Delta has issued a public apology after a Florida man said he was forced to sit on an airline seat covered with dog feces during a flight from Atlanta to Miami.
Matthew Meehan said that after he boarded the flight last week, he noticed there was dog poop all over the plane's floor and his seat. "Actual feces and it was all over me. I sat in it and it was on the seat, on the floor, the seat in front. And I was literally in it," Meehan told WXYZ TV.
Meehan said he went to a flight attendant for assistance and was shocked by what happened next.
"I have no idea why I wasn't offered something from the biohazard kit to clean myself up with. Instead, I was handed two paper towels and one of those miniature bottles of Bombay Sapphire, a bottle of gin to clean myself with," Meehan said.
Meehan said he took the paper towels and gin into the bathroom hoping his seat would be clean by the time he came out.
That didn't happen. In fact, he said, things got worse.
"It got all over my bare ankles," he told Yahoo! "They didn't give me gloves. I had to take my pants off because it's on the back of my pants, so feces, at this point, is transferring to my hands, with no kind of sanitizing solution to be able to clean anything with, and only one tiny bottle of gin."
Meehan said the flight crew told him that the poop-stained seat was the fault of the cleaning crew and that "If they didn't clean, that's not our responsibility, someone from the gate needs to take care of that," he recalled.
He told Yahoo! that he tried to speak to a supervisor who was very confrontational.
"So I said, 'Can we get that cleaned up so I can sit down?' So she says, 'Sir, it's almost time for that plane to leave. You can sit in your seat or you can be left behind.'"
After Meehan posted photos of his feces-covered footwear on Facebook, Delta issued a public apology and blamed the mess on a sick service animal that had been on the previous flight:
"On Nov. 1, an aircraft operating flight 1949 from Atlanta to Miami was boarded before cleaning was completed following an incident from a previous flight with an ill service animal.
"Delta apologizes to customers impacted by the incident and has reached out to make it right, offering a refund and additional compensation.
"The safety and health of our customers and employees is our top priority, and we are conducting a full investigation while following up with the right teams to prevent this from happening again."
The airline said the plane was deep-cleaned and disinfected upon landing in Miami, where Meehan lives.
But Meehan says he refuses to accept the apology until Delta explains why the flight crew failed to adequately respond to the situation.
"There was still feces in the carpet and feces under my seat," he told CNBC TV. "We took blankets to cover the floor and cover the seat."
In addition, he's not impressed by Delta's refund offer: 50,000 frequent flyer miles plus a new suit and shoes.
"I bought a plane ticket and you made me sit and fester in dog feces for two hours. Shame on you," he said. "I'm a million-miler and this is how you treat me?"
