An EasyJet passenger’s suitcase was crushed and shredded at Gatwick Airport

An easyJet passenger whose suitcase was destroyed claims the airline is completely ignoring his efforts to make contact.

David Benjamin, 63, says his luggage looked like “someone had a drill pierced through it” while the new wedding outfit, which he paid £400 for, was shredded and crushed.

He’s trying to process a claim on his insurance – but says he “can’t talk to anyone” at easyJet, despite his constant phone, email and tweeting.

The artwork and production manager flew to Gatwick Airport from Nice, France last weekend after a family wedding.

“We waited in baggage claim for quite a while until our bags arrived upside down on the conveyor belt,” he said.

“I took it off, put it on its wheels and then it fell over. I saw that the wheels were damaged, which then drew my attention to the rest.

“They obviously knew it was damaged because of the delay and how they carefully placed it on the front to hide it.”

He continued: “It looks like it has been torn and crushed. Everything was crushed. The shorts above have been completely shredded.

“No conveyor belt can do that kind of damage, to me it looks like it was caused by some vehicle.”

Hundreds of flights are canceled and suitcases are missing for days due to staff shortages at airports across the country.

David, who has been traveling the world for work for three decades, has had his luggage damaged twice before – but says it was the worst thing he’s ever seen.

On other occasions, he was able to report the situation directly at the airport — but this time, he says, staff “just pointed me to a machine and told me to scan a QR code.”

One worker told him that “due to cutbacks, they’re now trying to do everything digitally.”

After complaining about the incident on the website, he received no response and his emails went unanswered as well.

Meanwhile, the phone number he was given generates a recorded message saying not to leave voicemail as it is unlikely to be answered.

His next business trip will fly him to Thailand next Sunday – but it looks like he’ll have to replace his own suitcase for now.

“Everything is automated, you can’t talk to anyone,” said David, from Staplehurst in Kent.

“I even went to Twitter to reach out to EasyJet and they shared my information with DM, which I did but haven’t heard a response yet.

“I’m stuck in limbo and don’t know what to do. It’s just frustrating, I don’t even know if they will replace the case.

“Even if they turn around and say we’re not liable, at least that’s an answer, but I don’t even have that.”

A spokesman for easyJet said: “easyJet operates an average of around 1700 flights a day to more than 30 countries and cases of damaged baggage are extremely low.

“Our baggage team will contact the passenger directly to process their claim. We apologize for the damage and the resulting inconvenience.’

Gatwick Airport said airlines have a responsibility to hire their own baggage-handling companies.

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