Video of a Delta flight attendant threatening to have a passenger’s kids taken away by the government is being viewed by millions of people. It’s not a new video and the situation escalated badly.
It looks as though Delta is refusing to let a child sit in the seat they’d purchased for the child but that’s not true. The passenger was technically in the wrong here – though the airline handled it badly, and ultimately compensated the customer.
First, watch the video that millions are watching, and then I’ll explain what’s really happening here.
Delta flight attendant tells dad to give up his kid's seat, or go to jail pic.twitter.com/XWzyx0HTCk
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) July 1, 2024
This video is circulating widely now, but was actually from April 23, 2017! It was right after the David Dao passenger dragging incident on United Airlines, so everyone was super sensitive to kicking people off of planes. They were flying from Maui to Los Angeles, and the flight was oversold.
The family’s older son took a different flight out. They gave that child’s seat to their two year old – but the older family member was a no show and so Delta gave that seat to a standby passenger.
- The family felt they paid for the seat and should be able to use it
- Delta said the passenger booked into the seat didn’t show up, so they forfeited the seat
What the family should have done is checked their older son in, and used his boarding pass, saying it belonged to the two year old. They don’t ID two year olds!
The problem for Delta is that kicking off passengers from an oversold flight, to hand their seats to someone else, sounded a lot like what happened on United just a couple of weeks before. The problem for the family was that Delta was right under the rules. And they were too honest!
The family originally intended to fly with the young child as a lap infant, but they sent their 18 year old son home on an earlier flight. That way, they thought, they could just use his seat for the baby.
They boarded the flight, and the four family members took the four seats they had reserved. The airline, though, saw only three of them as boarded. The 18 year old was a no show for the flight. And they gave the seat to another passenger.
When the family refused to move, the airline threatened them with jail — and worse: “your wife is going to jail and they’ll take your kids from you.”
They didn’t want to go to jail, so they agreed to hold the young son on a lap for the flight. The airline still kicked them off, they booked themselves a hotel room and paid “$2,000 for another flight the next day, on United.” Delta eventually compensated the family, though the airline wasn’t actually in the wrong.
Of course things could be worse. This family could have been flying American Airlines, which has taken the position in court that even if they bought a seat for the child, they don’t have to let the child have the seat, and still wouldn’t give back their money.
Yes, they had to check in – what did they think the airline was not going to try and use the “available” seat in their eyes? dumb
Duck Felta, and every lying in flight drink machine that invents laws on the spot.
Airline drones making up threatening rules ? Not good .
I don’t understand what’s new here? This is the story of how I remember it when it was told back then…in 2017
This family tried this stunt on more than one airline before they were able to get it to go viral. They wanted to be compensated and make an airline look bad
For a premium experience, fly Delta and the sky team alliance.
2017? Those were the good old days and we didn’t even realize it.
I almost agree with Walter on this. No way they should be spewing legal advice to try to force compliance.
I thought overbooking is a common practice by airlines, which hope to make the most from each flight. Morally, one would think this is wrong, but they do as they do. It’s all about the Benjamins.
The flight attendant was a disgrace. I get what they do and what the family did but she was totally unprofessional in the handling of it. She should be fired. The people they hire now can be as obnoxious as the worst passengers. But they were not.
Why do flight attendants in America act like this? They honestly seem to think that they’re some kind of law enforcement and/or accountable to no one. Anywhere else in the world they would be sacked. It’s just bizarre to those of us that live in the normal world.
Thanks for this. You said “technically in the wrong,” but “in the wrong” is better and “caught trying to game the system” is my take. The original spin was about denying a kid a seat they paid for. I knew this was the true case. First, they booked three seats for Mom, Dad, and 18yo, with a 2yo and one younger as lap rats. What are the chances the 2yo is <2 given a younger non-twin? So, they should have bought a seat for 2yo on all legs. Second, they bought a new ticket for 18yo to return, with the plan to use his seat for 2yo, and then get a credit for the 18yo's original ticket. That is why they didn't check in the 18yo and use his boarding pass for 2yo (easy to succeed; a violation of rules). They would have had to pay for the seat 2yo used. I understand PR, but I would've loved to see DL ask for proof of the kid's age. The sad moral here is: try and game the system, get caught, make fuss, make yourself look like victims, pay no price for rule breaking, get rewarded for the trouble you created.
Can’t believe how many people in the comment section sided with the airline!!! The real WRONG here is the rules that allow the airline to sell the same seat TWICE!!! The airlines are the only industry allowed to “over-book” their product! You cannot do it for movies, concerts or other live events, but the airlines, sure you can sell 120% capacity of the aircraft! The airline received payment from the family for the seat and should have been able to use it however they want, within the “law”. It should not have been treated any different than an obese person buying 2 seats. Once a seat is paid for the airline industry should not be allowed to sell it a second time, what a racket.
Probably bacterial instead of viral, but reports are that Delta had to divert a Detroit flight to Amsterdam due to contaminated or spoiled food served. I am guessing it was premium food and that those there for your safety could not tell contaminated or spoiled food from good but not premium food.
I think I missed a possibility (am I allowed to admit that here?). Maybe Dad/Mom thought this was baseball. A member of your group doesn’t show for reserved seating to the game, you get no refund/credit, the seat is not resold, and every usher agrees you get to use it if you have that ticket. So, maybe they thought they were out of pocket for four tickets: the new one the18yo used and the three they purchased as part of a roundtrip (i.e., no refund/credit would come from the 18yo’s original ticket). So, they think they deserve 3 seats on that flight. So, it is possible they weren’t gaming (hoping for a refund/credit on 18yo’s ticket while getting the seat, so they didn’t cancel or get a B/P for 2yo), just naive.
Bottom line is, whether naive or gamers, they were in the wrong.
The Delta staff was entirely correct on how this situation was to be handled.
The son who failed to board did forfeit the seat. Passengers don’t “own” seats when they purchase a ticket, they purchase a right of passage for the individual named on the ticket. Again, the son who failed to board forfeited his seat. At that point, the seat reverts to airline control, period. As for the father’s desire to hold the two year old in his lap as a way to resolve the situation, that’s also unacceptable. Per FAA rules, all passengers two years and older MUST occupy their own seat on-board.
As is often the case, obnoxious passengers often think they are free to manipulate the system to their own advantage. It’s very possible that the son’s no-show was intended all along to somehow game the system to the family’s advantage.
So Jerome Erickson, I miss a flight from which I will receive a refund/credit. The airline should not sell that seat (or, more likely, give it to a standby passenger)? A plane has 150 seats. Sell 150. If 30 don’t check in (and, thus don’t fly), the airline should send it out with 30 empty seats, keeping airfare from just that 120? Why shouldn’t they sell an empty seat or all 30? We are not talking about getting two revenues for one seat in such a case.
@Jerome there’s a trade off here. Currently, you can cancel and receive a refund or credit, depending on ticket type, up until the plane leaves the gate. For airlines to not overbook, this flexibility would have to go away.
“What the family should have done is checked their older son in, and used his boarding pass, saying it belonged to the two year old.”
The legal term for this is “fraud”. Just how stupid is this “journalist”?
What I didn’t get about this situation, is the GA certainly noticed that all of the boarding passes as part of the itinerary were scanned except one. This would almost certainly indicate a mistake, which the GA should have verified before giving the seat away to someone else. The first assumption should have been that one member of a family with kids somehow managed to skip scanning the boarding pass. I’ve seen an entire family get onto the wrong flight, so I know it can happen.
Too many times people don’t understand the hows and why’s because they don’t want to understand or maybe they understand too good.
We criticize our schools for not teaching our children for not writing in cursive yet we have never had a great financial literacy program that builds upon all 12 years of the basic education system. Sure we teach reading but most of the flying public does not even know what the Contract of Carriage is much less has read it.
Why does YouTube have so many people learning about whatever it is they want to do? Why did Kahn Academy grow into such a great teaching tool that Google (2m) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (1.5m) made donations to help with the development of their startup. Video teaching makes a difference.
I don’t know if the airline you will fly has their Contract of Carriage made into a video by anyone but check to see and if not, just read it. Oh, by the way, there is no longer a Rule 240, so if you watch a TikTok saying just say Rule 240, you’re going to look like a fool. It was removed in 1978 when airlines were deregulated.
And one more thing, don’t argue with the airline crews. They have enough problems to solve without dealing with uneducated people. No, I don’t work for the airlines or an agency that regulates them. I don’t watch YouTube to learn most things either. I just read.
From my perspective, it comes down to this:
1. The customer did not understand the CoC. Their son was a no show and the seat was given to somebody else. The customer did not understand that they couldn’t just “give” what they perceive to still be “their seat” to their other child so he could be in a seat vs. being a lap infant.
2. The FA is on a power trip (as is often the case) and made extreme and over the top threats about going to jail and having their child taken away from them.
It seems to me the FAs should have simply taken the stance: I need to see the B/P for that seat. He’ll keep repeating he paid for that seat. Then, let me see the boarding pass. I realize you believe you’re entitled to that seat, but all I can do is match boarding passes to seats.