Couple with infant son kicked off Delta Airlines flight and threatened with prison
A couple claim they were booted off a Delta Airlines flight and threatened with prison after they refused to give up their infant son’s seat.
Brian Schear, wife Brittany and their two children, aged two and one, were travelling with another child from Hawaii to Los Angeles on April 23 when they were allegedly ordered off the plane shortly before take off.
Dramatic footage captured onboard shows Mr Schear arguing with air officials before he is eventually forced to take his family off the flight.
He is heard complaining that he has been asked to give up his son’s seat after the flight was oversold.
‘You’re saying you’re gonna give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat? That’s not right’, he remonstrates to a female employee.
‘With him being two, he cannot sit in the car seat. He has to sit in your arms the whole time’, the employee replies.
Despite eventually agreeing to hold his young son on his lap, Mr Schear was told that his whole family had to leave the flight.
Speaking to KABC, he also alleged that 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.’
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Mr Shear originally bought the seat for his 18-year-old son Mason, but sent him home on an earlier flight so that Grayson, his younger son was able to use it.
After the ordeal, the family reportedly booked a hotel room and spent $2,000 (£1,550) for a United Airlines flight the following day.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Delta Airlines said: ‘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.’