Boy, 8, handed free flights after plane intervention

A father and his eight-year-old son have been rewarded with free flight vouchers after they calmed a disruptive passenger on a Jet2 plane, preventing its diversion.

James said the woman was "almost trying to smack the stewardesses" when he and his son Phoenix were returning from the Turkish city of Izmir to Manchester on Friday.

At James' request, cabin staff moved the passenger to a seat between him and his son, where Phoenix "bounced into action" by showing his football cards to her, singing and asking about her family.

The woman then gradually calmed down for the rest of the three-and-a-half hour journey, prompting the pilot to shake hands with the father and son as they disembarked.

Jet2 have now rewarded the pair with free flight vouchers and thanked them for "showing the utmost compassion and kindness and care".

Flight staff had been authorised to divert the plane due to the woman's behaviour when James intervened and suggested the situation could improve if she sat near them.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, James described the stewardesses as "fantastic" and credited his son's response, adding: "The way he took over the situation, I've not seen anything like it."

He said the young Manchester United fan "bounced into action - getting his footy cards out".

"She's screaming, she's shouting, she's still being irate. And he starts singing to her, he starts talking about his football to her, talking about her family, asking her about her kids," he said.

After a while, James said he noticed "the tone in her voice was coming down" as the situation calmed.

"I'm sort of sat there in the end and I'm thinking to myself, thank god that Phoenix is with me because if he wasn't, I don't think I would have been able to handle it."

Phoenix said he "got the confidence to calm her down" from making YouTube content on football, showing her his cards of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

James still had to confiscate the passenger's vape when she took it to the toilet, with Phoenix reminding her its usage was banned when she complained.

On touchdown, she was taken into police custody and the pilot thanked James and Phoenix, saying their intervention prevented an expensive diversion for Jet2.

A spokesman for the airline said: "I want to say a massive thank you to you both on behalf of everybody at Jet2.

"What you did was absolutely fantastic."

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