We’re airing their dirty laundry.
Thousands of passengers have been affected after Finnair canceled several October flights because its seats weren’t properly cleaned.
“We have temporarily suspended operations on a portion of our A320 fleet (8 A321 aircraft),” a spokesperson the Finland-based carrier announced in a statement, the Independent reported.
The issue reportedly occurred because the seat covers in eight of its fleet were incorrectly washed with water instead of the approved detergent, potentially impacting the efficacy of the fire-retardant chemicals coating them and rendering them unsafe, Flight Radar reported.
Airline reps noted that the impact of said cleaning method on fire protection had “not been properly verified.”
Between October 13-21, over 10,000 passengers had a monkey wrench thrown in their travel plans as flyers were warned to expect delays, cancellations and other changes.
Reps for the airlines also said they’d minimize disruptions by making aircraft changes, but that these would likely “result in overbooking” on select flights with their partner, Lithuanian airline DAT LT, beginning on October 15.
Affected passengers on canceled or overbooked flights would be contacted through text, per the carrier, yle reported.
However, they announced that they wouldn’t compensate passengers for flights that were canceled due to the cleaning mishap, which they deemed an “exceptional circumstance” caused by a design or manufacturing fault, Finnish media reported.
In accordance, they deemed rebooking passengers onto alternative flights to be a sufficient form of compensation.
Despite the mass disruptions, airlines spokespeople assured flyers that safety is “always our top priority, and we always follow the manufacturers’ maintenance instructions as well as the instructions and recommendations of the authorities.”
The airline apologized for “the uncertainty and inconvenience” that the disruption caused to people’s travel plans.
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