<p>Outrageous, egregious, unconscionable, putrid, and downright gross.</p>
<p>Since you were still at the gate when you noticed this and you immediately reported it to the flight attendant, why didn’t they just have maintenance come back on board the plane and clean it up - like they should have done before you boarded? That would have been the best solution since they’re outfitted for such things (masks/gloves) and have disinfectant, anti-odor solutions, etc. and it’s something they’re used to dealing with.</p>
<p>How can they not have barf-bags? They obviously need these so just like the emergency instructions and the airline magazine they need to ensure there are bags in every seat pocket. </p>
<p>
They absolutely should have moved ‘you’ to first class.</p>
<p>You definitely should relate your experience to the airline you booked through (Delta??) and at least request some kind of compensation for your poor experience due to their poor maintenance between flights since they should have spotted it and improper response (they should have had maintenance clean it up). They can then pursue it through Air France who can pursue it through whoever they contract to do the maintenance in that city. Since you reported it immediately to the flight attendant they could always double check that you’re not making the story up.</p>
<p>They also obviously lied when they said the plane was full since there were clearly some empty seats in first class. They shouldn’t have told you it was full when it wasn’t - especially since you might have decided on that basis to get off that flight and get on another one, if one were available, and end up getting delayed and way inconvenienced. Meanwhile that plane would have taken off with empty seats albeit in first class.</p>
<p>I knew my H was a keeper when I was a nanny for the adorablest children and they were staying the weekend with us. They were about 15 months and 4 & 1/2 & it was before we had kids but I was pg.
We had walked to the park & back and the toddler had a mess that went down his leg and up his back. H cheerfully volunteered to clean him up & I was sooo grateful.
I know grandparents, who dont even change their grandkids diapers let alone someone elses.</p>
<p>I agree with mini, everybody cuts corners nowdays.</p>
<p>There is a guy in our newspaper who handles travel complaints that customers can’t get resolved directly with transportation/hotel/etc companies. He pretty much always gets a result because they don’t want the bad publicity. I would start by communicating with Delta, then with Air France if they won’t help you (still think a Tweet would not hurt, either). If you do not get satisfaction, see if your paper has one of those (it is in our Sunday travel section – I actually don’t know if he is local or syndicated…).</p>
<p>I have had my kids throw up in a plane. I never tried to use a barf bag when they were little because their “aim” wasn’t good enough. I always made sure to have plastic grocery bags, at least one in my purse and several in my carryon. You could kind of hang the handles over their ears, a bit like feeding a horse! However, on one bumpy flight where the turbulence caused my 5 year old to get sick, I couldn’t get a flight attend to stop so that I could give her the bag to dispose of. We had our hands full with infant, sick child and carryons for four at the end of a 9 hr flight. I just left the bag sitting on the seat in plain sight. I mentioned it to the first flight attendant, but my comment to H was that I hope one of them opened it to see what we had left. </p>
<p>That was just gross and unsanitary. They do have products for cleaning, disinfecting and deodorizing it. What about the stuff the janitors used to sprinkle on the floor whenever a kid threw up in school.</p>
<p>That said, I did sit on a small plane landing in a thunderstorm with pretty bad turbulence. The guy next to me was throwing almost non-stop, using my barf bag and his. I didn’t need it because of the turbulence but almost did because of the smell. Fortunately, I had a perfume stick in my purse and was breathing that in quite energetically. I felt bad because the guy (30 something) was SO embarrassed, but what could he or I do at that point? You just want it to be over fast. I can’t imagine finding that at the beginning of a long flight.</p>
<p>I also had a vomit incident on an AF trans-Atlantic flight. AF must have some strange vomit karma.</p>
<p>A college-age student sitting behind me was generously availing himself of the free cocktails during the flight, then at meal time he opted for the creamed chicken…</p>
<p>Four hours into the CDG-JFK trip, there was a terrible distressed gurgling sound, followed by projectile vomit hitting the back of my headrest. All the pax sitting around were gagging at the stench & mess. The FA’s tried their best to wipe the seatback w an airplane blanket, but only succeeded in grinding the vomit deeply into the upholstry. I blotted the flecks in my hair. The plane was absolutely full, so there was no other seat for me to move to. </p>
<p>Another four hours later the plane landed at JFK, and the sheepish young man was glared at hostilely by the other pax in baggage claim.</p>
<p>After that flight, for me there are no bad flights.</p>
<p>I also got sick once on a long red-eye. Picked up H’s stomach bug which he had thought was food poisoning. Luckily, there were bags and I could use them and dispose of them by walking back to the galley. Still, it’s a horrible situation because airplanes don’t really have hot water and I don’t believe that spray and sprinkle on stuff is a good substitute for soap and hot water and thorough washing. </p>
<p>They should have off-loaded everyone near that seat, thoroughly washed, moved the whole row up to first class, and then left for Atlanta. Anything less is a biohazard.</p>
<p>Well, yes, it has me laughing (thanks, tango and GMT) but I started reading it while I was sitting on a train and noticed a dark spray pattern on the seat back in front of me. I tell everyone I don’t inhale during the day and so can’t smell my environment and have said it so often I believe it myself so I don’t think it was vomit, but who’s to say? </p>
<p>My personal worst happened on a TWA flight, so this was some years ago. Reached into the seat pocket and found a used diaper. Rang for the flight attendant, pulled the pocket open to reveal its treasures and the FA picked it up. </p>
<p>These experiences change us - I’d sooner stick my fingers in a strange dog’s mouth than reach into any crevice surrounding an airplane seat. It’s inexcusable that airlines miss these things when they “ready a plane for takeoff.”</p>
<p>That settles it. I will never fly Air France, if for that reason alone. Because who among us can BE ABSOLUTELY SURE they can keep “creamed chicken” down at 30,000 feet?</p>
<p>This has got to be the grossest thread ever. And yet, I kept reading. And now I know why – in classic cc style, it has turned hilarious.</p>
<p>I cannot believe they didn’t move you to first class. I would have been so loud and obnoxious and let everyone in the plane know the situation that they would have been begging me to go to first class. Seriously, a voucher for a first-class ticket and a new laptop cover would be the least I’d settle for.</p>
<p>@lefthandofdog,
I had a TWA mishap that, at the time, was my worst flight ever, until the Air France projectile vomit flight. There was no vomit on the TWA flight, only dingleberries.</p>
<p>We were aboard at JFK, waiting to shut the door, push back, and take off to Rome, when the announcement was made that there was a mechanical problem, and they had to await the arrival of a replacement part.</p>
<p>We sat for about 2 hours when it was announced that they decided to start the dinner service-- groan. That was the first hint of how bad it was going to be. In all we sat on the ground for EIGHT HOURS, before flying 7 hours to Rome. By that time the lavs were trashed, and there was no more food except for the dried up breakfast. They would not let any of us off the plane.</p>
<p>When we finally landed, GMTspouse went to cockpit to scream at the captain about the incarceration, the abuse, and the “dried dingleberry muffin” they served us for breakfast. The captain tried not to crack a smile at the dingleberry rant and wrote an apologetic note on the back of his business card.</p>
<p>At the end of of trip, when we checked in for our return flight, we handed the agent the captain’s note. The agent said, “oh [gulp] you were on THAT flight…” and upgraded us, not to business class, but first class.</p>