From BBC News 06-Sept-23
Air Canada has apologised after kicking two passengers off a flight for refusing to sit in vomit-smeared seats.
Susan Benson, who was on the Las Vegas-Montreal service, said the pilot warned the passengers they would be put on a no-fly list if they kept complaining. She added that staff had tried to cover "a bit of a foul smell" with perfume and coffee grounds. Air Canada said the passengers "clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled to". "We didn't know at first what the problem was," Ms Benson posted on Facebook of the flight late last month. "Apparently, on the previous flight someone had vomited. The flight attendant was very apologetic, but explained that the flight was full. "She said staff "placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume", but that the seat and seatbelt were "wet and there was still visible vomit residue". Ms Benson said the pilot came out of the cockpit after several minutes of "back-and-forth". The passengers were told "they could leave the plane… and organise flights on their own dime, or they would be escorted off by security and placed on a no-fly list!" They were then escorted off by security.
Ms Benson said the row made her "ashamed to be a Canadian and ashamed of Air Canada".
Air Canada said it was "reviewing this serious matter" and that "operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance".
We have all been there.... You pitch up somewhere away from base with limited time for a turnround. An inbound passenger has soiled their seat(s) and the superficial cleaning available to you is nowhere near capable of deep-cleaning the trouble away. Now in this case time was not limited as, being the land of the free, the crew would have to clear immigration before getting back on exactly the same aircraft to go back to base. (I never understood why a turnround crew is not allowed to remain on the aircraft in the US like any other country.) In any case cleaning is the limiting option because most airlines don't carry spare seat cushions or seat belts for this eventuality. So the crew get back to the aircraft, the cleaners have gone but the offensive discharge & smell remains - What do you do? The answer is - get the cleaners back but everyone outside the crew is worried about their critical path to dispatch and nobody wants to take a hit for the delay!
Apparently it is now acceptable to subject passengers to any-old treatment and then tell them they will have to pay for another flight themselves if they elect not to fly. Having elevated customer frustration levels to a maximum you then throw a bit more petrol on the fire and threaten them with going on a no-fly list if they refuse to disembark. (To be fair the flight was full but customer frustration tends not to appreciate that when you already have a boarding card for an expensive flight in your hand).
It is 100% predictable that these issues land in the crew's lap when boarding is almost complete, but the attitude that passengers can be threatened with security measures for complaining about an airline's failings has become the new normal. I appreciate the crew were in a hurry to get through the BS immigration process but those seats should have been blocked in the passenger system on arrival and only released when the problem was fixed to the Captain's satisfaction. All these things are avoidable.