Tricky question for the PC brigade ?

[rmac]

OK tricky one for the PC brigade.

Just took a flight from Prague to Bratislava on a CSA ATR72. Connecting to Bratislava were six African labourers. For those of you who would ask, I have worked in Africa for many years and know how to ID a labourer.

What was apparent on the bus out was that these passengers hadn't had a good wash for some time, and their clothes for a good deal longer. Those of you that have spent time with African labourers will know that a mixture of diet and difficult living conditions often lead to a particularly pungent odour. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 the most pungent, these guys were at least a 12.

The ATR72 is a small aircraft, it was 27 degC in Prague today, and the departure was delayed, engines didn't start for 20 minutes. By this time a number of passengers who have probably never travelled much beyond Europe, and if so only to a sterile holiday resort, began to turn slowly green, and remained that way for the remainder of the flight. I was at the front of the aircraft (door is at the back) and will forever treasure the expressions on some delicate European faces when I stood up and turned around to get off.

Question to debate, is there any responsibility for the airline and its staff to ensure a minimum level of environmental pleasantness in the cabin, and if so what would they (or you if you are one) do in this situation ? :)

For the old Africa hands, spare any thoughts of "get a life" please, as we are potentially discussing a different environment, with a whole different level of expectation from the travelling public.

rmac

[FirmamentFX]

Arguably the airline has a duty to customers to provide a healthy environment, but then you come to the minefield of how to enforce that / define where the boundary is... Airlines do not allow drunks onto many flights - why should they allow people on who could affect the health/enjoyment of the flight in other aspects?

Imagine the lawsuits though... :ok:

I had a similar experience on a Coach from Avignon to Lyon - everyone who carried all the personal effects in those checked laundry bags had a distinct odour :hmm:

Ok, back to being PC now :cool:

Martin

[rmac]

Only one answer so far. Do some of you smell a PC ambush:uhoh:

Really, honestly interested in opinions on this tough issue !!

[PAXboy]

Reminds me of boarding an SAA (743 I think) at JNB for LHR in 1988. I was in C and the man placed next to me was in a beautiful suit. He was obese, litterally overflowing the Biz seat. He was sweating and, to my nostrils, obnoxiously smelly. This was the height of apartheid, I am white skinned ... and he was black.

Facing the long haul around the bulge of Africa (and the bounce at Sol) I was not enthusiastic and could see no way out of the PC dilemma. Fortunately, his seat belt was found to be broken and I rapidly summoned the CC to point this out. They had to move him to a free seat which had it's neighbouring seat empty. I got my two seats and saved from a hideous choice of putting up with the smell or being seen as racist. Phew!

[Air Badger]

Question to debate, is there any responsibility for the airline and its staff to ensure a minimum level of environmental pleasantness in the cabin, and if so what would they (or you if you are one) do in this situation ? :)

I thought the airline is perfectly within their rights to offload a passenger for having ... "odour issues"... or at least request them to clean themselves up a bit?! But i'm not completely sure on that...?

[high-hopes]

Was the aircraft full ?

If not, with a few empty seats, the crew could have re arranged the seating of the smelly fellas in a contained area and isolate them by a few rows from the rest of the clean travellers.

Seats can easily be changed, just get the crew to say that the aircraft is out of trim and ask the smelly gentlemen to sit at the back :)

Wouldn't have solved the problem but maybe contained it a little bit.

[ZFT]

Had a similar issue a few years ago on a BKK-CDG sector, although offending individual in that case was white.

As soon as I sat down it was obvious that there was no way that I was going to put up with 11+ hours of this rancid individual. I went back to the galley, said they had a problem and asked the purser to go and sit in my seat. When he returned he understood the problem but informed me the flight was fully booked.

My response was “no problem. I’m getting off” Much debate followed. I even offered to downgrade subject to a refund/credit.

Eventually I was offered a seat swop with an ID100 pax. Whilst he wasn’t happy with me, there was no way I was going to pay US$2K for the privilege of choking for 11 hours.

[Bangkokeasy]

I too have travelled in Africa extensively. If you are there for some time, you get used to it and after a while. don't even notice it. But it can come as a very unpleasant shock, when it is encountered in a part of the world where it is unusual. That is compounded many times, when faced with the prospect of being forced into close proximity to it for 10 or more hours :yuk:.

This isn't really a PC thing, but more a question of regional social norms. But how do you deal with it? Personally, I think people should be screened at check in or at the gate, in the same way that people are for being drunk. If it is noticeable enough that the staff are aware at that stage, then it WILL become a problem on board, when you are up close and personal.