Kicked Off the Plane: Too Many Children

Jason and Kathy Fickes board a plane in Charlotte NC with their four children. They are flying to Chicago for the holidays.

The Fickes' say US Airways kicked them off the plane because they had too many children. They have a three-year-old, 20-month-old twins and an eight-month-old.

After one parent agrees to change seats and one child being held by a stranger in the row behind them, they were still asked to leave the plane.

The flight crew said there were not enough oxygen masks for the six of them, so they asked them to leave the plane. Kathy says someone should have said there was a problem before they boarded.

From WCNC.com:

According to U.S. Airways policy posted on its web site, an infant does not need a ticket for a seat, as it can sit in an adult’s lap. However, that policy does specify one ticket-less infant per traveling adult. The Fickes said no one in security or at the gate said anything to them about needing to purchase another ticket.

So whose responsibility is it to know the airline's travel policy.  They said they read it.  Clearly, the airline intended one infant per adult. 

They say someone should have told them there was an issue before they boarded the plane.  But it's reasonable that a ticket agent would assume they knew how many tickets they needed.  The flight crew wouldn't notice a problem until they were seated...then it becomes obvious. 

The airline is not responsible for their problems; however, the airline is responsible for delaying the flight 40 minutes.  The flight crew couldn't make up their minds.  One minute, saying they could stay and then saying they couldn't, and then they could....if there was a procedure in place, it shouldn't take 40 minutes to follow procedure.

The Fickes' were asked to leave because they had too many children...for the three seats they bought.

Come on, guys…you can’t blame this on the airline. At the end of the day, it's their responsibility to know how many tickets they need to purchase.

Peace



Source:  http://www.wcnc.com/home/Too-Many-Children-to-Fly--135904158.html