A WestJet passenger alleged she was kicked off a flight for using the bathroom too much before takeoff.
Author Joanna Chiu (@joannachiu) revealed in x, formerly known as Twitter, that airline staff removed her from the flight after an “upset stomach” led her to make multiple trips to the bathroom. The incident reportedly occurred in January.
She wrote on the platform: “I just got kicked off a @WestJet flight from Mexico because I had an upset stomach and went to the bathroom too much before takeoff. There is no promise of a hotel or flight reservation change. He had medication and was getting better. Some customer service.”
“If you are sick before a flight, wait…” he warned potential passengers. “In my haste to get off the plane alone, I left my money with my fellow travelers and the @WestJet supervisor refused to pay for my taxi to a hotel 20 minutes away. He called a guard to intimidate me, but when I burst into tears, the guard correctly assessed that the WestJet guy was the asshole.”
He added that he filmed his exchange with the guard, but claimed that a WestJet supervisor told him that if he did not delete the video, he would not be able to join one of his flights the next day.
“I asked another employee for help,” he wrote. “She was much nicer but she refused to give me a booking reference for my rebooked flight. She told me to return to the airport tomorrow and ask at the counter.”
Chiu noted that it frustrated her that she couldn't get the proper help she needed without publicly airing her grievances. The company only sent a direct message to her booking reference number after she called them on social media instead of giving it to her when she asked for customer service at the airport.
X users spoke up in the comments section, perplexed by Chiu's situation.
“What the hell! How many times do you get kicked out going to the bathroom?” one user asked. She responded with some advice: “If you go to the bathroom before a flight and the flight attendant asks if you're sick, say you just have a small bladder.” .
“This is outrageous,” another person wrote, while someone else commented: “Ridiculous. “I'm sorry this happened.”
Meanwhile, a former flight attendant noted that the airline was probably just following protocol. “They made the right decision,” they wrote. “I can't guarantee how they contacted you, but the decision was not wrong.”
“The passenger was sick and as such should not have flown,” another person added. “It appears that this issue could have resulted in the passenger having to occupy the bathroom for the entire return flight, or at times when 'in the seat' is [required] For security. Good call, poorly communicated.”
