AN X Factor Youtube star from Timperley, who was mocked by an air stewardess while aboard a Thomson Airways flight, is still waiting for a public apology from the airline.
74-year-old Hazel Jackson, who tantalised Simon Cowell with a steamy rendition of Tina Turner’s Simply the Best, was en route to Manchester Airport from Gran Canaria when a flight attendant uploaded a photo of her to the Thomson Airways MAN Info Group on Facebook.
The attendant described Hazel as a ‘barking mad nutter’ and a ‘nightmare’, claiming she had been ‘belting out Diana Ross’, had a ‘stash of brandy’ in her handbag and had ‘blocked up the whole of the front toilet with God knows what’.
Hazel remained oblivious to the abuse until days later, when she went to use the internet at Broomwood Wellbeing Centre and saw the furore online.
Thomson Airways have declined to publicly apologise to Hazel and issued a short statement saying that the attendant was ‘dealt with accordingly’.
“I’m fuming. They have been calling me a nutter when I’d done nothing. It’s terrible,” said Hazel.
“This is my reputation we’re talking about. It’s embarrassing and the whole thing has given me a lot of stress.
“I don’t know what they’re on about when they say I was singing Diana Ross. I had pneumonia over Christmas and I’d lost my voice.
“I don’t know what this blocked toilet business is about either. I really haven’t a clue. I only went twice and the flight lasted about four-and-a-half hours.
“And the stashed brandy; well, you’re not allowed to bring anything on the plane. I bought them while I was on the flight.”
Hazel, whose online videos have attracted hundreds of thousands of views, said the episode capped a ‘nightmare holiday’ – during which she had missed the outbound flight after going to the wrong terminal at Manchester Airport.
The Timperley resident, who has had two knee operations, needed a wheelchair to get to the correct terminal, by which time she was too late.
After flying out two days later, the former housing management officer then missed her homeward flights and had to spend 48 hours sleeping on chairs at Las Palmas airport.
Hazel paid £561 for the holiday initially, £81 for the rearranged outbound flight, £38 in taxi fees for transfers she thought were included and £150 for a rearranged homeward journey.
Hazel said she has rejected an offer from Thomson Airways of £263 and would be taking the matter further.
In short statement regarding the Facebook message, a Thomson Airways spokesman said: “We can confirm that the post was removed immediately, and the member of staff involved has been dealt with accordingly.”
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