Is this the newest airline fee? easyJet asks passengers to pay £10 to prove their flight was canceled

Easyjet has had its share of ups and downs this month. Let’s take a tally, shall we?

First, the airline garnered the sympathy of shocked fliers everywhere when one of its flight attendants was repeatedly punched in the face over a sandwich. Then it kicked an unaccompanied kid off a plane for having too many bags — even when she tried to pay for the extra bag.

To be fair, easyJet did rally in the eyes of many as it sent rescue flights to bring school children stranded by France’s air traffic control strike back home to the arms of their anxious parents.

However, we’ll file the next one under the “downs” category.

Passengers booked on those same flights canceled because of the French strike had to show proof their flights had indeed been canceled in order to get a refund from travel insurance companies. That's when easyJet said it required a £10 fee ($16 USD) to provide the piece of paper offering the requested proof.

In an email forwarded by one of the affected passengers to the Daily Mail, easyJet’s customer service department wrote:

"We can certainly send you a letter to help you claim on your insurance, that’s not a problem. ...There is a small administration fee of 10GBP for the letter, which you should be able to claim back through your insurer."

As far as airline charges go, this is apparently a new one.

A spokesman for The Association of European Airlines told Travel Mole:

"We don't do research on all the fees our airlines charge for services but a fee for proof of cancellation is new to us.  As far as we know, our member airlines give this service for free."

EasyJet stands behind the charge though, saying through a spokesman:

"The administration charge for the letter is applied because each letter has to be individually researched and created for each passenger."

In easyJet’s defense, it did provide hotel accommodation and meal vouchers for passengers stranded during the 48-hour French air traffic control walkout, and passengers that require the letter “should” be able to get reimbursed through their travel insurance.

The whole thing does reek of nickel-and-diming though.