BAY CITY, Mich. (WJRT) – A Bay City, Michigan man is still coming to grips with what he went through on a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Miami after he sat in dog feces.
Matthew Meehan said Delta’s response has made the matter worse.
Meehan flies a lot, and on November 1 boarded a late-night Delta flight from Atlanta to Miami. He remembers smelling a foul odor when he was getting on the plane. Another passenger next to him smelled it too.
Meehan reached down to grab his phone charger when he discovered what was happening.
“It wasn’t until I literally got down in there that I realized, oh my gosh, I am in feces,” he said.
He initially didn’t know whether it was human or animal feces, but Meehan said there was “a lot” of it, and it had gotten on his shoes and clothes.
He went to the lavatory after a flight attendant gave him some clean-up items.
“I was supposed to be OK with two paper towels and a bottle of gin, and they also didn’t stop the boarding,” Meehan said.
As the boarding continued, he got off the plane to speak with someone at the check-in desk. Eventually, more paper towels were brought on board to wipe down the affected seats and floor area.
Meehan wasn’t satisfied with the clean-up, but a Delta employee gave him some options.
“‘Sir, I am pushing this plane back, it is time to go, you can either sit in your seat or be left behind,'” he recalled an employee telling him at the gate.
Meehan needed to get to Miami, so he reluctantly sat in the now blanket-covered seat.
“Was the animal or person sick? Have I been exposed to something? Do I need to get inoculated?” he remembers wondering.
Delta took the plane out of service once it landed in Miami. The company issued the following statement Tuesday about the incident:
“Delta apologizes to a customer affected by an issue on board a recent flight after the area around his seat was not appropriately cleaned following an incident involving an ill emotional support animal. Delta has issued a refund and additional compensation to the customer impacted by this incident. 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. Upon landing in Miami, the aircraft was taken out of service to be deep-cleaned and disinfected.”
Meehan said Delta is offering compensation for his trouble, which includes reimbursement for his shoes and clothes, plus a refund for the flight. But that’s not going to be enough for him.
“I am not a litigious person, but I will say I have had an incredible amount of attorneys reach out to me wanting to take the case,” Meehan said.
