Potentially ‘horrible’ 48 hours instead filled with kindness

A deafblind woman who was caught up in travel disruption caused by Storm Boelo has extended her heartfelt thanks to her fellow passengers on a flight for their kindness.

Julie Ferguson, who works as a chemistry and biology teacher at Kirkwall Grammar School, was travelling alone from Edinburgh to Kirkwall on Loganair on Saturday, October 24, after visiting friends and family south. 

Ms Ferguson first found out that the flight was diverted when they landed at Aberdeen Airport instead of Kirkwall at around 5pm, two hours after take off.

Ms Ferguson, who lives in Kirkwall, explained: “I assume it had been announced on the tannoy but I’m deaf and I can’t hear the tannoy, especially in flight because the engines are so noisy. I had to ask the passenger in the row behind me.” 

Ms Ferguson and her fellow passengers then had to stay on the plane for half an hour because it was too windy to open the door and disembark. 

The air crew were extremely busy, but did come over to speak to Ms Ferguson a couple of times, once to explain why they were waiting on the plane, and then to say that passenger assistance would help assist Ms Ferguson with safely walking to the airport.

Ms Ferguson felt that there was little that Loganair could have done differently to support her during and after the flight.

“I would have liked the air crew to tell me directly what was happening but they were understandably busy. The only thing I’m wondering is why our flight left Edinburgh in the first place, given the weather conditions,” the 47-year-old explained.

Passengers sitting near her helped keep Ms Ferguson updated with what was being announced on the tannoy, and walked with her to the terminal building. 

When they did manage to disembark the plane, the passengers then had to wait at the customer support area in departures for approximately two-and-a-half hours, while two airport staff rebooked flights and sorted hotels because no flights could take off due to the weather. 

Fellow travellers ensured that passenger assistance knew where to find Ms Ferguson when they moved from the gate to the customer support desk, and one passenger and his family all sat with Ms Ferguson, letting her know when flights were being rebooked and when baggage could be collected.

Ms Ferguson explained: “When the hotel bookings were announced and we were told that we could walk over ourselves, I had a bit of a panic because I couldn’t get there myself and there were no buses or taxis.

“Two women offered to walk with me, and help me, but then one of the passenger assistants offered to walk me over and carry my suitcase. 

“The two women stayed with me for the whole walk to the hotel.”

Ms Ferguson stayed at the hotel until the morning of Monday, October 26, when she was able to fly back to Orkney, arriving back at 5.30pm, just over 48 hours after she was originally supposed to return.

Having the other passengers supporting her made a massive difference for Ms Ferguson, who has recently raised awareness of her experience of being deafblind in Orkney.

“Being diverted to an unexpected airport and stranded by the weather is difficult at the best of times, but when you have no idea what’s happening it gets really stressful.

“I knew people were looking out for me and wouldn’t let me be forgotten about, which helped me to stay calm.

“It’s easy to be cynical about the world but I knew I could ask the other passengers for help. 

“What could have been a horrible 48 hours was actually filled with kindness. The kindness was incredible; it warmed my heart which is why I wanted to say “thank you” to these lovely, lovely people.”