A Ryanair passenger who did not reserve a seat was kicked off a flight to Mallorca after the airline switched to a smaller aircraft at the last minute.
Gym coach Scott McCormick and his partner were booked on Ryanair flight FR1954 from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca on 1 May.
The couple said that when they booked the flight, they opted out of paying to reserve a seat, which usually ranges from £3.85 to £28.20 per flight.
As the couple did not reserve a seat they instead would have been allocated a seat after checking in.
The couple said they had checked in online before departure, but only realised something was wrong when they arrived at the gate.
They said in a TikTok video: “Went to check into our gate, and then we were told to wait off to one side.
“Everyone checked into their seats... we didn't reserve seats, never used to and never used to be an issue.”
Once other passengers had gone through the gate, Mr McCormick and his partner were then called over.
“They put us through at the end, and they said, ‘as you are last to check in and you haven’t reserved a seat, we have one seat remaining’,” he said.
They were reportedly told that only one of them would receive a compensated ticket for being bumped from the original flight, while the other would have to pay the full fare to travel.
“There’s no compassion, there's no empathy,” Mr McCormick said in his video . “There's no real care from anyone about any of this.”
The couple paid another £100 for a new ticket and waited around four hours to board the next flight to Palma.
Ryanair maintains that it does not overbook its flights, but states that if a seat is unavailable for a passenger with a confirmed reservation, it will seek volunteers to give up their seat in exchange for compensation.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “This flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca (1 May) was not ‘overbooked’ – it was scheduled to operate on a 737-8200 (197 seats) but for operational reasons had to be swapped to a 737-800 aircraft (189 seats).
“As a result, one passenger was unable to travel on this flight, and was reaccommodated onto the next available flight to Palma de Mallorca.
“Mr McCormick’s travel companion was not refused boarding but chose not to board and travel on this flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca and was required to pay a Missed Departure fee (£100) to be booked onto the next available flight.
