Air Canada says it has apologized to two passengers who were escorted from a plane by security. The two refused to sit in their assigned seats because they were stained with vomit. In a response, the airline said on Tuesday that passengers “clearly did not receive the care they were entitled to”.
The incident on the flight from Las Vegas to Montreal on August 26 was reported on Facebook a few days later by a fellow passenger who had taken a seat in the back row. Susan Benson of New Brunswick wrote that she had smelled “a bit of a foul odor” herself. “Air Canada had tried to brush off the vomit before we boarded the plane, but had been unsuccessful.”
According to Benson, perfume had also been sprayed to hide the smell. However, the passengers who were required to sit in the affected seats told a flight attendant that the seat and seat belt were wet and they could still see vomit. But according to the supervisor, nothing could be done about it. The flight was full so they just had to take a seat.
Pilot
The women were just getting ready to settle down with blankets and towels when one of the pilots appeared. He informed the women that they could leave and book new flights at their own expense, or “otherwise be escorted from the plane by security and placed on a no-fly list”.
According to the pilot, the women would have been rude to the flight attendant, but Benson disputed that: “They were upset and firm, but certainly not rude.”
In a statement Tuesday, Air Canada said it is still investigating the matter and has contacted the affected passengers, the AP news agency reported. “Our operational procedures were not followed correctly in this case. This includes apologizing to these customers for clearly not receiving the care they were entitled to.”
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