Mum 'embarrassed' by airline staff over breast milk charge

A Belfast woman has said EasyJet should "treat people with a bit of common sense and a bit more kindness" after the airline refused to let her carry breast milk and a pump onto a flight without paying an extra charge.

Daisy Crawford was travelling to Belfast with her baby son on Sunday after spending time with family in Bristol.

Ms Crawford said "there was no understanding" from staff, who she said told her she must pay to bring the extra bag on board.

In a statement, EasyJet said: "We are very sorry for Ms Crawford's experience while boarding her flight, as this is not the level of service we expect."

Ms Crawford said she researched the rules on travelling with breast milk before flying.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme, she said she faced no issues travelling out of Belfast, but "on the way back I went through security fine, and then it wasn't until I was at the gate that they just said, 'No, you have to pay an additional charge for this'.

"When I said, 'Oh sorry, it's breast milk; it's separate'. They said, 'It doesn't matter, you've got to pay'.

"It's embarrassing enough to have to divulge what it is in the first place.

"I wasn't looking for anybody to make any exceptions.

I wasn't looking to carry anything over and above what you would normally see people carry on a plane," she added.

"They just absolutely refused to hear my point, and eventually I started to get a bit upset."

Ms Crawford said the manager then spoke to her on the phone.

"I explained the situation to the manager, and then the line went dead after they said, 'Oh, just check with a colleague'.

"I don't know if they hung up or if I was cut off.

"When they phoned back, they wouldn't speak to me directly. They spoke to one of their colleagues, and at that point their colleague said: 'No, you've got to pay. There's no way around it'.

"I asked for the name of their manager, and they wouldn't give it to me. They said they couldn't give out personal information."

In their statement, EasyJet added: "We advise customers to carry baby milk in their cabin baggage and do allow customers an additional free of charge bag for a breast pump and milk.

"We ask them to let us know in advance of travel so there are no issues at the gate."