Delta removes family from L.A. flight

NEW YORK • A California family has become caught up in the growing row about the treatment of passengers by airlines in the U.S. after they were removed from a flight and threatened with having their children taken into care if they did not go quietly.

Brian and Brittany Schear were flying from Hawaii to Los Angeles on a Delta Air Lines flight when they were asked to give up their seats. “Well, they can just remove me from the plane,” said Brian Schear.

An official replied: “In that case you and your wife will be in jail, and your kids will be taken away from you.”

Later, when asked what the family was supposed to do in an airport at night, an attendant told them: “From this point, you’re on your own.”

Delta has since apologized and offered to refund the family’s travel and pay them additional compensation.

The couple was with two of their three children, their two-year-old son Grayson and a one-year-old daughter.

They had found travelling from LA to Hawaii with infants on their laps tiring, and so for their return flight their teenage son, Mason, 18, had agreed to fly on another plane, in advance. The family believed that this meant one of the infants could have the seat previously bought for Mason.

But when the Schears were seated on the plane, with one child in the 18-year-old’s seat, they were informed that they could not fly. Brian Schear said he had bought a ticket for Mason, and that one of the infants was using it. Delta said that was not allowed.

In a video of the April 23 incident uploaded to YouTube, Brian Schear said: “I’m not trying to cause a problem. I believe in standing up for what’s right. I paid for the seat.”

He later claimed Delta had overbooked the flight and said four people were waiting to take their seats.

Delta says on its website that tickets cannot be transferred and name changes are not allowed. Federal regulations do not bar changing the name on a ticket as long as the new passenger’s name can be run through a database before the flight, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.

By late Thursday afternoon, Delta still had not explained why the Schears were removed from the plane. A spokesman said the flight was not overbooked.

“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,” the statement read.

Delta said its goal is to work with customers to resolve travel issues, “that did not happen in this case and we apologize.”

A spokesman said Delta would not disclose the amount of the refund or compensation.