute walk away, and then drag a 22kg case across the airport, up escalators. Bear in mind I’m ‘too sick to fly and need to go to hospital’.
"Our other case which has the only bank card in didn’t come off the plane and when we went to the customer services desk they said they ‘couldn’t find it’.
"And then we were told we wouldn’t be going to a hotel or hospital and I needed to sort it myself because it ‘wasn’t their responsibility’."
After hours of trying to resolve the situation, Billie and the group were eventually given a hotel and a hospital visit was arranged via their travel insurance for later the same day.
However, later that morning Billie said she was contacted by the airline’s duty manager and told she had been booked on another flight and didn’t need a doctor’s note.
The group were then flown from JFK to Atlanta and then on to Manchester.
Billie said: "I want an apology and an explanation as to why I was kicked off the flight.
"I want to know what information the ‘on the ground’ doctor was told to say I was not fit to fly.
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"You can fly without telling an airline that you’re pregnant up until 28 weeks. I had done everything I was supposed to.
"Me and my boyfriend went to Jamaica while I was pregnant and I was supposed to be going to Krakow, but I have cancelled that now.
"I don’t want to fly anywhere else while I am pregnant.
"The whole ordeal was so stressful, and when we got home I went to the doctors to check the baby was okay and both our heart rates were high.
"I don’t want anything from the airline apart from an apology."
A spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our top priority.
"When Ms Robinson became unwell we evaluated the situation with our independent medical experts and unfortunately she was deemed too unwell to travel.
"In line with our procedures as the customer had been sickness free for over 12 hours, she was deemed fit to fly the next day.
"We are truly sorry for any distress caused and are in direct contact with Ms Robinson to resolve the situation.”
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