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Boris Johnson’s father Stanley criticized officials for refusing to let him off the diverted plane when it landed at Heathrow Airport, causing the entire flight to be cancelled.
The writer, 83, was on board BA2641 from Malaga to London Gatwick on Friday when it was diverted to Heathrow due to a temporary runway closure.
The Airbus A321 was due to refuel before the short flight to Gatwick when the runway reopened, but Mr Johnson and two other passengers wanted to get off.
This reportedly resulted in the plane losing its departure slot and being cancelled, with all passengers forced to disembark and catch a connecting bus to Gatwick.
Mr Johnson strongly defended his actions, insisting the pilot had called for passengers to disembark at Heathrow before the “airport authorities” decided “this cannot be allowed”.
He also insisted he helped a woman who was “terrified” of getting back on a plane after losing her husband in a plane crash.
The Malaga flight was one of 16 that had to be diverted after a separate British Airways plane was unable to take off at Gatwick, causing the runway to be closed for 50 minutes.
Passengers told The Independent that Mr Johnson – who splits his time between London and Somerset – was among three passengers who wanted to get off after the plane landed at Heathrow.
The woman, named Annemarie, said it led to an argument, with the former MEP and other passengers “quite angry … therefore the police”, before the flight was eventually cancelled.
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But Mr Johnson has since written an op-ed for The Independent, defending himself against the criticism and insisting he did the right thing.
He wrote: ‘When we were landing at Heathrow the captain informed us that when we got some fuel we would do a “short hop” back to Gatwick. He went on to invite all passengers without luggage in the hold to get off at Heathrow if they wanted to.
“I grabbed my bags from the rack and went to the front entrance of the plane. I was joined by two other passengers and the three of us walked out the door to the top of the metal stairs that were already in place.
“All we had to do, I imagined, was wait for the ground transport to arrive to take us to the terminal building. It was a mistake.”
Johnson said he and two other passengers were not allowed to walk towards the terminal as Gatwick was the flight’s official destination.
He said he “suspects” he would “allow himself” to escort her back onto the plane, but felt sorry for the woman who said she had recently lost her husband in a plane crash and was refusing to get back on board.
The father of the former prime minister added that he was not sure why the police had to be called.
Officials eventually decided to redefine the flight “as a flight from Malaga to Heathrow”, he said, which “effectively meant” the original flight to Gatwick was cancelled.
Mr Johnson said he was “truly sorry for the inconvenience caused to other passengers”, but insisted he was glad he had “stood up” and said he had been thanked by a “poor woman whose husband had just died in a plane crash”.
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Friday’s incident at Gatwick caused widespread chaos after all flights had to be temporarily grounded.
BA2279 was due to depart for Vancouver before it was forced to make a “high speed emergency stop” – leaving the Boeing 777 aircraft blocking the runway.
Video footage taken from passengers on board the flight showed fire engines arriving at the stationary plane, with passengers being told the take-off had been “aborted”.
According to flight-tracking website Flightradar24, the airport’s runway was forced to close after a “rejected take-off”. The site reported closing at 12:53 p.m., reopening at 1:14 p.m.
A British Airways spokesman said at the time: “Our pilots took the precautionary decision to cancel take-off due to a technical issue. Safety is always our top priority and we apologize for any inconvenience caused to customers.”
This week marked another hiccup for families trying to get away for the summer as families flying out of Birmingham Airport face long queues due to delays at the new £60m security hall.
British Airways and Heathrow have been contacted for comment in relation to the incident involving Stanley Johnson.