I suspect that the captain was playing it safe. Being not medically qualified he is not to know where it was or was not infectious, hence the need for a doctors letter.

At the end of the day, the pilot has the absolute power to deny the boarding of any passenger.

Mark

As a long haul pilot myself, i have to agree with the aircrew.

You would require a letter from your GP stating fitness to fly.

In all fairness it should have been picked up at check-in rather than letting you board and suffering the trauma and embarassment of having to leave the flight.

The Captain was right not to look at you to avoid any cross contamination, even though you stated it was the pox, unless there is medical evidence it is classed as un unknown illness.

A very sad thing for you indeed, from past experience, in 12 years of flying Boeing 747 i have only asked 7 people to leave the flight regading undisclosed illness, its rare but does happen.

As far as complaints go, i have not known one to suceed with my airline, the onus is on the passenger.

That said, good luck.

Regards

Rob

On page 15 of the thread http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1329&start=280 Chicken Pox is discussed, there is a link to nhs direct about flying with chicken pox.

Dave

Your best hope might be to check the insurance policy. If your daughter took out the insurance before your grandson was diagnosed with chicken pox then a claim on medical grounds should be OK providing she has proof of refusal to board on medical grounds.

If the insurance was taken out after c.pox diagnosed you'll perhaps need to seek a doctors certificate stating that flying with the pox at the stage it was at would not be medically problematic and argue with the insurer that disclosure of the condition was uneccessary as it was not expected to constitute grounds for refusal to fly.

Let us know how you get on as it's useful knowledge for the future.

Mike

Hi, thanks for your replies, I do know why the captain did take them off the plane, but our gripe is they should provide information for occasions like this in their terms and conditions. Checkin staff should also be aware as there is an epidemic of chicken pox at the moment and should at that point ask if the parents have a doctors letter.
I have to say that Med hotels who they booked the hotel with have been very helpful and have amended their booking for them by three days with just £30 amendment fee. First Choice on the other hand have been hopeless and the most unhelpful they could be, no customer care shown at all just handed from pillar to post.
They have been in touch with the insurance company who have sent a claims form and it looks as if they will pay all but the £100 excess.
On a happy note they have a doctors letter and have rebooked a flight through Thomson fly to leave on Thursday with no help from First Choice who promised to help them with a flight. So fingers crossed they will be off and have a great holiday even though a bit later.

Thats really good news, I hope they have a great time.

Dave

I do know why the captain did take them off the plane, but our gripe is they should provide information for occasions like this in their terms and conditions.

Is there any mention at all in the T&C's about the flight captain refusing you permission to board and how you stand in such circumstances ? If not, see if you can get First Choice to refund you the excess on the insurance.

Check the position with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 - she's a specialist travel lawyer.

Mike

Thanks I will get them to ring her as we cannot find any mention of this or anything like it in their terms.
Linda

If its not mentioned under Infectious diseases in T & C`s it is in Airlines operating procedures(sop`s) which covers all sorts of things.Unlike check in staff,cabin crew are trained to look for any signs of undisclosed illness,infection or infirmity and if in doubt report to the captain whose decision is final.
I know ,I once nearly got offloaded from a long haul KLM flight at Amsterdam re a disclosed medical problem.in my case the Captain came to talk to me and we resolved it.After that I did a lot of research on the internet.Amazing the pitfalls you never knew existed!!

Paully,
I agree, the Captain's decision is final. Don't believe there's much debate about that.

The problem here is the financial cost borne by the passengers who, through no fault of their own have been refused travel. Their insurance looks like it will cover the bulk of the loss, but the excess is still £100.

Medical advice appears to favour the passenger.

Concern favours the Captain.

How about the sensible approach as follows. The T&C's clearly state that should the Captain need to debarr a passenger on health and safety grounds this will be notified at the time to the passenger, a written reason provided at that time and should medical reason be forthcomming to state that the concern was unfounded within 8 hours a full refund will be provided by the carrier.

Why the hell should a passenger be expected to understand Airline Operating Procedures when such are not provided in their contract or brochure T&C's. The passenger is NOT and expert. This could be counted an unfair contract clause.

Now, layer this conecept on an unscrupulous airline, there's no shortage of them, and the plane's overbooked by two pax. The captian does a quick look-see and kicks two people off on the basis of, say, DVT susceptibility.

Saves a bundle of money on compo doesn't it.

I have to say that with chickenpox there is so much uncertainty as to when a child is infectious and you can different answers from different health professionals and I can understand the airline's worry - they have to think about other passengers.

Personally if I was flying with a child who had chickenpox I would have sought health advice and contacted the airline to advise them of the situation before flying more to cover my own back than anything else.

In fairness to the airline - there is ALWAYS chickenpox doing the rounds and not just at this moment in time.

Unfortunately there are eejits out there who will take a child on a plane whilst infectious with chickenpox and therefore risk the health of other passengers rather than cancel their holiday - the airline may have been over-cautious in this instance but I can see where they are coming from.

Hope your daughter gets things sorted and enjoys her holiday and can get things sorted with First Choice when she returns home.

surly the travellers should have used their common sense,and done a bit of research like tisonlymoi says.
People just assume all will be okay.
If i was in the same situation i would have changed my holidays to a later date when my kids were fully recovered.
Hope your daughter enjoys her holiday when all is sorted

Found This


http://www.e-med.co.uk/travel_health_questions/fit_to_travel.html

*Edit copyrighted material removed and replaced with link -Glynis*

Whilst this was all very inconvienient for you, as has been mentioned the Captain of the Aircraft has the final say and overall power to make whatever decision he deems fit for the safety of himself, his crew, his passengers, his aircraft and the airline.

Whatever he decides, his decision is FINAL....there can be no negotiations. The Captain is the Big Boss Man and what he says goes.

Hi, in answer to all who say they shouldn't have tried to fly with chickenpox, they didn't. Jack is one years old and has very fair skin and his chickenpox was gone but the scars of the spots remained, he was not infectious and they didn't even think of there being a problem as it was obvious the spots were just remains. Their three year old son also had it at the same time and as his spots were mostly on his tummy nothing was said but the little ones were all on his face. They would not have taken their son on holiday if he was ill.
Nothing was given to them in writing to say why they were not allowed to fly and when they asked for it in writing were told it is not First choices policy to give it in writing. First choice even kept them waiting at the airport after this for two hours for their suitcases, so what about the safety of other passengers there, if they thought it was that bad?
They were told that anyone who has spots on their face for whatever reason will not be allowed to fly with out a note from the doctor, so why not put that in their t&c's. First Choice seem to have come off best in all this, they get to keep the money, have three empty seats to sell again coming back from Turkey if they want. They have done nothing to help even though the captain gave them all these words of how they would be looked after and helped to get another flight, no one at their head office gave any help just passed them from pillar to post costing them a fortune in phone calls. They will not be booking anything with this company in future.

Forgot to say they were at the doctors within an hour of leaving the airport and she gave them a note straight away to say it was well past the infectious stage. I am sure anyone who has experience with children would have known that.

It's a pity that this wasn't noticed before the flight as you could have seen the doctor before you boarded the plane and got your fit to fly letter.

Why assume that the staff on your flight, including the captain, would have children themselves?

I am recovering from cancer, have only just received clearance from my doctor that I am fit to travel again, and I would certainly not be happy if ANYONE with scabs on their face attempted to travel on any flight I was on...it is the responsiblity of the PASSENGER to make sure that they (or any members of the family/party/group etc) are fit to travel, not ground staff.

I would have thought that if the child was under the care of a doctor during the chicken pox, the mother shouldhave made sure that the doctor's statement about the child been fit to travel was backed up by a letter/note...

As far as I was aware the captain can deny boarding or travel to any passenger and does not even have to give a reason. The scabs may have been there but many people develop new spots whilst the old ones scab, I think they are playing it safe.
Similar to the previous poster I had cancer and my immune system is only just about right now after chemotherapy and I would not be too happy if a child with what appeared to be chicken pox was on my flight.
I think the crew did well in this situation and although your family may have been out of pocket, from the airlines point of view, that is a lot better than having a plane full of chicken pox or shingles.
In the terms and conditions I would imagine that it will tell you that you have no recompense should you be offloaded at the captain's request.