Iberia Nightmare. The amount of a disabled 71 year old woman, kicked off an Iberia flight, after midnight at Madrid Airport.

''IBERIA AIRLINES - NIGHTMARE" - THE ACCOUNT OF IBERIA'S TREATMENT OF A DISABLED, 71 YEAR OLD BRITISH WOMAN AND HER COMPANION, IN TRANSIT TO SOUTH AFRICA, DUMPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WITHOUT ASSISTANCE, OR LUGGAGE, AT MADRID AIRPORT - 01 JULY’18

After 8 failed attempts to elicit a positive response and compensation for the physical ejection from their Iberia flight and abandonment of the two elderly women - one with disabilities, at Madrid Airport at 01:00. Primarily the replacement cost on Emirates, to get them home or at least - the unused air tickets- Iberia sector : Madrid - Johannesburg - Cape Town. We resort to notifying and warning other passengers - particularly the elderly and those needing assistance.

COPY OF MY 8TH AND LAST LETTER TO IBERIA 16 OCT 2018 Dear Iberia Airlines, Your insistence that the actions, behaviour and negligence of the Iberia staff on that flight, at 0100 on 01 July, is somehow the passengers fault and that Iberia has no further interest, is arrogant, misinformed and absolutely a case of 'ducking and diving' your responsibilities and trying to avoid paying compensation for the passengers missed flights, hotel and transfer costs. These were two elderly women, one with a disability that required assisted travel - recorded by you and on the booking. Besides wheelchair assistance to and from the aircraft, this entailed the carrying of an FAA approved POC ( Portable Oxygen Concentrator)for intermittent use during flight. 3 x 5.5 hour batteries were carried and a spare POC. Three previous flights had been completed on the same return air ticket - issued by BA: CPT-LHR, Gatwick to Bordeaux - Bordeaux to Madrid. Carriers - BA for first two legs and Iberia for 3rd leg. Why would she require to get individual clearance for all 5 legs of this BA return ticket? They were in Transit in Madrid for the 4th leg to JNB on Iberia. When your Cabin Attendant and subsequently the Captain, in their total ignorance of what a POC was until looking it up, Initially rejected its use on board, even though informed that this was the 4th leg of travel on the air tickets issued by BA, that 3 spare batteries were carried and that Mrs O'Molony was medically cleared for long haul and had travelled extensively with her POC, over the last 3 years. The cabin attendant was handed the POC technical Manual, which clearly stated that it was FAA approved and was shown the 3 spare Lithium batteries, that the technical manual clearly shows the 5.5 hours battery life for the 2 Lt/h setting. They had more than the standard 150% required. The shock of being thrown off this Iberia flight at 01;00 in the morning, without any assistance for this 71 year old, disabled passenger, from Iberia ground staff and being abandoned at Madrid Airport, without luggage, was extremely stressful. An extremely irresponsible act by Iberia staff. Fortunately they had a credit card - what if they had not? The flight took off with their unaccompanied baggage and dumped it in JNB on arrival. I am sure that this contravenes IATA regulations. Further - when they tried desperately to get assistance from Iberia at Madrid airport, later that day, after some recovery at a hotel that they had to find and get a taxi to and from. Iberia staff were more interested at watching the World Cup football, than serving them and refused to follow up. In desperation, they turned to Emirates - who professionally and quickly resolved their situation - no problem with the POC and her condition and they returned home to Cape Town on Emirates, via Dubai, with assisted travel - wheel chair to and from the aircraft. The extra cost of those air tickets compared to cost of the Madrid - JNB-CPT legs on Iberia that were unused, was more, but worth it for peace of mind and the joy of dealing with a caring professional Airline. Sally O’Molony C: +27 (0)84 ********** E: ********** . IBERIA’S RESPONSE:

REF: IB RES 560527 Iberia Customer Services IBERIA L.A.E. S.A. Operadora, Sole-Shareholder Company (hereinafter “Iberia”) with registered address at calle Martínez Villergas 49, 28027 Madrid, Spain, is the data controller. Your data will be processed to manage and settle requests and claims, according to the contract. The recipients are companies of IAG Group, to which IBERIA belongs The user can revoke his/her consent at any time, and exercise all rights of access, to object, data portability, rectification, restrict processing and erasure. You can read more about the information herein by visiting our [Privacy Policy]. This letter represents our final consideration of your complaint. CEDR, (Centre for effective dispute resolution) is approved by the Civil Aviation Authority to provide dispute resolution services and an independent view of your complaint under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. Iberia is not signed up to the services of CEDR and is therefore not willing to submit itself to its ADR procedure. You can log your complaint with CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team (PACT) by completing the online complaint form via the CAA website: www.caa.co.uk/passengercomplaints. Under the subtitle ‘How the CAA can Help’. You will need to click on the link ‘Refer your complaint to us’. You can then access the CAA’s consumer portal where you can submit your complaint to PACT. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SALLY O’MOLONY - Ex owner of Winberg Travel for 20 years & The O’Molony Incentive Company.