Family kicked off flight after refusing to give up toddler's seat

A family claims it was kicked off a flight for refusing to give up a child's seat.

US airline Delta has come under fire for its treatment of the family, who were flying from Hawaii to Los Angeles last month.

A YouTube video, which has been viewed over two million times, shows Brian Schear arguing that he has paid for the seat, while crew members argue with him, on a flight Mr Schear claims was overbooked.

See also: Passenger kicked off flight for using toilet

See also: Family makes £9,000 compensation claim for overbooked flight

Mr Schear said he had originally booked the seat for his older son, who had taken an earlier flight to make sure one of his other children would have a seat.

One crew member initially told him that his other son owned the seat so the toddler could not sit there.

His two-year-old was sitting in a child safety seat, which crew members then claimed was banned under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and said the child would have to sit in an adult's lap. However, the BBC reports that this is at odds with Delta's published advice, which says that for children under two years "we recommend you purchase a seat on the aircraft and use an approved child safety seat".

The company's advice says an infant under two may be held in a parent's lap if they choose.

The FAA's website also "strongly urges" parents to put young children in a safety device in their own seat.

In the argument, an airline employee told Mr Schear "the plane is not going to move... we can all sit here all night if that's what you guys want to do".

Despite Mr Schear later relenting and agreeing to hold the child, the crew member told him the family was being removed from the plane because "it's come too far".

When he responded that there was nowhere for his family, including two infants, to go and no more flights, the crew member can be heard saying: "You guys are on your own."

Delta has since said it was "sorry for the unfortunate experience" and would compensate the family.

According to the Metro, the airline said: "We are sorry for the unfortunate experience our customers had with Delta, and we've reached out to them to refund their travel and provide additional compensation."

Advertisement