Air Canada apologised to two passengers after they were removed from a flight after complaining about being made to sit in poorly cleaned seats that were covered in vomit from a previous flight.
In a post to Facebook, a passenger on the flight, Susan Benson, detailed the events that saw the two women kicked off the plane.
She described boarding the flight and noticing a “foul smell” but didn’t know what the problem was.
Eventually, she found out that someone on a previous flight had vomited on some seats, and the crew had to make a quick clean-up before boarding.
“But clearly wasn’t able to do a thorough clean,” Benson said.
In an attempt to mask the smell, the crew placed coffee grindings in the seats and sprayed perfume around the area, but it made little difference.
“When the clearly upset passengers tried to explain to the flight attendant that the seat and seatbelt were wet and there was still visible vomit residue in their area,” Benson said.
“The flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do.”
After the two parties argued for “several minutes,” the attendant went to get her supervisor, who told them nothing more could be done.
The two passengers were given blankets to sit on, wet wipes and vomit bags.
However, things took a turn when the pilot came down the aisle to speak to the two passengers.
He “very calmly knelt down and told the two ladies that they had two choices: They could leave the plane on their own accord and organise flights on their own dime, or they would be escorted off the plane by security and placed on a no-fly list,” Benson said.
When they asked why he wanted them off the flight, the pilot said they were “rude” to a flight attendant.
Benson disputes this claim. “They were certainly not,” she said.
“They were upset and firm, but not rude! The passenger beside them explain to the pilot that they have literal vomit in their seats and, as a police officer, they would never treat people like that. He explained that they were not rude, just upset.”
The pilot got up and walked back to the front of the plane. “Next thing we know, Security comes down the aisle and escorted the two ladies off the plane! For what? Refusing to sit in vomit for five hours!”
Benson said she was shocked by the whole ordeal.
“Air Canada literally expects passage to sit in vomit or be escorted off the plane and placed on a no-fly list!
“I have no idea if they were actually placed on the no-fly list or not. I cannot stop thinking about these two ladies. They did nothing wrong. They were flying to Vienna via Montreal. I am ashamed to be a Canadian and ashamed of Air Canada.”
In a statement to CNN, Air Canada said they have since apologised to the two customers “as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled".
“We are reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance.
“We remain in contact with them about this matter.”
It comes a day after news emerged of a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Barcelona having to do a u-turn after a passenger suffered a "medical emergency" that saw "diarrhoea all the way through the airplane".
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