Stranger

Well, duh, if these guys care for their credibility, perhaps they could start by doing their homework instead of advetising themselves as being clueless, no?

Admiral Ackbar

I got chicken pox at 32 (so 15 years ago, not the medical stone age) and no one mentioned the ICU. Dr said it was uncommon that's about it.

Like I stated, my only issues (and it is correct I am only getting one side) are possible discretion ones if the following is correct. There was no need to go into detail on the PA

DrunkCargo

"She said 'Take all your belongings and follow me.' I said, 'for what?'"

AC was discreet. Her non-compliance with the request was met with an explanation.

I agree with AC excercising caution. I mean, if I exclaim "I am not drunk" then request a scotch... She could have just asked for a window seat without a reason.

Also it does concern me that an "officer" in her role would refer to being treated as a "first-class citizen". Where in our constitutional foundations are various classes of citizens recognized?

A regrettable situation for all involved, including the delayed pax on the first flight.

mapleg

Wonder how many people would be happy to be on a plane where someone has a contagious disease and then 2 weeks after the flight you find out the health authorities are trying to track everyone down on Flight Z900.

Better that they err on the side of caution in these situations, so no, I don't think they were rash to say no rash.

longtimeflyin

If she was actually contagious this particular story would have never made the news. While it is safe to say that all patients, as House MD says, "everyone lies", lie, in this particular case a MD agreed and cleared her for flight the very next day after being questioned and offloaded. Therefore, she was never contagious in the first place. Hindsight is 20/20 and as indicated upthread I can see Air Canada's point of view on this one.

This is a case of the airline being damned if they do and damned if they don't.

There are plenty of people who shouldn't be flying but they do not get questioned/offloaded because they don't have a visible "issue". This isn't fair to them (because everyone should be treated equally and Air Canada's love and passion for the customer should shine through for this group too), just as the fact that it isn't fair to the lady in question in this thread.

I guess private aviation should really be the way to fly these days.

eigenvector

It's a difficult situation for AC. When a passenger presents an obvious, visible medical issue they need to exercise an abundance of caution in deciding whether to request a medical note before allowing them to fly. In many situations a passenger's first contact with AC staff will be when boarding the aircraft and it puts GAs and FAs in a difficult position having to assess whether someone has an issue in about 3 seconds of visual contact. Obviously, these employees are not medical experts and cannot detect every potential issue but if something is obvious visually they have to respond.

It seems that AC could have exercised more tact in not publicly shaming the passenger. Communication issues may also have been compounded by the passenger not receiving service in French as desired. But I think AC acted properly by escorting the passenger to a clinic, providing accommodation and meals and then rebooking them in J. The only better outcome might have been offering to phone the office of the physician that the passenger saw previously for confirmation that she was fit to fly and accepting that in lieu of a written note.

longtimeflyin

For what it's worth, I agree 100%. Air Canada should not have publicly announced what they did, but communications aside I think it was handled professionally and appropriately. (after the initial snafu) That said IIRC, that flight was delayed several hours and the crew did owe an explanation to the passengers albeit there is a more professional and discrete way to provide that info to said passengers.

Jagboi

Slightly different story on the CBC. Apparently a fellow passenger was a nurse and told the AC staff the passenger wasn't contagious. Of course they took no heed of that.
Woman removed from Air Canada flight after crew wrongly believed her rash was contagious | CBC News

eigenvector

From the CBC article:

Yikes. Does no one at Air Canada have any communication skills?

1Newflyer

Doctor was kind enough to tell her it was safe for her to travel but neglected to put it in writing that it was save for other travels as well. Who would want book a seat next to this individual not knowing the condition. I would not. Just few months ago, I was beset with a flu by being in the vicinity of a person with it for 8 hrs on the plane. It took 3 weeks to overcome it. No thanks for traveling with sick people. She was not contagious but irresponsible by not ensuring a documentation of her misfortune. She was concerned enough to see a doctor, then why not be just as concerned about other travelers having similar concern about her condition and possible effect on them. AC staff's public communication about the passenger' 'condition" was not warranted and not respectable. Shame on them.

WildcatYXU

Well, the question is if they can actually recognize what's contagious and what is not. Erring too often on the side of caution could lead to too many unhappy customers. For example, would you be able to say without looking it up if the rash on the picture is contagious or not? It looks pretty bad...

lallied

It doesn’t look infective at all and its actually quite common as you likely know esp small patches. Even international super models have. ‘Shingles’ however is contagious and puts immunosuppressed folk at risk of severe or fatal infections. Pts with recent chemotherapy or on drugs might be on those planes as well and have a reasonable expectation that they won’t be unnecessarily exposed to a potentially fatal infection. Needs to be managed appropriately in all respects (including managing interactions with passenger being asked to deplane).

Fiordland

The quote that I find interesting from the CBC article is this one:

Clearly AC was in contact with a "medical expert" that advised the passenger needed to be looked over by a doctor before being on the flight. It does not say so, however that may also be where they got the advise the aircraft needed to be pulled out of service and disinfected.

AC should have been more discrete. However I am not certain how you go from it was embarrassing to be taken off a flight full of strangers that do not know me, to I want my photo and story in every major media outlet in the country.

YEG_SE4Life

I have to be certain I have got this correct. She became traumatized because AC may have told 200 people that she may have a condition, but she had allowed the CBC to post her name and photograph? I wonder how much of the trauma is financially motivated.

JumboJet

I wouldn't have wanted to sit next to her