Airline boots out 2 women who refused to sit in vomit-smeared seats

The airline later noted the passengers 'clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled.'

Air Canada on Tuesday apologised to two women passengers who were escorted off a plane by security for protesting that their seats were smeared with vomit.

The flight was travelling from Las Vegas to Montreal on August 26.

The airline noted that the passengers "clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled."

A co-passenger, Susan Benson of New Brunswick, initially posted the incident on Facebook.

She noted there was a foul smell when they first boarded the plane but they didn't know at first what the problem was. The woman continued, "Apparently, on the previous flight someone had vomited in that area. Air Canada attempted a quick cleanup before boarding but clearly wasn't able to do a thorough clean. They placed coffee grinds in the seat pouch and sprayed perfume to mask the smell."

Speaking to CBC News, Benson said that the passengers who were supposed to sit there told the flight attendant that the seat and seatbelt were still wet and they could see vomit residue as well. The attendant as well as a supervisor apologised but told them the flight was otherwise full and they would have to weather through.

There was some back and forth between the staff and passengers, after which they were 'finally' given blankets, wipes, and vomit bags to try and protect their clothes and clean up as far as possible.

Soon after, one of the pilots approached them and gave them two options - they could either go on their own accord and work out a new flight on their own, else they would be escorted off and placed on a no-fly list.

The pilot accused the two women of being rude to the flight attendant but Benson disputes this in her account saying the women were firm and upset, but "definitely not rude".

Another individual spoke to the pilot in French, and later said he'd attempted to de-escalate the situation. However, security approached soon after and escorted the women off the plane.

Benson had complained directly to Air Canada, CBC News reported.

The airline in a statement said on Tuesday it was still reviewing the matter and had contacted the concerned passengers "as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance".

It added, "This includes apologising to these customers, as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled, and addressing their concerns."

Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Canada is probing the incident and is in touch with the airline.

The agency said in a statement, "Blood, vomit and diarrhea may contain microorganisms that can cause disease. These fluids, and the surfaces that come in contact with them, should always be considered as contaminated", CTV News reported.