After a woman collapsed and died on a long-haul flight from Australia to Qatar, she was placed in an empty seat—next to Mitchell Ring and Jennifer Colin, who shared a row with the corpse for 4 hours. The Qatar Airways flight crew refused to let them change seats and told them to remain seated even as medical staff "addressed the body" after landing.
"They looked a bit frustrated, then they just looked at me and saw seats were available beside me, my wife was on the other side, we were in a row of four," Ring said. "They said, 'Can you move over please?' and I just said, 'Yes no problem'. Then they placed the lady in the chair I was in."
Not letting them change seats is insanity. That should have been an immediate and unqualified offer! Qatar Airways, owned by the Qatari government, apologized "for any inconvenience or distress."
Previously:
• 'Gate lice': The insulting nickname airline staff and premier flyers use for eager boarders
• German airline Lufthansa given record $4m fine after refusing to board Jews on Frankfurt flight
• A service to help airline passengers get compensated for lost bags, delays, cancellations and overbookings
