Passenger claims Air Canada forced her to sit in vomit-soaked seat
An Air Canada passenger is alleging that she was forced to sit in a vomit-soaked seat during an eight-hour international flight.
Elizabeth Sandoz “Liz” Presta took to social media to recount her experience while travelling on Air Canada. In an Oct. 16 post shared on Instagram, Presta said that flight attendants never offered to transfer her to another available seat; instead, they gave her a biohazard kit to clean the vomit herself.
“Air Canada made me sit in somebody else’s vomit for an eight-hour international flight and then acted like it was no big deal,” she said.
Presta, a birth doula and former The Bachelor contestant, recalled how she noticed “something was off” as soon as she sat down in her seat: the buttons were sticky, and there were chunks of food sprayed on the wall and the remote control.
Air Canada
She then notified a flight attendant and asked if she could be transferred to another seat, but was told that there were no available seats. Presta said this response came even though there were empty seats in the back row, and the seats were just being used to hold toilet paper. She remained on the flight as she wanted to return home to her kids.
“Upon insisting further that something else be done, I was brought a biohazard kit to clean it up myself,” she recalled.
Presta said that the entire flight was uncomfortable, and in the caption, she wrote, “I was forced to sit on my luggage and hold my belongings in my lap for the duration of the eight-hour flight, avoiding direct contact with the contaminated area.”
@esandoz/Instagram
She said that since her clothes were soiled with vomit, she ended up purchasing a new neck pillow and sweater during a layover, but couldn’t find pants.
Presta said that the incident violated several passenger safety rights and regulations. While Presta’s seat was clearly unfit for use, Daily Hive checked the Air Canada and Air Passenger Protection Regulation’s websites and was unable to find specific rules regarding biohazards on board aircraft. After the incident, she said she contacted Air Canada, but was disappointed by the airline’s response.
“There was no real apology, nothing meaningful done, and they didn’t take real accountability for their actions,” Presta said.
She added that after doing some research, she found out that she wasn’t the only one to experience this.
In a post in the Facebook group Air Passenger Rights Canada, a user recounts the time that she and a friend were also forced to sit in seats with vomit smeared on the armrest, carpet, and around their seats. In 2023, the airline apologized to passengers who were escorted off a plane after complaining that their seats were smeared in vomit.
“So there seems to be a pattern here, but the only way to stop it is to share about it,” Presta stated. “If airlines think that this is acceptable, then it’s going to continue happening. It’s a health issue, it’s a safety issue, it’s a basic human dignity issue, and it needs to change.”
BD Images/Shutterstock
Gábor Lukács, an air passenger rights advocate, told Daily Hive in an email that the incident violates Air Canada’s implied conditions of carriage.
“There is no need for a specific law against this. The seat/aircraft was clearly not suitable for transporting the passenger,” he said. “They should have had the seat cleaned, or alternatively, rebook the passenger on another airline as they are unable to provide safe transportation on that particular flight for that passenger.”
Should passengers find themselves in a similar situation, his advice is to record a video of the entire incident and refuse to travel, as “it is not safe.”
In an email to Daily Hive, Air Canada stated, “We followed up with the customer in October to apologize and address her concerns, and this regrettable matter is now resolved.”
Daily Hive has reached out to Presta and will update this story when we receive a response.