Passenger booted from Mexico WestJet flight for excessive bathroom use

‘If you’re sick before a flight, hold it in,” advised X user

A WestJet passenger alleged that she was booted off a flight for using the bathroom too much before takeoff.

Author Joanna Chiu (@joannachiu) revealed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that airline staff removed her from the flight after an “upset stomach” led her to take multiple trips to the bathroom. The incident reportedly occurred in January.

She wrote on the platform, “Just got kicked off a @WestJet flight from Mexico because I had an upset stomach and was going to the washroom too much before takeoff. No promise of a hotel or rebooked flight. I had meds and was on the mend. Some customer service.”

“If you’re sick before a flight, hold it in…” she cautioned potential passengers. “In my rush to get off the plane alone, I left my money with travel companions and @WestJet supervisor refused to pay for my taxi to a hotel 20 min away. He called a guard over to intimidate me but when I burst into tears the guard assessed rightly that WestJet dude was the a**hole.”

She added that she filmed her exchange with the guard, but claimed that a WestJet supervisor said that if she didn’t delete the video, she wouldn’t be able to join one of their flights the next day.

“I requested another employee help me,” she wrote. “She was much nicer but refused to give me a booking reference for my rebooked flight. She told me to just come back to the airport tomorrow and ask at the counter.”

Chiu noted that it frustrated her that she couldn’t get the proper help she needed without airing her grievances publicly. The company only direct messaged her booking reference number after she called them out on social media rather than giving it to her when she asked customer support at the airport.

X users sounded off in the comments section, perplexed by Chiu’s situation.

“What the heck! How many times does going to the washroom get you the boot?” one user asked. She responded with a few words of advice, “If you go to the washroom before a flight, and the flight attendant asks if you are sick, say you just have a small bladder.”

“This is outrageous,” another person wrote, while someone else commented: “Ridiculous. I’m sorry this happened.”

Meanwhile, one former flight attendant noted that the airline was likely just following protocol. “They made the right call,” they wrote. “I can’t vouch for how they communicated to/with you, but the decision wasn’t wrong.”

“The passenger was ill and as such should not have been flying,” another person added. “Sounds like this problem could have resulted in the passenger needing to occupy the lavatory for the entire return flight, or at times when ‘in seat’ is [required] for safety. Good call, poorly communicated.”