Boyband star passes out on flight after wearing all his clothes
He was trying to dodge a luggage fee
Harry ShukmanA stingy boyband singer collapsed with heat exhaustion on his easyJet flight –– because he wore all his clothes to avoid an excess luggage fee.
Crooner James McElvar, 20, emptied his bag and put on 12 layers of jumpers, sweat pants and hats to dodge a fine of £45.
The star, who sings for five-piece Scottish group Rewind, then suffered a fit and became violently ill at 37,000 feet –– even though he had taken off his extra clothes.
An off-duty paramedic treated him as horrified passengers looked on.
James in the clothes he passed out in
Just like us: Even superstars have to travel on budget airlines
Scotland-born James was travelling from Stansted to Glasgow with his band when his scheme to back out of the easyJet fee went badly wrong.
He told The Sun: “I thought I was a goner and that I was having a heart attack.”
Scottish five-piece Rewind
James wore the layers after a clash with check-in staff over his two items of luggage.
The band tweeted this moments before James’ fit.
Waiting for the flight back to Glasgow pic.twitter.com/LLawtWXBRU
— REWIND (@rewind_music) July 9, 2015
He added: “The woman said either one bag went in the hold or we weren’t getting on.
“The rest of the band had gone through so I couldn’t give them any of the clothes.
“I was told I’d either have to pay a £45 fee to get it on the plane, get the flight the next morning, bin the clothes or wear them.”
EasyJet said he had the option to check his extra bag for a fee, a standard part of their terms.
James, centre, with his bandmates
What James wore to dodge the fee
• Six t-shirts
• Five jumpers
• Three pairs of jeans
• Two sweat pants
• Two jackets
• Two hats
A spokesperson for the budget airline said: “easyJet has one of the most generous cabin bag allowances with no weight limit and each passenger is allowed to take one bag into the cabin up to 56 x 45 x 25cm including handles and wheels.
“In this instance the passenger had two items of cabin baggage which he could not combine into the allocated bag allowance and as such he was asked to either combine his baggage into one bag or pay £45 to check the bag into the hold.
“During the flight Mr McElvar became unwell and our crew onboard assisted him. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
Check out their cover of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines:
This comes just after a fresher changed his name to avoid paying for booking form correction charge.
Savvy Adam Armstrong, 19, was slapped with a £220 fee when his ticket was accidentally booked under the name Adam West –– so he legally changed his name to dodge the fee.
Adam West, né Armstrong
The Manchester student realised it would be cheaper to pay £103 for a new name and passport than amend his booking, so Adam Armstrong officially became Adam West.
He said: “Yeah. I’m not giving Ryanair a penny.”