OC Family Kicked Off LAX-Bound Delta Flight After Being Told to Give Up 2-Year-Old Son’s Seat

An Orange County family says they were recently kicked off a Los Angeles bound Delta Air Lines flight after they were asked to give up a seat they purchased for their 2-year-old son.

Huntington Beach resident Brian Schear, who posted video of the April 23 incident on YouTube Wednesday, said he was on the flight leaving Maui with his wife and two children, ages 1 and 2, when they were approached by officials and asked to give up a seat he purchased for his older son.

In the eight-minute video, Schear is told that if he does not give up the seat he will be removed from the plane.

Another person tells Schear that being removed from the flight would be a federal offense and “you and your wife will be in jail.”

Schear explains that he purchased the extra seat so there would be room for his child’s car seat and so his son could sleep without disturbing other passengers.

An employee then tells Schear “with him being 2 he cannot sit in a car seat” and needs to be in an adults arms the whole time.

The airline’s website however actually recommends purchasing a seat for that purpose.

“We want you and your children to have the safest, most comfortable flight possible, for kids under the age of two, we recommend you purchase a seat on the aircraft and use an approved child safety seat,” the website states.

The employee goes on to tell Schear “from this point on this plane will not go anywhere until you guys choose to go … I’m just trying to help you.”

Before exiting the plane Schear responds to the employee.

“Trying to help us would have been not overselling the flight and not trying to force us to get him out of that seat that I paid for,” Schear says.

In his post, Schear said his family left the flight after midnight and had to go to a hotel and purchase new tickets the next day.

A statement issued by Delta Thursday did not explain why the family was asked to give up their seat, but said it was not due to overbooking.

“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. I can confirm that this was not because the flight was overbooked,” Delta Spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.

from KTLA http://ift.tt/2p0NHbX