Another US airline is facing a backlash after a family claimed they were told to leave a flight for refusing to give up their child's seat, and were then told they could go to jail.
Brian and Brittany Schear of Huntington Beach, California, told KABC-TV in Los Angeles that they were returning from Maui, Hawaii with their two-year-old son and one-year-old daughter. He said once they exited the plane, their seats were filled with four other customers who had purchased tickets, but had no seats. But employees also told him that because the seat was in his son Mason's name, the seat couldn't be given to the infant.
Thereafter, they had been threatened with jail after they had refused to offer their son's seat on a crowded flight.
An airline employee was can be heard on video saying, "So this is a federal offense".
Schear told NBC 4 that he informed airline staff about the situation before the family boarded the plane.
"You're saying you're gonna give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat?" the father said.
Schear explained that he initially bought the seat for his 18-year-old son, but chose to fly him back to California early so that the toddler could have a seat for himself.
If you closely at the fine print when you pay for your airline tickets, you'll see switching seats is not allowed. Schear bought another ticket for his teenager on a different flight so that his two-year-old take the seat and sleep more easily.
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However, the Federal Aviation Administration "strongly urges" infants be in vehicle seats and permits adults to hold children under 2 in their laps.
During the video, an airline worker explained to Schear that the two-year-old can not be in a vehicle seat and must be accommodated in the lap of a parent because of his weight.
Delta has since said it was "sorry for the unfortunate experience" and would compensate the family.
The airline says it has reached out to the Schear family to refund their travel and provide them with additional compensation. Join the discussion on our Facebook page.
But, the Federal Aviation Administration recommends the exact opposite and "strongly urges" that infants be in a vehicle seat for the duration of a flight. "That did not happen in this case and we apologise". Delta already released a statement about the incident.
Despite Schear later relenting and agreeing to hold the child, the crew member tells him the family was being removed from the plane because "it's come too far". "It was midnight in Maui and we had to get a hotel and purchase new tickets the following day", Shear wrote in the description of the video.
The revelation of this latest incident comes just one week after United Airlines reached an undisclosed settlement with Dr. David Dao, the subject of the now infamous video showing him being dragged from his seat and off a plan.
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