Airlines fly a lot of passengers, millions of them and in the U S they do it safely to a level that exceeds expectations. But on the subject of passenger treatment they often fall short. It seems theyve done it again. A lady with a child was flying a very long 18 hour flight from Hawaii to Boston, with of course stop along the way. On the last leg, a 3 hour flight, United double sold the same seat and forced the lady to give up the seat that she had paid for for her son and which she had a valid boarding pass scanned when she boarded the plane. The flight attendant told her she had to hold her son in her lap for the entire 3 hour leg. You can imagine how tired youd be after 15 to 18 hours, and even more than that it is not safe to have a child who is not in a seat belt. The lady is small, no way could she safely hold a child who she said is half her height. I am not sure but think FAA regs might require a child over 2 years old like this to be in a seat belt.
The lady said she was actually afraid that they might be pulled off the plane or injured so she had to accept it. She is Asian and not prone to a dispute like this. The childs seat, bought, paid for, and with a boarding pass, was given to a man standby passenger. A week later the airline refunded the childs fare.
It would not seem that hard, to me, that when a question arises like this, that giving the first consideration should go to a Mom and a child, certainly with a valid pass over a standby passenger.
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