I was on a completely full 10 hour flight on Sunday. Nearby to me was a passenger travelling with the worst body odour I have ever been in a confined space with!
On an informal test, I discovered their smell could be detected from five seats away. The woman sitting next to the passenger feigned sleep and covered her face with a blanket in an attempt to block him out.
I know Air Canada have de-planed a smelly passenger in the past. What would you do in this situation?
- Do/say nothing
- Silently offer deodorant and a new shirt
- Say something to the passenger involved
- Complain to staff
Related Posts
How bad can you be on a plane?
The T shirt that stopped a plane (almost)
What I DID was (and mine wasn’t quite as bad as a 5-seater, but had bad breath as well)initially tried to ignore him (the girl on his other side ordered about 3 or 4 whiskies in fairly rapid succession)but eventually felt quite ill (also coincided with my only ever REALLY bad airline food)and asked the stewardess if I could sit up by toilet. She gave me water, then cup of tea, and let me sit in a staff seat until it was time to land. Whew!
I always carry Fabreeze with me in my liquids ziplock. Saved me more times than not.
This is a very difficult situation. I have no clue, what will I do
I would probably would have volunteered to wait for the next flight. Trust me when I say I could have the plane diverted to another city. I vomit if I smell anything gross. Maybe being puked on would make him smell better. Definitely wouldn’t be able to be in smell range.
I always thought I would ask a FA to move me elsewhere, but when it happened (and it was atrocious) I felt bad for the smelly person and ended up doing nothing… unfortunately it was a) international and b) coach (London to Boston). Tough to do it without hurting feelings.
That’s a difficult situation. I’ve encountered a few smelly passengers over many years of travel. Some due to terrible body odor and others, equally as irritating, were those who doused themselves in cologne or perfume – enough to make me choke. It’s an invasion of personal space – just much more difficult to resolve than asking someone to stay on their own side of the armrest. If there were empty seats I moved, otherwise I said nothing and endured.