by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:20 AM ET, Thu May 4, 2017
UPDATE: 9:45 a.m. ET 5/5/2017
Delta Air Lines issued an official statement on the incident Thursday.
"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," a company spokesperson said. "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."
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Original Text
An entire family was removed from a plane after they refused to give up the seat they had purchased for their son.
According to ABC7.com, the Schear family of Huntington Beach, California, was preparing to take off on a Delta Air Line flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles last week when crew members asked the mother and father to give up their two-year-old son's seat and hold him on their laps.
The couple refused to give up the seat, but flight attendants reportedly threatened the family.
[CALLOUT]
Brian Schear said a Delta employee told the family they would go to jail and that authorities would "take your kids from you."
After a verbal back-and-forth, Schear said he would travel with his son on his lap, but the airline had already called for the family to be removed. The father, mother and two toddlers left the plane, were forced to find a hotel for the night and book another flight the next day for around $2,000.
The Schear family released a video of the incident on YouTube:
While the airline staff told the Schear family that two-year-old children are not allowed to have their own seats and need to be on their guardian's lap, Delta's official website says, "For kids under the age of two, we recommend you purchase a seat on the aircraft and use an approved child safety seat."
[READMORE] READ MORE: Southwest Will Stop Overbooking Flights[/READMORE]
Schear said that his son had flown to Hawaii in the same car seat he was sitting in when the incident occurred, and they had no previous issues. He also reportedly told Delta employees at the gate that he was going to use the car seat for the return flight.
While Schear said the seat his two-year-old son was sitting in was originally purchased for his 18-year-old son Mason, the family sent the older son home early so they could use his seat for the younger child. Since the passenger whose name was booked for the seat was not on the flight, the airline wanted to use it for other customers.
Delta Air Lines reportedly reached out to the Schear family after they shared their story on social media.
Airlines continue to be under heavy scrutiny for overbooking flights after a video went viral of United Airlines dragging a man off a plane because he wouldn't give up his seat. The issue has prompted Congressional legislation proposals as well as inquiries into the industry.
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