Airline flight became more than a piddling matter

Last weekend, friends - and former Fort Wayne residents - were in town visiting for Memorial Day. 

Their trip to Fort Wayne was uneventful.  While here, though, they related a tale of a recent airline trip departing from a different Midwestern city's airport that was quite eventful ... and disgusting. You may recall news reports recently about the gentleman who was claimed that he had to sit on a toilet during his flight on JetBlue.   

Let's just say that after hearing our friends recount their story ... that gentleman had relatively little to complain about.

Yesterday, our friends sent us the account they had emailed a family member the day after their airline encounter.  The frequent fliers also forwarded a copy of the email sent to the airline asking, at minimum, for a full refund.

We had trouble getting tickets and couldn't sit together. [The company] made all of the arrangements. When we got on the plane from [the Midwest] to [Texas], we discovered my seat (and seat belt) was soaked with urine from the prior flight passenger.

The A******* A******* flight was full and I had no seating alternatives. I had to get creative: we put two blankets on the seat, topped it with a plastic trash bag, and topped that with magazines. Then we put a trash bag covered with a blanket on my lap. I had to touch the urine soaked seat belt to buckle it, then folded the blanket over it. I put my sticky hands in the magazine pocket and didn't move for two hours until we [landed in the Lone Star State].

Oh, and the urine also smelled awful. I managed not to throw up. I was sick for most of the rest of the day.

After that description the message went on to state that they would be kicking the issue up a notch with the airline upon arrival back home.

This is an excerpt of what was transmitted to the airline by our intrepid travelers:

Upon boarding this flight, my [spouse] was assigned seat 24E. Upon reaching the seat, the gentleman in seat 24F indicated that seat 24E was soaked and that it smelled badly. That kept [my spouse] from immediately sitting in the seat. In fact, the seat was soaked with urine. The flight attendant's solution was to put a couple of blankets and a plastic bag on the seat. [Your passenger] literally sat in a urine soaked seat (the seat belt was soaked also) for the duration of this 2 hour flight! [There] was offered no compensation, no alternative seating, nothing.

[ ... ] I believe that, at a minimum, we are entitled to a full refund of [my spouse's] ticket for that flight. Once the flight attendant was made aware of the situation, something should have been done. Seat cushions switched out, [offer of] another seat (except the plane was full), or [ ... ] offered an alternative flight. I look forward to your quick resolution of this appalling situation.

It may be possible that this is the flipside of the other recent airline story -  perhaps just the consequence of what happens when other passengers can't use the airplane's restroom because it is occupied during the entire flight by a paying customer. 

Well, probably not. But, still, we do know for certain that our friends had a need for the object shown in use above - an airplane seat cover.  Who knew there was a crying real-world need for the product?

As described on the seller's webpage:

Ever wonder how many people sat in that airline seat before you? Ever wonder how often that airline seat is cleaned?

PlaneSheets are the new practical way to personalize and sanitize your travel space. These cozy, machine-washable light weight fabric seat covers fit securely over the airline seat headrest and seat, allowing easy seat belt access on airline seats. Plane Sheets come in blue denim and plush fabric. Just think, you will be the 'only' one to sit in your Plane Sheets covered airline seat. You will be the envy of all on board! For the traveler on a budget, PlaneSheets also offers an inexpensive, disposable PlaneSheet which can simply be disposed of after the flight or washed and reused, if desired. Add flair to flying with PlaneSheets, turn your coach seat into First Class. PlaneSheets make a great gift for newly weds, new parents, children, grand parents and heck, just about anyone who likes to keep his/her space clean, sanitary, and personalized. You don't know what your missing until you've tried Plane Sheets.

Package of two, 100% Polypropylene, disposable PlaneSheets^TM. Perfect for a round trip, or to share with a travel companion. Our disposable planesheets are recyclable.

Comments

[K. E. Casey]

Isn't there some kind of implied warranty of non-urine-soaked-airline seating equipment? I mean, isn't that part of the deal? I don't know. This didn't come up in Contracts.

The more satisfying option when faced with this scenario would have been to throw a giant tantrum, get kicked off the flight, and then call the local media. I'm sure that raises problems of its own, but it would have most surely been righteous. It's not being a diva to request--at the very least--a dry seat.

[brian stouder]

The easy joke is, the previous passenger must have been the renowned author,IP Freely

One would think that the passenger who irrigated the seat should have been arrested, unless there was a very, very good reason that this came to pass (so to speak).

It is amazing that such a bio-hazard didn't ground the plane - and how long would it have taken to clean - or to bump passengers off the plane?

[C. Ford]

You should tell your friend to search http://consumerist.com for A******* A******* Executive E-Mail Addresses...and then have them read up a bit on the oh-so-effective EECB. I believe they'll be able to get a refund or flight voucher out of it at the very least.

Also, if they're really feeling ambitious, have them send their story (or even your version of it) to the Consumerist's tip address. I have a feeling this story would get picked up...

Ed. note: I may do that. The Consumerist has visited Fort Wayne for a wedding in the last year or so and has corresponded with FWOb.

[Robert Enders]

Pet stain remover is good for getting urine out of carpet and furniture. It actually works best when the urine is still fresh. I'm suprised they don't keep a bottle on board.

[Sam Talarico]

Mitch, it was just a coach seat. Now days, you need to fly first class to get your bag of peanuts and get a urine free seat.

[Nancy Nall]

I'm reminded of the old "no one can take advantage of you without your permission" canard here. If ever a situation called for a big fat tantrum, this one did. Sitting in a pee-soaked seat? Does it get any worse than that? (Don't answer that.) I'd be on the warpath with flaming tomahawks.

[Andy Borgmann]

Flying from midwest to Texas (maybe, Dallas, ehh?)

A****** A****** ?

Not leaving too much to the imagination as to what airline this actually is are you? ;)