In the latest in a series of airline scandals caught on video, Delta Air Lines removed a family from a flight from Maui to Los Angeles on April 23, threatening them with Jail Time if they didn’t give up a seat which they had paid for. Brian Schear of Huntington Beach had bought the additional seat for his son, who reportedly ended up catching an earlier flight home. Delta wanted that seat for a standby passenger. Schear insisted that he had paid for that seat and wanted to use it for one of the family’s two toddlers, who would be seated in a car seat.
Flight crew demands they give up the seat
As noted by CBS Los Angeles, Schear had enjoyed a family vacation in Maui with his wife, his 18-year-old son and toddler son and daughter. The family had three tickets for the Delta Air Lines flight, one for each adult and one for the teenager, who flew back the previous day. The two toddlers flew free.
The incident came to light after Schear posted a YouTube video of the airlines’ flight crew telling them they would be jailed if they refused to leave the flight. When Schear refuses to give up the extra seat, a female member of the flight crew tells him it is going to be a federal offense, adding that he and his wife and kids will be in jail. Schear is incredulous at her statement and insists he paid for that seat.
When Schear told them they were planning on letting one of their toddlers use the seat, they were told that was against Federal Aviation Administration rules. The flight crew member said the child would have to sit on one of their laps instead.
As reported by the New York Post, matters escalated as the airline staff member told Schear that the Delta flight wasn’t going anywhere until they left the plane.
Schear complained that by overbooking the flight, they had been told to give up a seat they had bought and paid for and now were being asked to leave the flight. Schear asked what the family was supposed to do, with two infants and nowhere to stay – sleep in the airport?
OC family wants apology from Delta after they were kicked off LA-bound flight, allegedly threatened with jail https://t.co/oaJZtgFp0c pic.twitter.com/0gSmZ8edB1
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) May 4, 2017
Family leaves the Delta Air Lines plane
The family did eventually leave the plane and managed to book another flight home the following day.
Schear told CBS that as they deplaned, there were four or five people waiting to take their seats. He said the bottom line was the airline oversold the flight. He added that he didn’t want a refund, just an apology from Delta Air Lines. According to CBS, the airline told them in a statement that they were sorry for what the family experienced and that they would be “reaching out” to the family to better understand what had happened.
