EasyJet staff give ’emotional’ speeches to passengers ahead of flight layoff

Cabin crew on some of easyJet’s final flights shared emotional speeches with passengers hours before the airline grounded all of its flights due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline helped the Government repatriate Britons stranded abroad amid tough restrictions on travel, with crew members volunteering to take part.

In one video, filmed on board a flight from Alicante to Gatwick, one of the female cabin crew told passengers: “We just want to thank you for giving us the pleasure of flying you home today.

“It is a very emotional time for all us crew who volunteered today, not just to get you home but also because we really do enjoy our jobs and working for easyJet.

“Today for all of us is the last time for a while that we’ll be wearing our uniforms.”

She then encouraged those on board to give a round of applause for themselves and the staff,  which was met by cheers and loud clapping.

The Luton-based airline said it was grounding 344 of its planes to remove “significant cost” as the aviation industry struggles to deal with the sudden drop in demand caused by Covid-19.

EasyJet staff have been invited to volunteer at the new 4,000-bed clinic being built at the ExCel centre in east London, as well as those planned in Birmingham and Manchester.

Brendan Carr, a George Michael tribute artist from Motherwell, filmed the video and said the crew had “gone over and above the call of duty in these circumstances”.

“EasyJet were amazing,” he told PA. “The crew were really emotional, as for them it would be their last flight for who knows how long. So grateful that these guys volunteered to man the flight.”

Chris Chibbett, a DJ from Bournemouth who has been living in Tenerife for eight years, shared a similar video of a cabin crew member’s “pep talk” on board a flight from Tenerife to Gatwick.

“Thank you so much, we will all get through this to the other side in a much better shape,” the easyJet staff member told passengers.

“I know we’ll all try our best, and I know the lockdown is hard. We’ve all been at home for the past week ourselves,” he added.

Mr Chibbett, who has chosen to return to the UK after work dried up in Tenerife due to the virus, said: “Obviously they didn’t have a huge amount to do so they cheered us all up by doing a ‘pub quiz’ to win packets of sweets.

He added that they “kept apologising” for all the restrictions they experienced during travel – including having to queue two metres apart.

“They said before I made that video that this may well be their last flight for a long time and said they were getting very emotional,” he added.