Outside the plane, parents pose with their daughter
A family has been reprimanded by an airline for leaving their toddler on the flight.
Brian and Brittany Schear, of Huntington Beach, California, were forced off their Delta flight and faced jail terms and having their children removed from custody after refusing to give up their seats on an overbooked flight.
Brian and Brittany Schear were told they would be “sent to jail” if they didn’t get their toddler in the seat they paid for.
The Schear family was traveling home from Kahului Airport in Maui, Hawaii, with their two young children in April 2017 when they had a horrific experience aboard their Delta flight.
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Brian told NBC News that he and his wife originally bought a ticket for their 18-year-old son on the Red Eye flight, but then decided to send him home early so their 2-year-old could get a seat could level. Before boarding the flight, Brian made sure to explain the situation to the ticket seller.
The family boarded their flight without issue, but once Brian was on the plane, a Delta employee informed him that the two-year-old had to give up his seat for the other passengers on the standby list. When they refused, Brian and Brittany faced prison terms.
The entire incident was filmed by Brittany, who filmed the Delta employees telling Brian that if he and his family didn’t comply, they would all be thrown off the plane. In the video, Brian can be heard telling the airline employee who is off camera that they can “get me off the plane”.
“So this is a federal crime. You and your wife could end up in jail and your children will be placed in foster homes,” the airline official told the family. “We’ll be in jail and my kids will be what?” Brian replied.
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The airline employee confirmed his earlier statement and claimed that if the family did not follow the rules, there would be serious consequences.
At this point, Brian offered another solution. He suggested that his wife could hold one of the infants during takeoff and then place the one-year-old in the car seat, but was told that federal law requires children under the age of two to remain on a parent’s lap throughout the flight.
Photo: Bricolage/Shutterstock
However, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, it is strongly recommended that infants be carried on flights in car seats rather than on the parents’ laps.
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The family was banned from their flight and did not receive a refund for their tickets.
Brian told CBS News Los Angeles that if they refused to cooperate, he and his family were told to get off the plane and weren’t even given a refund.
When Brian asked what to do after getting off the flight, the Delta crew member was no help. “It’s not my fault,” they replied, later adding, “You’re on your own at this point.”
“We never thought it would get to the point where they would all take us off the flight,” Brian told CBS Los Angeles. “When we got off the plane, four or five passengers were waiting for our seat. Bottom line, they oversold the flight.”
Speaking to NBC News, Brittany expressed her greatest frustration that the airline employee had threatened her and her husband with jail time and placing their children in foster care.
“I’m not a confrontational person… and when you’re a mom and you have your 1-year-old and your 2-year-old and they threaten to take your kids away from you, I mean, is that possible?” Or is that, you know, It’s against the law, it just broke my heart,” she said.
Photo: Song_about_summer / Shutterstock
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Delta Airlines eventually released a statement publicly apologizing to the family for the inconvenience. “We apologize for the unfortunate experience our customers have had with Delta and have reached out to them to refund their trip and provide additional compensation,” the company said.
“Delta’s goal is to always work with customers to find solutions to their travel problems. That did not happen in this case and we apologize.”
It can be incredibly frustrating when large companies like Delta engage in behavior that makes it seem like they don’t care about their customers, but rather how much money they can make off of consumers. Luckily, the family was able to stay the night in a hotel and transfer to another flight in the morning.
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Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work explores contemporary issues and experiences.
This article originally appeared on YourTango