Airport worker quits over ranting Jet2.com boss

EXCLUSIVE by Pete Bainbridge

September 24, 2009

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Stuart Love

A WORKER on the receiving end of a public dressing down at Manchester Airport by airline boss Philip Meeson says he was shocked at the outburst and has quit his job in disgust.

Stuart Love, 27, said he was astounded at the way he and his colleagues were spoken to by Mr Meeson, chief executive of Jet2.com.

The M.E.N revealed yesterday how the airline boss aimed a foul-mouthed tirade at his staff in front of 220 passengers who were waiting to check in for a flight to Tenerife last Saturday morning.

Former RAF pilot Mr Meeson, 61, was angered by the length of queues but ended up being warned by police about his behaviour after a witness complained.

Mr Love, from Altrincham, was working for Jet2.com on a short-term contract as a £6.50-an-hour floor worker and was one of the staff members who bore the brunt of Mr Meeson's temper.

He claimed three staff were left in tears and Mr Meeson had sworn and used insulting language to a senior female employee.

Mr Love said he had now quit in disgust. He said: "I was completely shocked that he would swear like that in front of the passengers. He was kicking off for a good 20 minutes.

"If that's how their chief executive behaves, then I don't want to work for them. He came back after speaking to the police, when all the customers had gone. He said he wouldn't say sorry, it's just because he's passionate.

"I didn't like the way Jet2 operated anyway, but I was always on time for work and had no personal complaints against me. It wasn't worth it for £6.50 an hour."

Mr Love, who lives with partner Christine Tanner, 23, said Mr Meeson had arrived early in the morning and was furious about the check-in queues. He said: "The queue was long because it was about 6.55am and the check in wasn't set to open until 7.30am."

His three-month contract was supposed to end in October but he told his manager on Sunday he was resigning immediately.

Mr Love, who now wants to restart his former cleaning business, said: "I quit my job on Sunday, and I'm a Manchester City fan, so it wasn't a great weekend for me."

Police confirmed they were called to Manchester Airport after a report of a man abusing staff.

Officers warned the man about his behaviour, although he was not officially cautioned. Jet2.com did not want to comment over the allegations, and Mr Meeson could not be contacted.

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Hamish Macbeth, Whitefield (24/09/2009 at 07:51)

I wonder if any of these staff are consulting an employment lawyer...
Appears a straight case of bullying in the workplace - ranting and raving at staff in front of customers is inappropriate behaviour for a Chief Exec..

tony adams (24/09/2009 at 08:06)

I have absolutely NO sympathy for this man as I have flown with this cowboy outfit once and was spoken to very badly by the staff at the gates who dont care are bad mannered and rude, my handluggage cost me £185 because as i removed it from the cage they make you put it in the wheels touched and the man i think the man above said it should come out without touching the cage !! have you ever heard of anything so stupid he said i could take the wheels off!! these are new cases when i complained he pointed out the signs that are everywhere that and aggression or threats will be reported to the police rthe signs are everywhere it spoilt our trip and they didnt give a monkeys...air crew are fine but it seems to be geared up to get as much cash from the customers with this hand luggage con which it is....flew emirates the week after no cage no outside staff and no warning signs...i for one hope this company goes bang like the rest of the cowboys

Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (24/09/2009 at 08:09)

Hamish Macbeth: That's just what I was thinking, whether he's been in touch with TUC or ACAS for constructive dismissal, although it's a hard one to prove. He's not been physically abused or threatened with violence nor made to feel he wasn't wanted in the company so I'm not sure what a lawyer could do!

That bit of fluff, under the sofa (24/09/2009 at 08:24)

Hope Stuart's got another job lined up - autumn's not a good time for airport services jobs. No NAB either for a bit as he left voluntarily.

Paul Fox (24/09/2009 at 08:24)

If you can't take a rant and rave because your bleedin incompetant then good ridence, this guy woudl have lasted about 3 minutes in the army.. Boo Hoo Mum my boss shouted at me today! 4 Million waiting in the side lines to take over!

Peter Partington (24/09/2009 at 08:28)

Customer service is not good in UK - mobile phone call centres? Utility companies? public tansport? An airport is a good example of a main offender. Maybe if the Chief Executives of companies were as passionate as Mr Meeson, got off their backsides and saw what the real world was about, then customer service would be better. I get sick to death of the insincere apologies, corporate bull and statisitics but no real action. In particular at airports where staff like to stand in front of large queues of people and chat amongst themselves for ages and dont communicate with their customers unless it is on the script that they have learnt verbatum.

Mark,Radcliffe. (24/09/2009 at 08:35)

It doesn't surprise me that Mr Meeson has had a military background,judging by his outburst.No doubt his Managers also reflect this work ethic of 'I was bullied and kicked up the backside,and look were I am now'.Yes,you may be a Senior Executive,but if that was a display of what you and your Company are like for prospective Staff and Customers...thanks but no thanks.Perhaps he should reflect on what Gerard Ratner's little outburst did for his Company,before engaging his own mouth.

Andanotherthing, Mcr (24/09/2009 at 08:44)

"The queue was long because it was about 6.55am and the check in wasn't set to open until 7.30am."

No need for the ranting then. I hope he paid over time to his staff after making them work before their duty time.

Tezza, Tyldesley (24/09/2009 at 08:52)

Maybe a good time for this young man to make a statement just as his contract was about to finish, but if by him doing this it makes the boss at Jet2 take note then good.

As he says if the check in was not yet open but there was a queue, then it was up to the management on site to maybe open check in earlier (if the rules of the airport allow them to do that)

But when it all comes down to it Mr Meeson should not have aired his dirty laundry in public

Jay B, oldham (24/09/2009 at 08:58)

with the current economic climate i hope he can find another job.
what Meeson did was slightly wrong although if it was anything like the queue's i experienced when i once used ryanair i cant blame hime really. could have done with an outburst there to give them a kick up the rear end!

Tezza, Tyldesley (24/09/2009 at 09:06)

tony adams

You are the sort of angry customer people like this have to put up with everyday, you were obviously trying to get you oversized luggage into the hold so as to save you time at the other end, but it didn’t work and so you then vent your anger at the person enforcing the rules.

If you had bothered to read the booking conditions at the time you made the booking then you would probably find that it tells you the sizes of Hand lugged you can take on board, so your case was NOT hand luggage but a suitcase.

And your comment shows the type of customer you are, firstly you seem unable to make sense when writing a comment and then to say that you hope the company goes bust and people loose there jobs simply because YOU caused a problem at check in.

castlefieldres, manchester (24/09/2009 at 09:07)

Here's a crazy idea! The staff who were obviously already there and I would hazard a guess being paid, could have opened the check in early!

Fancy that? The service staff actually providing a service rather doing the minimum possible work.

Brook Lands (24/09/2009 at 09:10)

Gerald Ratner said his stuff was crap, Meeson wants to improve his company, perhaps he could have gone about it better but you can't fault him for wanting to improve his company.

I hope Mr Love can find a job soon, lots of people would love some cash right now so hopefully someone with a bit more spine and perhaps a better work ethic (front line staff and can't be bothered to shave?) will come along and show him how it's done.

Henrys Dog (24/09/2009 at 09:15)

Some one quits their job. Breaking news....... i hope to see this on news at 10.

Tezza, Tyldesley (24/09/2009 at 09:20)

Brook Lands

(Front line staff and can't be bothered to shave?)

Where have you been all these years?

It’s called designer stubble and its cool (or so they tell me)

Lord De Las Moscas, Piggly Wiggly Farm (24/09/2009 at 09:27)

I will take his job.

Kinkys boots (24/09/2009 at 09:27)

so he got shouted at by his boss...the poor dear, maybe he needs counselling!! There are plenty of other people willing to jump in his place. Get a shave!!

Justified True Belief , - ... (24/09/2009 at 09:33)

Hamish Macbeth, (and Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead) your comment encompasses much of what is wrong with Britain. Your first port of call is to get litigious.
Secondly why is “ranting and raving at staff in front of customers is inappropriate behaviour for a Chief Exec”? I think it is entirely appropriate behaviour for a company officer, if he encounters behaviour by his staff that is likely to damage the company.
Failing in their duty to provide the best possible service to their customers is inappropriate behaviour(IMHO). How else should the CEO deal with this, - write a letter, organise a training course?
By then the impact of the bad service has already been felt by the customer(s) and that damages the business.

Bury Pensioner., Bury. (24/09/2009 at 09:37)

What a waste of space this article is, is there not something more important that we should be reading about?

Mark,Radcliffe. (24/09/2009 at 09:39)

Brook Lands you rightly highlight that Mr Meeson could/should have gone about it better.Gerard Ratner did indeed call his stuff crap,but both are instances when the Heads of Companies should have taken a step back and thought about what they are about to do or say...Being passionate about one's Company and one's dream is wonderful,but one should also be passionate about one's staff and treat them accordingly.It is they who have to share in his dream,for him to achieve his goals.

MPs gravy train, UK (24/09/2009 at 09:40)

Just so long as he doesn't now expect the state to look after him.

Harris ex-crumpsallite now sweden, Sweden (24/09/2009 at 09:47)

Whatever caused the problems of long queue is not really the point here. The point is that a chief executive should be so unprofessional as to berate his employees in front of paying customers does not fill me with confidence of the company's longevity.

castlefieldres, manchester (24/09/2009 at 09:54)

Those again giving this guy business advice, I don't think he's doing too bad.

The company is doing well in an awful market.

His customers cheered him. For every person who sulks and says they are not going to fly Jet2, I am sure there are several more who appreciate the fact this guy cares about his customer's experience. Unlike another low cost airline we all know of.

It amazes me how people in probably mundane jobs feel they know better than this guy who has basically built an airline.

Do you not think that his self made wealth and business may suggest that he is right and you are wrong?

Or perhaps you could give Bill Gates advice on computer software next week?

RJKS, St Retford (24/09/2009 at 10:05)

Brook Lands; Mr Rantner never called his staff crap !. He spoke at a shareholders meeting & descriped the jewellery they sold as crap & the customers as idiots for being stupid enough to buy it. Not the thing to say as a CEO at a shareholder meeting either way you cut it !.

Brook Lands (24/09/2009 at 10:11)

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