EasyJet fined €40,000 for refusing wheelchair passenger in France

Budget airline EasyJet has been fined €40,000 for “discrimination on the grounds of disability”, in a ruling that has taken 13 years to come.

The airline - EasyJet’s Swiss operator, EasyJet Switzerland - must pay the fine to the French state.

“A fine of €40,000 to be paid to the Treasury, €2,500 in damages and €2,000 in legal costs to be paid to their former customer,” said the Nantes Criminal Court, after the trial found the airline guilty on Thursday, September 12.

The customer in question, Marie-Bernadette - who lives in Montaigu-Vendée (Pays de la Loire) - has been waiting for a result of the trial since 2011.

‘Boarding card snatched’

The case dates back to April that year, when Marie-Bernadette - who is paraplegic (unable to move her legs), and uses a wheelchair - was boarding an EasyJet flight from Nantes to Geneva, in Switzerland.

She was travelling alone, and had a valid ticket and boarding pass.

But, she said that as she was boarding, her boarding pass was “snatched” by an agent working for Aviapartners (the airline’s subcontractor company). The agent said that Aviapartners was under “strict instructions” to ensure that every passenger could “evacuate the aircraft unassisted” in the event of a problem.

Marie-Bernadette was, by her own admission, unable to do this, because she cannot “stand up on her own”. She was denied boarding as a result.

‘Unacceptable discrimination’

This strict application of the ‘evacuation’ rule was found to amount to discrimination.

The court found that EasyJet was “interpreting” certain “regulations specific to the United Kingdom”, and not a law “of the European Union [in which] airlines are required to train flight crews and provide assistance to disabled persons”.

“They cannot afford the services needed to look after a disabled person, so they put the responsibility on the passengers,” said Marie-Bernadette’s lawyer, Patrick de la Grange. He added that he believes that the airline is “choosing not to train its staff in this area for economic reasons”.

“My client has been waiting for this hearing for years, but her state of health prevented her from coming,” he said, to the court. “EasyJet is the only airline that is so strict: my client has been able to travel with others without such instructions.”

He said that her treatment by EasyJet amounted to “unacceptable discrimination”, and had asked for €25,000 in damages and €5,000 in legal costs because of the “particular length of the proceedings”.

“She was denied the status of a human being and left on the tarmac,” said Mr de la Grange. “This sum may seem large, but it is not in view of the damage suffered, which was extremely significant and very high. The feeling of anger and injustice is still as strong today.”

Mr de la Grange added that EasyJet has a repeated track record of treating disabled passengers poorly. Between 2013 and 2017 EasyJet has been repeatedly fined between €50,000 and €70,000 for similar offences.

‘We are not responsible…but we take responsibility’

EasyJet Switzerland's lawyer said that this was the only lawsuit for the issue that had been brought against EasyJet Switzerland, and the only one she was involved in.

The other lawsuits had been brought separately, against “the British entity” of the airline in Paris, Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) and Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), she said.

She denied that the airline is anti-disability, citing as proof its partnership with the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. “There were no problems transporting athletes and spectators with disabilities,” she said.

The lawyer also said she regretted that no representatives of Aviapartner were present in the courtroom on the day of the ruling stating that the subcontractor had “not involved EasyJet in its decision” on the day it denied boarding to Marie-Bernadette.

"In our opinion, we are not responsible,” she said.

“But we have always taken responsibility: we are not interested in getting angry with people. Our subcontractors allow us to have a positive economic model, for us and for our passengers. So we are not going to make things better by insulting them,” she added.

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EasyJet disability policy

EasyJet has a series of policies designed to accommodate “passengers with specific requirements”. 

This includes rules on wheelchairs and mobility equipment, and says that passengers must “notify us 48 hours prior to your departure” to “enable us to establish” airport facilities for loading and unloading mobility aids and wheelchairs. 

The policy states that this notice is necessary to enable the airline to arrange for “reasonable efforts to accommodate your needs”. It states that “where possible, EasyJet will endeavour to provide passengers with assistance when boarding and disembarking its flights”.