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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Passenger travelling whilst really ill

473 replies

Notjustanother · 28/10/2023 09:56

Took a flight to Berlin last week. Woman next to me was coughing the entire flight; deep phlegmmy cough and spitting stuff up. Clearly should have been in bed. It was grim. As a minimum she should have been wearing a mask.

Five days later I felt very ill, and tested positive for Covid. A former colleague who also happened to be on the flight, sitting in front of this woman, has also tested positive.

Since then I have lost half a stone in weight, been horrendously ill and am having difficulty breathing. Today we were supposed to be going away for a much looked forward to half term holiday, we have had to cancel and pay the £200 insurance excess.

The woman was on a mini break with her husband, but did some work on the flight. She works for a law firm.

Would I be unreasonable to contact the law firm and complain - especially as she was working for them during the flight. I have her name.

I am furious that her rank selfishness has made me (and others on the flight) so ill. There could be no doubt that she was going to infect others on the flight, and must have known that there was a high risk that she had Covid.

I think she needs to be made accountable for her actions, or at the very least be made aware of how her actions have affected others. AIBU?

OP posts:
PassageDEnfer · 28/10/2023 10:54

SomeCatFromJapan · 28/10/2023 10:50

Firstly, she didn't break any rules or do anything she was prohibited from doing.
Secondly, she may not have had covid at all, she may have had different chest infection and you caught it from someone completely different. There is no way of knowing.

But we should've learnt enough from SARS and COVID to understand we should mask up if we are symptomatic and are going to sit on a plane for hours?

Paddleboarder · 28/10/2023 10:54

There is no point and you can't be absolutely positive. Also just because she was doing work during a trip with her husband, it doesn't mean the law firm expected her to. She may not have known she had Covid - most people don't even test.

LIZS · 28/10/2023 10:54

Sorry you are unwell. Recently travelled on a flight where the young guy n next seat was googling treatments for sore throat and on a train where a woman was texting how her travel companion had a fever and had taken to her bed. Unfortunately now a risk of life if uncomfortable. In fact it has always been that way with other illnesses, you just never knew.

DragonFly98 · 28/10/2023 10:55

Hbh17 · 28/10/2023 10:05

You have no idea if you caught Covid from this person.
Whoever may have had Covid is not prohibited from travelling.
It would be completely ridiculous to complain to this person's employer.
Oh, and you do realise that masks don't work.....

Wow checks date yes 2023 and people are still spouting the nonsense that masks don't work.

5128gap · 28/10/2023 10:55

I think you're being very U OP, because before covid came along, no one would have dreamt of trying to exact revenge for the misfortune of being ill on the nearest handy target. Who may or may not have even been the cause of their illness.
I've lost count of the times I've come down with something on holiday that I've presumably caught on the flight. Its very difficult to avoid in the confined space and stale air of a plane. It would never have crossed my mind to identify a culprit and try and cause problems for them at work. The very idea would be ludicrous.
The sooner we get past this trend of obsession with blame, and go back to accepting illness as an unavoidable fact of life, the better.

crumblingschools · 28/10/2023 10:55

Why would you contact her employers if she was on a mini break? Not saying you should contact them if she was on a business trip either

usernamealreadytaken · 28/10/2023 10:56

Notjustanother · 28/10/2023 09:56

Took a flight to Berlin last week. Woman next to me was coughing the entire flight; deep phlegmmy cough and spitting stuff up. Clearly should have been in bed. It was grim. As a minimum she should have been wearing a mask.

Five days later I felt very ill, and tested positive for Covid. A former colleague who also happened to be on the flight, sitting in front of this woman, has also tested positive.

Since then I have lost half a stone in weight, been horrendously ill and am having difficulty breathing. Today we were supposed to be going away for a much looked forward to half term holiday, we have had to cancel and pay the £200 insurance excess.

The woman was on a mini break with her husband, but did some work on the flight. She works for a law firm.

Would I be unreasonable to contact the law firm and complain - especially as she was working for them during the flight. I have her name.

I am furious that her rank selfishness has made me (and others on the flight) so ill. There could be no doubt that she was going to infect others on the flight, and must have known that there was a high risk that she had Covid.

I think she needs to be made accountable for her actions, or at the very least be made aware of how her actions have affected others. AIBU?

What has your GP or hospital said about your acute illness? Covid aside, losing half a stone in four or five days is extraordinary, and would probably require medical attention, not least for fluid/salts replacement.

There’s also nothing to prove that she gave you Covid; you were on an aeroplane for an hour or two with several hundred people all breathing the same air, and there’s every chance she may have tested and been negative - would you expect every person with a cold not to travel?

Universalsnail · 28/10/2023 10:56

This is completely unreasonable.

I mean it's awful you have for ill but you don't know anything about her. If might not even have been her that gave you Covid. The cough could have been long standing and not shifting. Obviously it is quite likely she did give you Covid but you don't know that for certain. You would come across unhinged contacting her employer and I am not sure what they are meant to do about it.

ColleenDonaghy · 28/10/2023 10:56

Don't be ridiculous. No travel insurance policy is going to pay out because the policyholder didn't fancy travelling with a cough.

Malarandras · 28/10/2023 10:58

If you do contact this law firm, assuming they reply to you at all, expect their response to be proof you got COVID from this woman - lawyers deal in evidence. You might be convinced that’s where you go it, and it seems likely, but you do not actually have any proof. You will just have to get over it.

Justcallmebebes · 28/10/2023 10:58

Notjustanother · 28/10/2023 09:56

Took a flight to Berlin last week. Woman next to me was coughing the entire flight; deep phlegmmy cough and spitting stuff up. Clearly should have been in bed. It was grim. As a minimum she should have been wearing a mask.

Five days later I felt very ill, and tested positive for Covid. A former colleague who also happened to be on the flight, sitting in front of this woman, has also tested positive.

Since then I have lost half a stone in weight, been horrendously ill and am having difficulty breathing. Today we were supposed to be going away for a much looked forward to half term holiday, we have had to cancel and pay the £200 insurance excess.

The woman was on a mini break with her husband, but did some work on the flight. She works for a law firm.

Would I be unreasonable to contact the law firm and complain - especially as she was working for them during the flight. I have her name.

I am furious that her rank selfishness has made me (and others on the flight) so ill. There could be no doubt that she was going to infect others on the flight, and must have known that there was a high risk that she had Covid.

I think she needs to be made accountable for her actions, or at the very least be made aware of how her actions have affected others. AIBU?

I work in corporate law. Trust me, they will close ranks faster than you can sneeze and then make mincemeat of you

Nothankyou22 · 28/10/2023 10:58

Yes you’re being unreasonable. There is plenty going around this time of year, half my flight was coughing on the way here and I’m not ill, if I get ill I won’t pin in to so and so in a certain seat and definitely wouldn’t be contacting someone’s work place.

JustAMinutePleass · 28/10/2023 10:58

Do it. Most customer facing employers are very clear about their covid policy - 100% if she took a flight to holiday she came into work and infected people there too

user19888891 · 28/10/2023 10:58

I understand this is very disappointing for you and I would be annoyed too.
But there’s no way of knowing where you got covid, it might have been her, it might have been someone else on the plane or elsewhere.
and you don’t know when she got symptoms- was it in the airport? Should she have turned away and gone home if that’s the case?
Also maybe she knew she was ill but had to travel for an emergency.
I don’t think complaining to her work is reasonable or fair tbh.
I hope you feel better quickly - and I assume you will be isolating until all your symptoms have completely resolved

NuffSaidSam · 28/10/2023 10:58

LIZS · 28/10/2023 10:54

Sorry you are unwell. Recently travelled on a flight where the young guy n next seat was googling treatments for sore throat and on a train where a woman was texting how her travel companion had a fever and had taken to her bed. Unfortunately now a risk of life if uncomfortable. In fact it has always been that way with other illnesses, you just never knew.

Why are you reading the Google searches/text messages of people sitting next to you? I find that more troubling than travelling with a cough tbh. Mind your own business!

Inastatus · 28/10/2023 10:59

LIZS · 28/10/2023 10:54

Sorry you are unwell. Recently travelled on a flight where the young guy n next seat was googling treatments for sore throat and on a train where a woman was texting how her travel companion had a fever and had taken to her bed. Unfortunately now a risk of life if uncomfortable. In fact it has always been that way with other illnesses, you just never knew.

@LIZS - wow, do you really read other people’s texts?

howshouldibehave · 28/10/2023 10:59

We are still expected into work with Covid unless we are at death’s door. That means every class of 30 we teach stand a high chance of catching whatever we have (and vice versa).

henlee · 28/10/2023 10:59

Notjustanother · 28/10/2023 10:17

So I know you’re not prohibited from travelling with Covid, the advice is isolate if you can.

But surely you exercise some common sense and don’t put other people in harms way? She was off on a mini break with her husband; completely non essential travel.

I could have gone away on my holiday today - but I wouldn’t do that to everyone else on the plane. Just because you CAN legally do something, does not mean you should.

I am all for reducing COVID transmission but it's not fair at this point to demand everyone self-isolates when they have symptoms that could indicate an infection. I think suppression policies need to be inbuilt for it to be workable.

She could end up losing her job with all the downstream consequences for her and her family if you report her, for the reasons PP have outlined

I would not want to have that on my conscious.

I am really sorry you're so ill and hope you make a speedy recovery Flowers

AfterWeights · 28/10/2023 11:00

The law firm will consider it a positive that she continued to work if she felt able to.

You could have got ill anywhere. You can't hold an individual to blame. If you don't want to ever catch anything, you stay home.

ilovesooty · 28/10/2023 11:01

Kelta · 28/10/2023 10:24

Just so that you’re aware, if you could see her work enough that you have her name and her firm details then I suspect you could see the actual work she was doing. If so then there is a chance she could lose her job over this.

Im not saying she was right, either in terms of potential breaches of confidentiality or in terms of travelling with covid but do you feel that strongly about it that you’d want someone to potentially lose their job.

the law firm won’t give a shit that she coughed near you but they will care significantly about a potential breach of confidentiality.

I think the firm is far more likely to be interested in this than whether she travelled on a personal trip when she was sick.

Of course your motives for reporting her are based on her apparent sickness, not on her carelessness with information.

Greengagesnfennel · 28/10/2023 11:01

Really sorry to hear this op.. I hope you feel better soon.
Did you wear a mask yourself and catch it anyway? I'm asking because I have a flight coming up this week and i'm wondering if it's worth it. I've flown a lot recently for work and always wear one but it's uncomfortable and a faff and I'm wondering if I'm just wasting my time...I've seen 1 or 2 other people still wearing them and that's it.

newrubylane · 28/10/2023 11:02

I had a cough for seven weeks recently. Should I just have never left the house?

Inastatus · 28/10/2023 11:02

JustAMinutePleass · 28/10/2023 10:58

Do it. Most customer facing employers are very clear about their covid policy - 100% if she took a flight to holiday she came into work and infected people there too

@JustAMinutePleass The OP doesn’t even know the other woman had covid! It could have been a bad cold/chest infection. There is no requirement to test so how can it be proved?

BringMeTea · 28/10/2023 11:02

She's a selfish c u next Tuesday OP. A lot of them about these days. Feel better.

NuffSaidSam · 28/10/2023 11:02

OP did you and your colleague test for Covid before you got on the plane?