Posted on 05/05/2017 12:31:35 AM PDT by Morgana
FULL TITLE: Delta staff 'tell California couple they could be jailed and lose their children if their son, two, doesn't give up his seat' as they are ejected from flight in row over overbooking
A California couple were told they'd be sent to jail if they did not give up their two-year-old son's seat on a Delta flight, they have claimed.
Brian and Brittany Schear allege they were also told their children would be taken from them, and have now demanded an apology.
It is the latest controversy around overbooked flights in the US.
Mr Schear claims a member of airline staff told him: 'You have to give up the seat or you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail and they'll take your kids from you.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Hopefully calling BS.
Drive or just take Amtrak
I have to fly a lot for work and fly 2-3 r/t flights a year for vacation as well. Having status helps make flying more bearable and flying first class makes it a lot more bearable but it’s never fun. While I completely understand the overbooking due to no-shows & connecting misses, they know about it before boarding starts and should start offering compensation well before this takes place.
lol. This was a flight from Hawaii to California. I don’t think Amtrak serves that route. Or AAA, for that matter.
Yeah, right. Maui to Los Angeles.
Did Elon Musk lay a tube on the floor of the Pacific for Amtrak to use?
Not BS, I saw it on the news last night. In a video, a LEO tells the family that they willbe arrested and their kids put in foster care.
Our domestic airlines have been out of control since 9/11. I used to work overseas and in the last 10 years, have seen how domestic flight attendents have become cow herders. They just lack the shock stick.
I would be very hesitant to fly domestically now.
Foreign crews still treat passengers with respect and dignity.
Looks like Delta wanted to double dip, as the man had already paid for a son’s seat. They told him to hold the kid on his lap during the flight so they could sell the seat again.
TReat a passenger horribly, get canned.. client sues gets big payday.. former airline employee gets big payoff.. sounds like a possible scam but I’m a cynic
“Drive or just take Amtrak”. “Yeah, right. Maui to Los Angeles”.
Obviously, there are situations which requires flying. However, I live in the DFW area and several years ago I started driving instead of flying those one hour hops around Texas. The net net is that total elapsed time is the same or less by driving than flying. And, a heck of a lot more comfortable and a heck of a lot less stressful for sure. SW or AA have never threatened to kick me out of my own truck. Screw’em I say....
Methinks Delta has double-dipped into United's bowl of rhubarb.
It sounds more like a question of whether or not a this family can switch user of the seat or not. They bought tickets for the mom, dad, and a teenage son. They had planned for the two toddlers to sit in the parents laps. The teenage son decides to fly on a different flight. We are not told whether or not he trades in his original ticket for the ticket on the new flight or if a whole new ticket was purchased, so we do not know if the parents still actually have a ticket for a third seat on their flight. And even if the teenager did buy a whole new ticket, it now becomes the question of can a different passenger (his baby brother) use the abandoned ticket? I seem to remember that there is a hard rule that ONLY the person named on the ticket at purchase may use that ticket.
No no you have it all wrong the airlines are mandated to treat their passengers like cattle and screw them over when they can it’s all in the Fed’s regulations as well as the core of their business model and is the only way they can make money. Some FReepers will be along shortly to explain just how wrong you are to hold airlines responsible for their behavior.
It should certainly be easier and less unpleasant, and less likely to draw expensive lawsuits if people are prevented from boarding the flight in the first place than waiting until they are settled in and ready to go. Getting some money back would be more likely acceptable if one is not yet on the plane. The practice of uprooting people who are already seated is nonsensical. I expect the least polite method to be used at UAL because that attitude seems to be part of their marketing strategy but the other airlines have no excuse.
Update, 5/4, 5:25 p.m: Delta has responded with the following statement:
"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. Delta's goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize."
I want Delta sued. This kind of threat is unacceptable. Millions of dollars in damages, and bankrupt Delta. To hell with them.
I’m in the same boat. I fly a lot for business but you can’t pay me enough to fly for vacation if I can drive instead.
Part of it is the strip search required every time you get on the plane. I’m not a moslem nor do I look like a moslem, why are they harassing me? Why don’t hey go after actual terrorists (moslems) instead?
Part of it is the outrageous costs involved for travelling as a family. Even just my family of two saves hugely by driving any trip shorter than about 20 hours driving time vs flying and then renting a car at our destination. Not to mention baggage restrictions when you fly. Try to bring all your beach equipment on a flight and you’ll pay hundreds of dollars in checked baggage fees. I’d rather spend that money having fun at the beach!
And part of it is the John Rocker theorem. Why sit next to smelly people who you don’t know and don’t like, who insist on invading your space when you can drive in the roomy privacy of your own car? Not to mention the extra risk of terrorist activity.
We fortunately live in an old US Airway hub city so I have mostly direct flights (and we have TSA-Pre/Global entry, Admirals Club pass and I have platinum status with American Airlines which also really helps). If I had to deal with connecting flights all the time I'd go crazy.
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