Two passengers who were kicked off an Air Canada flight for refusing to sit on vomit-covered seats have received an apology from the airline.
Lorne and Deborah Hansen, from Canada, were travelling from Las Vegas to Montreal on September 1, 2023, when they discovered that their seats had vomit on them.
“We sat down in our seats, we immediately noticed that there was vomit all over my husband’s seatbelt, it was on the plastic covering his seat, it was on the wall behind us, it was everywhere,” Deborah Hansen told BBC News.
The couple said they were given coffee grinds and perfume to mask the smell, but the seat and seatbelt were still wet and dirty. They asked for another seat, but the flight attendant and supervisor said the flight was full and there was nothing they could do.
The pilot then came and told them they had to leave the plane or they would be put on a no-fly list for being rude to the staff. The passengers were escorted off by security.
“We were humiliated. We were treated like criminals,” Lorne Hansen said.
Air Canada apologized and said the operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance. They offered the passengers a $400 voucher each and a hotel room for the night.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our customers. Our team did not meet our usual standards in terms of customer service or aircraft cleanliness,” an Air Canada spokesperson said in a statement.
The passengers said they felt mistreated by the airline staff and wanted a full refund and compensation for their ordeal.
“We want a full refund for our flight. We want compensation for our missed day of work. We want compensation for our missed day of vacation. And we want an apology from that pilot,” Lorne Hansen said.
Relevant articles:
– Air Canada kicks off passengers who refused vomit-covered seats, BBC News, 6 September 2023
– Passengers kicked off Air Canada flight for refusing to sit in vomit-covered seats, MSN, 6 September 2023
– Air Canada apologizes after passengers told to sit in vomit-covered seats, MSN, 5 September 2023
– Air Canada passengers removed for refusing to sit on vomit-soiled seats, MSN, 5 September 2023