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Home » WestJet » Passenger Kicked Off Flight For Using Lavatory Too Often
WestJet

Passenger Kicked Off Flight For Using Lavatory Too Often

Matthew Klint Posted onFebruary 15, 2024February 15, 2024 24 Comments

a sink and toilet in a bathroom

A woman claims that she was booted off a WestJet flight because she used the lavatory too many times before her flight took off.  But it wasn’t the lavatory use that was the problem…the problem was that she was sick…

Passenger With Upset Stomach Kicked Off Flight After Using Lavatory Too Often

Joanna Chiu was flying on WestJet from Mexico and not having a great morning in terms of her stomach. As she shared on X:

“Just got kicked off a @WestJet flight from Mexico because I had an upset stomach and was going to the washroom too much before takeoff. No promise of a hotel or rebooked flight. I had meds and was on the mend. Some customer service.”

She was quizzed by flight attendants as to why she was using the lavatory so often and admitted that she was dealing with an upset stomach.

Ground staff came onboard and removed her. A WestJet supervisor purportedly was very rude to Chiu and refused to provide her a reference number for her rebooked flight (the following day) or help with taxi or hotel expenses due to the involuntary nature of the flight change.

We were in the baggage area and I started filming the exchange. This @WestJet supervisor said that unless I deleted the video I wouldn’t be able to get on a flight tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/7WooDRieoJ

— Joanna Chiu (@joannachiu) February 10, 2024

When she started recording, the supervisor threatened to cancel her ticket altogether.

A security guard and other WestJet staff member were able to calm everyone down. Chiu retuned to her hotel and flew back the next day.

In retrospect, Chiu offers the following advice:

“If you go to the washroom before a flight, and the flight attendant asks if you are sick, say you just have a small bladder…

“My last word: Check whether your destination is known for stomach bugs. Take probiotics etc. If you’re asked to deplane, take the time to gather wallet, passport, medications. Duolingo proved useful and off-line translation apps. If staff is abusive, ask for another to help you.”

I find myself not overly sympathetic to Ms. Chiu. Her tweet above demanding a cab voucher and calling the supervisor an a**hole makes her seem quite entitled and she’s absolutely rude to travel at all and expose so many other people to sickness if she’s dealing with a stomach bug so bad she’s constantly having to use the lavatory.

In her defense, had she not tried to take the flight WestJet might have charged her an arm and a leg to rebook it the following day. But I still wish people would not travel when sick…it’s just rude.

CONCLUSION

A woman was removed from a WestJet flight in Mexico because she was deemed to be too sick to fly. I tend to think that was the right call…and that her protestations are dripping with entitlement. At the same time, there is no excuse for any airline supervisor to be rude. If he was rude, he needs retraining too.


> Read More: To The Coughing, Spitting Man On My United Airlines Flight…

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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24 Comments

  1. Alert Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 6:57 am

    Better to stay away from the street food anywhere .

  2. Dave Edwards Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 7:33 am

    Proving once again the China Virus is still dangerous regardless of what the mask deniers want to argue.

    • Aaron Reply
      February 15, 2024 at 2:20 pm

      Lol Not sure what Covid has to do with someone getting an upset stomach in Mexico…

      • Alert Reply
        February 16, 2024 at 8:09 am

        @Aaron . +1 . I did support the wearing of masks in airplanes .

  3. Santastico Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 7:37 am

    Mexican food! That’s the problem.

    • Alert Reply
      February 15, 2024 at 7:55 am

      @Santastico … Perhaps the water ?

      • Santastico Reply
        February 15, 2024 at 11:34 am

        You bring a very good point. It could definitely be the water/ice but my interactions with Mexican food have always been terrible. I don’t like it and when I eat it is not a good ending. As for water, I know this new generation thinks they are saving the planet by using refillable water bottler. Good for them. Save the planet and kill yourself. I never ever drink anything other than bottled water outside of the US. Even in Europe I live their sparkling waters. Drinking tap water or anything with ice cubs in Asia, Latin America or Africa is asking for trouble. Never do that.

        • Aaron Reply
          February 15, 2024 at 2:18 pm

          What does an anti-environmental diatribe have to do with avoiding getting in sick in Mexico?

          • Santastico
            February 15, 2024 at 3:56 pm

            Are you OK? Have you saved any stuffed animals today? I invite you to go to Vietnam and not drink bottled water. Just bring your “save the planet” bottle and fill it up at a regular faucet there.

          • Aaron
            February 16, 2024 at 7:18 am

            I’m not the one being triggered on this issue, mi pequeño copo de nieve lol

        • Jan Reply
          February 15, 2024 at 4:50 pm

          To be fair, places like Switzerland and Austria has some of the best tap water in the world. I’ve been told Iceland as well, so long as you don’t drink any of the “hot” water (never tried)…

          But yeah, I was at Thailand and Cambodia, and was on high alert. And other under developed places… tap water is a disaster waiting to happen

      • Alert Reply
        February 16, 2024 at 8:11 am

        Myself , I like Perrier , Pssssst .

  4. viapanam Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 7:57 am

    Funny to see you calling other people “entitled” ….

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      February 15, 2024 at 8:04 am

      You should look harder for the economy class reviews…

  5. Maryland Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 8:56 am

    This incident was handled correctly for the most part. If you are still running the bathroom, don’t fly. Even food poisoning can be contagious on surfaces when you are actively sick. And from another of Matthew’s posts last year, a significant amount of people do not wash their hands!

    • Alert Reply
      February 16, 2024 at 8:13 am

      @Maryland … +1 . ( only you and I and surgeons ).

      • Alert Reply
        February 16, 2024 at 8:15 am

        @Maryland … I meant : only you and I and surgeons Always wash our hands .)

  6. Jesda Gulati Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 9:43 am

    The part that bothered me was the blackmail to delete the video. I don’t know what rights Canadians have regarding recording.

    • Stephen Ward Reply
      February 17, 2024 at 5:03 pm

      You aren’t allowed to film in most airports. Has nothing to do with being Canadian. This was a Mexican airport. As a “journalist” she should know better.

  7. Felix Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 9:49 am

    At least she had a bathroom to go to. I was on KL601 with no bathrooms for the first hour and then 1 bathroom for the rest of the flight and we were going to LA. She would have had a serious accident on that flight.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      February 15, 2024 at 10:38 am

      I’m going to do a story on your flight, Felix! Thanks for keeping me informed on Twitter.

  8. DCWABN Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 10:17 am

    Something similar happened to me on a DL flight within the US. I’d just gotten back from a TATL flight on the US East Coast, had a few days of work in the Southeast then was headed back to the US West Coast. During my work “layover”, I developed a sinus infection, to which I’m prone. I wasn’t near my GP so I couldn’t get the usual AmoxiClav Rx that clears it up in about 24 hours. Instead, I was pounding water in the hopes that would flush it out. I was fortunately in F and on the aisle, but I must’ve used the lav about 10-11 times on that transcon and the FA pulled me aside and asked if everything was okay. I told her about the sinus infection and how I was trying to hydrate it away. I *think*, though, she may have thought I was snorting rails in the lav or something. Either way, my constant lav use was absolutely noticed that it warranted a side discussion.

  9. rich Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 11:31 am

    Traveling and catching something is tough. I have some medical issues that always cause me to be careful when I travel. I feel bad for the lady since being sick sucks and having to travel is even worse. You don’t want to travel while sick but at the same time you just want to get home and be miserable in your own place.

  10. JoeMart Reply
    February 15, 2024 at 12:44 pm

    Makes one wonder how people with ileostomies and IBS travel. I’ll never forget the pax seated next to a person with a urostomy that received a bath when the bag bursted.

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