Delta Air Lines has been forced into an apology after another embarrassing overbooking incident.
A family of four, including two infants, were booted from a flight for refusing to give up a seat for one child which had been booked and paid for.
However, most damaging for the airline is the actions and words of one flight attendant.
According to the Shear family they were threatened with jail time and their children would be placed in foster care.
The family were then told to leave the plane, and were forced to find overnight accommodation and buy new tickets at their own expense.
The dispute arose after the flight attendant said the toddler was not allowed a seat and must be placed on a lap for the flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles. The seat was originally booked in the name of the Shear’s teen son who had already flown out of Hawaii on an earlier flight.
"With him being two, he cannot sit in the car seat. He has to sit in your arms the whole time," the employee says, which is not strictly true.
The airline’s website recommends buying a seat for infants as long as they have the necessary car seat or child restraints, which the family did.
The family said they were authorized to use the seat for the infant after informing a gate agent earlier in the terminal.
Delta said in a 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."
Then amazingly, the carrier tried to distance itself from the touchy subject of overbooking.
The family was booted for reasons other than overbooking, it said. but conveniently failed to say exactly what for.
