UK reality TV star Luisa Zissman has shamed a “jobsworth” airline attendant who she claims threatened to fine a family almost $A200 after their two-year-old child stood on a seat.
The mum-of-three, who is on the UK version of The Apprentice, slammed the woman as an “idiot on a power trip” after filming the incident unfold on-board an easyJet flight from Nice to London Gatwick.
Zissman, 32, said there was no seatbelt sign on when the woman approached the family.
In the video, the stewardess is heard saying angrily: “You are his parent, I need to make sure he is safe, you need to make sure he is safe … I need to make sure I am safe … he needs to stand on the floor, not on his seat.”
‘OUT OF ORDER’
Zissman claims the woman also said the family should have to fork out £100 ($A180) for the seat in question to be cleaned.
Sharing the video with her 500,000 Instagram followers, she wrote:
“Here is the @easyjet jobsworth woman. “Such bad form.
“For the record the seatbelt sign was NOT on, this family were not English & their English was limited.”
She added: “It was totally out of order. The little boy was about 2 and standing on the seat facing backwards to see his family in the row behind.
“He wasn’t crying or making any noise or fuss, poor little mite & poor parents!”
An easyJet spokesman said the air hostess was “concerned” for the child’s safety, and it was not the airline’s policy to charge customers for cleaning.
Zissman said the incident took place on July 31 after the plane had been delayed by 45 minutes.
She told The Sun Online: “She was already being a jobsworth anyway, we were on the runway a bit, (told) anyone on the phone would be met by the authority, would get a £250 ($A445) fine.
“She was being antsy, stropping around the cabin anyway, she seemed to hone in on that family.
“The little boy had socks on, he was literally not bothering anyone, his family were on either side of him. I think she was just being a bully.”
She added she’d shared the video after talking about the story on her Loose Lips podcast and receiving lots of messages from people asking her to post it.
An easyJet spokeswoman said: “It is clear from the video the crew member is concerned for the safety of the child so requested that they either stand on the floor or sit on the seat.
“We don’t charge customers for cleaning.
“We are sorry if the manner in which the crew member explained this caused offence.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our highest priority.”
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
