When Canadian-based passenger Birgit Umaigba Omoruyi boarded an Air Transat flight, she was surprised to find blood stains on her designated seat.
But what shocked Omoruyi even more was when the cabin crew expected her to clean the bloody mess by herself.
Omoruyi, a registered nurse, took to social media to air her disbelief. She also shared a video clip of her experience.
Omoruyi tagged the Montreal-based airline in the post, saying: “As if it was not enough to find fresh blood on the seat in front of me, one of your flight attendants provided me with disinfectant wipes to wipe it off with my bare hands. Thank God for common sense, I asked for gloves and wiped the blood off as told.”
Blood is considered a biohazardous waste because it can potentially carry infectious agents or other materials deemed a threat to public health or the environment.
Omoruyi also revealed that she witnessed one of Air Transat’s cabin crew “yelling” at an elderly passenger who asked to use the lavatory.
“Then, after waiting 3 hours inside the plane for the flight to take off, one of your staff was busy yelling at a Black elderly woman who asked to use the washroom just before the final announcement that the 3hr long hydraulic problem had been fixed. It was so disgusting to watch. I hope you do better for the very people enriching your business,” Omoruyi said in her second post.
A second Air Transat blood-related experience
Omoruyi’s experience followed another “bloody” Air Transat episode. On November 22, 2023, an off-duty pilot came to the rescue midflight after an Air Transat captain became incapacitated due to an “uncontrollable nosebleed”.
The off-duty pilot was able to land the Airbus A330-200 safely in the Dominican Republic.
Another Canadian airline also faced an incident involving human bodily fluids. In September 2023, Air Canada issued an apology to two passengers who were removed from a Las Vegas to Montreal flight because they refused to sit in seats covered in vomit.