Disgusting odor from passenger in first ORD-OAK
 

I hope someone in the know has some idea of how this situation should have been handled. Highly unusual but very annoying. My husband and I upgraded to first on a flight Sat from ORD to OAK - 4 hrs plus. We were on the tarmac about to accelerate when an old (maybe 75) woman behind us suddenly got up from her 2A seat and started moaning. I looked up and thought she was having a heart attack. I called the FA who ran over to get her to sit down for take off but the woman kept moaning. FA asked "Do you want me to stop the plane and you can get off and get medical treatment?" NO. Again tried to get up. FA said either sit down or we will turn the plane around. Finally, she sat and we took off. From the look of her ashen face, I thought she was going to die on us. She and her husband were from India and did not understand much English. As it finally turned out, she was moaning from her feet hurting so the FA gave her a bandaid and water. Next thing, she has her bare feet up and is rubbing an awful ointment like Bengay on both feet and putting them on the back of our arm rests! The whole cabin and the first 2 rows of econ were affected. The ointment made our eyes burn and would not go away. The FA finally asked the woman to put the ointment away and forbid her to use more but the damage was done and the odor lasted throughout the flight. The pilot tried recirculating the air but no one would ask this woman to wash off her feet. Putting on shoes was no use since she had sandals. This odor lasted the entire flight and we were affected the most being in front of her. She refused to move her feet from the back of our armrest and no one made her.

I just wrote to 1K about it and have not heard back. This was worse than a crying baby because you could not put on earphones and drown her out. We were in an oversold plane with not one spare seat. I know it was not UA's fault this woman was so rude but what do you think should have happened? We definitely were deprived of a first class experience, as was the whole section. I suggested UA notify the son who picked them up and have him give them a talk (emergency local number??) before they ruin flights going home.

Ah, the glories of traveling with international passengers. Further, who's to say this was "rude." In some cultures it may be seen as a sign of respect to have smelly feet pointed at you.

Seriously though, this happens ALL THE TIME on international flights. Thank god I rarely ever fly in coach. Airlines can't discriminate on who they sell tickets to...

It strikes me as a judgement call.

On one hand, it can be argued that some people have no concern for others. And you cannot pigeonhole them by nationality or socio-economic stature.

On the other, the woman had a legitimate medical condition that required treatment, even if the treatment was unpleasant to those around them.

I do not know why they were travelling, and whether it was discretionary (at which point she should have considered whether or not taking the trip) or mandatory (in which case she had little choice).

Mind you, putting her feet on your armrest is a definite no-no, regardless of the reason.

Be glad that the ointment in question was not Preparation-H.

Now that would be foul.

Does the American's with Disabilities Act protect non-Americans while in the USA? Seems to me writing to 1k desk, to have UA do anything is like smoking a joint in front of the police (asking for legal trouble.) Airlines are sued non-stop for discrimination, and disability is the one that costs many airlines big money in settlements. I hope that UA responds with an appology for your suffering, then states that they have chosen to do nothing in this situation, other than attempt to circulate more air (which burns very expensive fuel) to minimize YOUR discomfort (as well as the other American passengers) in much the same way they attempted to ease the smelly footed passengers discomfort.


On the other hand, almost all airlines contracts of carriage mention that airlines retain the right to deny boarding for.....personal hygene and or odor. I am 90% sure UA has this in theirs, but the net is so slow right now, I am not going to look it up.

Ben-gay has kind of a menthol/wintergreen smell - I wouldn't call that "disgusting." "Pungent," perhaps. :D :D :D

Nevertheless, if hubby was next to her, she should have been forced to occupy the window seat, rotate 90 degrees, and place her smelly feet in hubby's lap instead of your personal space (your armrests). Seems to me that's the more serious issue. I'm still trying to figure out how an Indian woman is tall enough to get her smelly feet to hang on your armrest...

That must really suck.. I would hate to be in that situation.

Feet on the armrests, regardless of medical condition, is not excusable. If she had such a problem that that it was necessary for her to put her feet into your space, then she should have deplaned for medical treatment.

The FAs (and UA) seemed to handle it as best they could under the circumstances. They offered to allow the woman to deplane for medical reasons, which she refused, and they offered what assistance they could to her in flight. They also asked her to put away the ointment, although it would have been nice if they could have intercepted her sooner.

As for different cultures' beliefs and values, one is generally supposed to try to follow those of the country in which they are traveling (i.e. no shorts or bikini tops in Muslim countries, etc.) Certainly we all make mistakes when abroad, and we know people will do the same when here... but surely the woman wasn't completely clueless that she was causing issues for everyone else. Some people are just selfish, of course. I'd have been ticked off had I been on the flight, but what can you do? Not much.

This is why I usually carry a big Hefty extra strength garbage bag and some duct tape with me whenever I travel. Never had to use it in the United States though.

This would be a nice situational question in an F/A interview.... :)

But all joking aside, yeah, there isn't too much that could be done. Ask yourself, what could YOU have done if you were in the flight crew's position? Not a whole lot.

I wouldn't chalk this up to an American vs. International passenger difference. It's quite possibly just a cultural thing. Believe me, ask around - people may find certain American social norms to be strange or disturbing. It's all relative!

Deleted due to my inability to pick up on sarcasm :p

She did not have to be tall to put her feet at the BACK of our armrest. In fact, she had to scrunch up to do it. You must have seen people putting their feet up on the bulkhead - same thing. I might have been more sympathetic to her medical condition had she not been up and down all through the flight and choosing from time to time to stand up. If your feet hurt so much that you need ointment and medical care, you usually choose to sit.

One of the more amazing international trips I was on was from Korea where about 40 jr hi kids were on board with only 4 chaperones. Apparently, they had never flown and no one had ever indoctrinated them because during take off they all jumped up and down ON their seats. When the FA's went berserk, they sat down and continually beeped the FA button. Finally, the purser called for the head chaperone and demanded that he and the others control the kids. Poor flight attendants.

I agree that the FA had a tough job. That's why I was wondering what the manual might say about a situation like that. It clearly did not call for stopping her off in Kansas City but would it have been OK to ask her to wash her feet for the sake of about 16 other people? This was not perfume but eye burning ointment. Perfume is plenty annoying also and many are allergic to it.

Well, if you can't beat em, might as well join em. Maybe start sketching a picture of her bare feet in The Hemispheres magazine on the signin page to help pass the time. And I'd breathe through my mouth.

They probably paid for 1st, you merely upgraded. I wouldn't expect much from UA.

Please don't flame me for these comments! I am only making some assumptions based on the information in the original post. One cannot make any form of diagnosis without the performing a history and physical and obtaining the appropriate diagnostic and laboratory studies. That said...

From a purely medical perspective there were a couple of things that the OP mentioned that piqued my interest. The fact that the pax got up and started moaning and didn't respond correctly when the F/A asked her to sit down could indicate that there was a problem with the pax's mental status (and there are a million things that could cause this ranging from hypoglycemia to organic brain disease and the million things in between). Had I been on the flight I likely would have volunteered to have a brief chat with the pax to determine if there was a reason to have her removed. The fact that she tried to get up again further supported my curiousity about the mental status and the fact that something might have been going on.

The use of the foot medication and the positioning might have been a factor of an altered mental status just as easily as it could have been because she had foot fungus, debilitating arthritis, or even plantar fasciitis. You just never know without checking.

Overall, when you look at a patient with an altered mental status there are so many things that have to be ruled out before making a diagnosis it can take some time, so if there was ANY sign of altered mental status it would have been worth removing the pax for her own good as well as for the good of those around her.