Swoop Airlines Shows Zero Tolerance for Puking Passengers

A Canadian family was removed from a plane after one of their twin daughters vomited just before takeoff. They were traveling to Abbotsford, British Columbia, to celebrate Christmas and New Year, the International Business Times reports.

In a Facebook video post, Patrick Gerard, of Newmarket, said he and his wife, Ashli, along with their three-year-old daughters, boarded a Swoop Airlines flight from John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport on Dec. 22. Patrick said the family spent the previous night in a hotel in Hamilton and took a car ride to the airport early morning.

"We got to the airport and everything was normal. As soon as we got on the plane, one of my twin daughters threw up," Patrick told CTV News on Thursday. A flight attendant came over and helped them clean up.

According to the recount picked up by International Business Times, Gerard said the flight attendant, after having a discussion with the pilot, asked the family to deplane and escorted them to the plane’s exit door.

“The girls were freaking out. It’s dark, cold and the engines are incredibly loud," Gerard said.

He said the family had to wait in the terminal until the phone lines of airline opened a couple of hours later. Gerard argued with the staff to get all four tickets reimbursed. However, the airline said the refund was only possible if Gerard rebooked the flight for the next morning and paid the fare differences. The total amount was around $2,500 which Gerard said he could not afford. The staff then agreed to refund only his daughter’s one-way ticket.

"How did it go from two people, to all four, and now to one? We put up a stink. My daughter is a minor, legally she can’t get off the plane by herself,” Gerard said.

The airlines finally agreed to refund the daughter’s and his wife’s one-way tickets citing Gerard and his other daughter didn’t have to get off the plane.

“Our whole Christmas was screwed. We are still supposed to be out there," Gerard said.

The airlines, in a statement, said they were in touch with Patrick and his family to address the issue.