Palma De Mallorca, Spain

Point of Interest: Palma De Mallorca Airport (PMI)

Arrival: Aug 17, 2019 at 08:00 AM

Departure: Aug 17, 2019 at 04:00 PM

No cruise is without its disappointments, some little incidents, some completely unacceptable, and this cruise was no exception. Strangely enough, the most unacceptable one on this occasion came at the very end.

The cruise was over, and we were online to check in for our flight to Berlin, Germany at Palma De Mallorca Airport in Mallorca.

When our turn came, I gave my Trinidad and Tobago passport to the attendant and she asked me if I had a Schengen Visa to go to Germany. I explained to her that nationals of Trinidad and Tobago are exempt from Schengen Visa requirements to travel any part of the Schengen region, but she said that this was not so, and she insisted that I would not be able to travel to Germany if I did not have a Schengen Visa in my passport.

I respectfully argued my case with her, but she refused to budge and was not even willing to check the rules. She then brought the matter to one of her colleagues who was in the “cubicle” next to her attending to another customer. Her colleague seemingly very aggressively turned to me and said in a nutshell that I could say whatever I wanted but EasyJet’s policy was that I needed to have a Schengen Visa to travel to Germany if I was not European. This sickened me to the stomach because not only was it a false statement, but the customers who were standing nearby were all hearing the conversations and the EasyJet staff was shouting this at me from his cubicle in what sounded like a very cold and condescending tone, seemingly giving everyone around including the customers who could hear the impression that I was trying to board the plane illegally. In fact, some German speaking passengers at the other attendant’s counter decided that they would join in the conversation and started telling my wife who is also German, what amounted to “shut up and leave” in German because they claimed that the EasyJet staff had stated their policy clearly and had said that we did not know what we were talking about. By this time the situation had become extremely tense and very embarrassing for both my wife and I.

I then asked to speak with the supervisor, who came over and repeated exactly what her staff had said. She also insisted that this was EasyJet’s policy, and that if I a passport from a European country or from the United States of America, I needed a Schengen Visa to go to Germany. Again I explained to her that EasyJet could not make and or override the immigration rules of a country or a region, and that to not allow me to board a plane on the basis that I did not have a Schengen Visa in my passport although nationals of my country are exempt from Schengen Visa requirements was absurd and tantamount to discrimination. She insisted that what I said about discrimination did not matter because they were simply just not going to allow me to board the aircraft without a visa.

As a black man from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago travelling through Europe, I have at times faced issues of this nature, but always when I pointed it out, the staff would check and correct their mistakes. This is obviously frustrating, but I have grown to live with it. On the other hand, this was the first time that I was being spoken to publicly in a very condescending manner by airline personnel. I was completely shocked, and though I asked them to double check their rules, they refused and said openly for all to hear that I was wrong while dismissing me and saying that they would not allow me to board the aircraft.

Fortunately, I did also have a temporary German residency in my old passport, so after they denied me the ability to board the aircraft and given the fact that I needed to get back to Germany on Saturday evening, I showed them my old passport with the temporary German residency in it. Then and only then did they agreed to allow me to board the aircraft. But they continued to pile on by insisting that If I did not have this resident visa in my old passport, they would not have allowed me to board.

All of this happened publicly in front of all the other passengers who were waiting in line, many of whom may have thought from the way that the EasyJet staff was speaking to me that I was someone trying to enter Germany illegally. Despite the embarrassment I refusing to give in to their attempts to humiliate me, and I then again asked if there was someone else at EasyJet to whom I could complain about this matter. The then directed me to customer service.

At their customer service area, I met with the supervisor who was very professional and courteous. She happened also to be responsible for immigration matters on behalf of EasyJet at the airport. Upon review she immediately confirmed that the check in counter was wrong and that they should not have attempted to prevent me from boarding the aircraft. She confirmed that as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago I did not need a Schengen Visa to fly to Germany or any Schengen region for that matter. She then gave me a document confirming this and stated that if I encountered any further problem in attempting to board the aircraft, she should be called to confirm that I should be allowed to board. I told her that I wanted to make a formal complaint to EasyJet, and she advised me regarding how this could be best done.

I then went back to the counter to inform the EasyJet staff of the customer service supervisor ruling as well as to get the names of the staff members that had treated me so disrespectfully and refused to allow me to board the aircraft even though I had a proper ticket and all my documentation was fully in order, but they now implied that the supervisor with immigration responsibility was also wrong and that EasyJet’s policy was that if you were not European or American you needed to have a visa to enter Germany. I then informed them that I would be filing an official complaint to EasyJet about this matter and needed their names to make my report. Two of the staff members gave me their names – the supervisor and the second attendant. The first attendant however refused to give me her name. When I asked the supervisor if this was allowed, she said that it was the attendant’s right to refuse and that she was not prepared to do anything about it.

Neither the supervisor nor any of the other staff member at the counter offered any type of apology or showed any remorse for their actions.

After finally boarding the plane successfully I remained very shaken and traumatized by this incident which left a bitter taste in my mouth. As a person of color from the Caribbean travelling the globe, I sometimes face issues of subtle prejudice and discrimination but never has it been as glaring, shocking and disappointing as this one. It is not just sad, but it is sickening that we are sometimes treated this way and it is unfair that EasyJet’s staff would harass and deny a customer his right to board because he was not carrying a European or an American passport and did not have a Schengen Visa despite the exemption for his country’s nationals and despite him completely following the rules, regulations and the law. We are always having to explain and correct as though we are guilty of trying to do something underhand or illegal because we merely showed up. It is time for this to stop!

EasyJet must do a lot better than this. I have enjoyed flying with this airline the few times I have flown with them before but this behavior by its staff on the ground is simply unacceptable.

I am humbly asking EasyJet to take the initiative to bring these discriminatory practices to an end by issuing an apology to me and by putting measures in place to ensure that its staff are (1) properly aware of the rules and the laws and (2) Able to address an issue when it arises politely and respectfully, as well as by making the necessary checks before drawing unfair conclusions and casting aspersions on a fare paying traveler.

I look forward to EasyJet’s urgent response and will keep my readers posted on this matter.

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Anna and Gary