Daisy Crawford was travelling from Bristol to Belfast
Daisy Crawford
A breastfeeding mum has hit out at easyJet after what she described as a “humiliating” ordeal when she was told she would be charged extra for bringing breast milk and pumping equipment onboard her flight.
Daisy Crawford said the easyJet staff at Bristol Airport were “stony faced” and showed “no understanding” of how upsetting the security process was.
On Sunday, April 27, Ms Crawford flew from Bristol to Belfast after visiting friends and family in Devon.
Despite making it through security at the airport with no issues, at the gate she was told that as she was carrying pumped breast milk, she would have to pay a £50 fine.
She claimed the staff “made no attempt” to understand her situation, saying she may have had a premature baby, meaning the pumped breast milk would be critical for its health.
Ms Crawford, who lives in Belfast, told Bristol Live staff at the gate told her she had “no choice” to pay, unless she could fit all the breastmilk and pump into her one cabin bag.
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Desperate, the 40-year-old mum of three, attempted to find the information she had read online about flying with breastmilk, but didn’t have any signal and said she was told by staff “we’ve given you time.”
Ms Crawford added: “The staff were very stony faced and said we’re just doing our job and we’re people too. We’re not trying to upset you.” The mum-of-three replied: “Well this is very upsetting for me.
At this point the mum-of-three said she had had enough and started unpacking the clothes she had in her bag in order to fit the milk and pump in. “I felt adamant that I wasn’t going to pay,” she said.
Daisy is a stay at home mum with her 6-year-old, 4-year-old and 15-month-old baby (Image: provided)
“The shuttle bus was full of everybody waiting so they were saying you’re going to miss your flight. They then threatened to fly without me,” she added.
“Eventually I wore a jumper, jacket and coat and put my flip flops in my pockets, so that I could fit the cool bag in my bag. At this point I was absolutely furious, upset and humiliated.
“I did loads of research beforehand and it says everywhere that you are free to travel with as much milk as you need and it wasn’t a problem on the way out.
“Why should I have to use space in an already small baggage allowance to carry equipment that is essential to me as a breastfeeding mother? It’s medically necessary, and I don’t think someone with other medical equipment would be expected to fit it in their hand luggage or be charged extra.
“That means I’m being treated differently, and that travelling potentially costs more for me because I’m breastfeeding.”
The government website states that: “You can carry breast milk in hand luggage even if you’re not travelling with a baby.”
It also says you can travel with unlimited amounts of breast milk provided that “individual containers of breast milk must hold no more than 2,000ml.
Each container will need to be screened at the security point. Airport staff might need to open the containers to screen the liquids.
An easyJet spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for Ms Crawford’s experience while boarding her flight as this is not the level of service we expect.
“We advise customers to carry baby milk in their cabin baggage and do allow customers an additional free of charge bag for a breast pump and milk. We ask them to let us know in advance of travel so there are no issues at the gate.”
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