Airline Issues Apology After Vomit-Covered Seat Fiasco

Airsickness while traveling is never fun, especially when it results in vomiting that disturbs your fellow passengers. Two Air Canada flyers were forced to confront this reality when they were assigned to wet seats sticky with vomit residue. Rather than sit in the seats for a long flight, they refused, and were promptly removed from the plane by security. Now, Air Canada is backtracking on the move. 

A viral Facebook post chronicled what happened from the row behind them. The travelers were headed to Montreal from Las Vegas before continuing on to Vienna. Instead of having a smooth first leg of the journey, they were given a choice of dealing with the smells and textures of leftover vomit for five hours or getting on another flight.

"There was a bit of a foul smell but we didn’t know at first what the problem was. Apparently, on the previous flight someone had vomited in that area,” Susan Benson recounted in her post documenting the incident. “Air Canada attempted a quick cleanup before boarding but clearly wasn’t able to do a thorough clean. They placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume to mask the smell. 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, the flight attendant was very apologetic but explained that the flight was full and there was nothing they could do."

The two ladies begrudgingly accepted blankets and wipes and decided to press on the issue of sitting in the disgusting seats. It wasn't long before the pilot came up to them and informed them that they had the choice of either getting off the plane on their own accord and rebooking flights on their own dime or being escorted off by security and placed on a no-fly list. 

"When they asked why he said they were rude to the flight attendant. They were certainly not! They were upset and firm, but not rude!" Benson insisted. A few minutes later, security boarded the aircraft and escorted the women off the plane. 

Shame goes a long way, especially shame on social media. After Benson's post went viral, Air Canada responded with an explanation and an update on how they were remedying the situation. 

"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," the statement read. "This includes apologizing to these customers, as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled and addressing their concerns." 

It might be worth it to bring along some extra disinfectant wipes next time you fly somewhere. You never know what might have happened in your seat before you got there.