A California couple is claiming they were kicked off a Delta Air Lines flight after refusing to give up a seat they bought for another child of theirs.
Brian Schear, his wife, and two of their children, were reportedly boarding a flight from Maui, Hawaii, to Los Angeles on April 23 when airline officials asked the couple to give up a seat Schear says he had purchased for their older son.
However, their 18-year-old son had gone home on an earlier flight, Schear said, and they planned to use their seat for one of their younger children.
In the video, the female employee tells him that they need the seat because the flight was overbooked and, since the ticket was in his older son’s name, but he wasn’t on the flight, the seat was technically vacant.
“You're saying you're gonna give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat? That's not right,” Schear tells the Delta employee.
A different employee approaches the family and tells Schear that his younger son cannot sit in a car seat due to age restrictions. Instead, she says the toddler would instead have to remain in the couple’s arms during the near six-hour flight. “He can’t occupy a seat because he’s two years or younger. That’s FAA regulations," she says.
Technically, that's not true. Though most domestic airlines permit children under 2 years of age to fly seated in an adult's lap, the Federal Aviation Administration advises that the safest place for small children is actually in their own seat -- with a government-approved child safety restraint system!!!
He eventually agrees to put the baby in his lap during the flight but apparently it was too late. Ultimately, the female employee told him and his family to get off the flight. Schear says the family stayed on the island for another night and purchased new tickets ($2000) on United to leave the next day.
Delta released the following statement: “We’re sorry for what this family experienced. Our team has reached out and will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution.”