Urine-soaked seat sparks fresh anger at British Airways service standards

A British Airways passenger’s viral account of flying eight hours in a urine-soaked seat has reignited criticism of the carrier’s customer care.

On boarding an eight-hour flight from Miami to London Heathrow, she says she found urine soaking her seat. Her pants were wet when she sat down. Cabin crew told her every seat was occupied, she says. Staff provided paper towels and a small container of antibacterial spray to clean the mess.

She couldn’t even get an extra blanket, the passenger says. She asked for something to put on the seat but was told there were no spare blankets. She covered the area with her blanket, bag and paper towels. The label on the bottle in her photo identifies it as 15ml of antibacterial cleaning spray.

At first, she thought someone nearby was cooking fish. Then she worried the passengers around her would think she’d wet herself. She posted the story on November 1, followed by the video the next day. Her tweet has received more than 1.6 million views.

British Airways first responded to her tweet five hours and 23 minutes later. The airline apologised and directed her to the website to make a formal complaint. The following day, another British Airways representative asked her to send her booking details and follow the chat menu to reach an agent.

Seats that can’t be properly cleaned should be taken out of service, the article notes. Having sold every other seat doesn’t make a soiled one usable. The time between flights is an opportunity to switch cushions.

There have been similar incidents before. In 2017, a British Airways passenger discovered urine on his seat during a London to Cape Town flight. He said a flight attendant gave him wipes and left him to clean it. For the 11-and-a-half-hour journey, he put a plastic bag and blanket over the seat. BA initially offered the 2017 passenger 5,000 Avios. After he complained, BA offered him a choice of a £435 voucher or an upgrade for his next flight to Cape Town.

A British Airways business class passenger travelling to Jamaica found urine on his pillow, seat and trousers in 2018. He received an offer of 40,000 Avios and was transferred to a seat away from his wife. Last year, the article covered a woman's account of urinating in her premium economy seat on a Boston to London Heathrow flight.

Further operational issues have emerged in separate reports. The Guardian said British Airways check-in staff twice insisted on checking a passenger's father's fragile 20kg dialysis machine into the aircraft hold. The machine was first damaged, then lost. The father suffers from terminal renal failure and relies on the equipment every night to survive.

On the family's return flight to Rome, the machine was missing. After waiting until 2am, the parents were told to go home without it. The machine was finally delivered three days later, with its protective case unsealed and critical internal components disconnected. BA has since told the family a seat could have been bought. A month had passed since the initial complaint, with nothing but auto-generated acknowledgments. BA offered £300 in e-vouchers to, in its words, "put things right".

Service and fleet comparisons

Consumer group Which? compares British Airways with its main long-haul competitor, Virgin Atlantic. Virgin scored higher than BA across nearly all passenger measures, including value for money and airport lounges, Which? says. In both business and economy class, Virgin received stronger value-for-money ratings than BA.

Planes in Virgin's modern fleet average around seven to eight years old, compared with around 13 years for BA. Which? says BA won’t phase out planes that are over 25 years old until 2030.

Passengers travelling to New York, Canada or the Caribbean with British Airways may find their seats are less than 17 inches wide, Which? says. On a summer holiday to Benidorm, EasyJet or Ryanair provide more space. Virgin doesn’t have any flights with seats less than 17 inches wide.

Which? asked 855 people who flew business class about their experience. Singapore Air, Emirates and Qatar scored best, all above 83%. Virgin Atlantic got 77%, while British Airways was at the bottom on 61%. Which? says a recurring customer complaint is BA's additional charge for business class passengers to choose a seat. BA stood out with just two stars for value for money.

For long-haul economy, BA received a customer score of 72%. Only its customer service earned more than three stars.

Middle East route disruptions

British Airways has resumed direct services to Dubai after an eight-month suspension. The airline extended the suspension because conflict in the Middle East continues. For the winter season, a daily service to Dubai International airport will leave London Heathrow at 8pm, starting 3 November.

At the end of February, the US and Iran exchanged missile strikes, prompting BA to ground its flights to the United Arab Emirates. BA initially planned to restart Dubai services on 25 October, but pushed the date back to 3 November.

In September, the airline confirmed Abu Dhabi services will remain suspended until the end of next year. Passengers from the UK are left with just one other direct flight option: Etihad, the only airline currently flying direct from the UK to Abu Dhabi. It flies out of London Heathrow and Manchester.

The Foreign Office warns about the situation. "The context in the Middle East remains deeply unpredictable, and the risk of sudden escalation is high," the FCDO said. "British nationals in, or planning to travel through, the Middle East should be prepared for possible flight cancellations, airspace closures, and travel disruptions."