United Airlines requires children over the age of 2 to have their own tickets and occupy their own seats, but that didn’t stop the airline from allowing a 27-month-old child from sitting in his mother’s lap after they accidentally oversold his spot.
Shirley Yamauchi says she and her son Taizo had boarded their flight from Houston to Boston on June 29 — the final leg of an 18-hour flight from Hawaii — when a standy passenger approached and claimed Taizo was in his seat.
"I told him that I bought both of these tickets and he tells me that he got the ticket on standby. Then he proceeds to sit in the center,” Yamauchi told Hawaii News Now.
Yamuachi says she tried to inform a flight attendant about Taizo’s seat, but the woman claimed she couldn’t do anything about it, seeing as the flight was full.
Not wanting to cause a scene — or worse, instigate an incident like the one that befell the elderly United passenger who refused to give up his seat on in April — Yamuachi sat Taizo on her lap and kept her mouth shut until she reached Boston.
"I started remembering all those incidents with United on the news. The violence. Teeth getting knocked out. I'm Asian. I'm scared and I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want those things to happen to me," she told Hawaii News Now.
Upon reaching Boston, Yamauchi was told to call a United hotline to explain the situation. But when she finally got through and asked for a refund, she was told that United would need to cancel her return trip to Hawaii in order to do so, reports KITV.
In total, Yamauchi told Hawaii News Now she had paid nearly $2,000 for both tickets.
A United spokesperson tells Fox News that the airline has already reached out to Yamauchi to apologize for the incident. The airline also pinpointed the cause of the seating snafu, explaining that Taizo’s ticket was incorrectly scanned at the gate.
“On a recent flight from Houston to Boston, we inaccurately scanned the boarding pass of Ms. Yamauchi’s son,” said United in a statement obtained by Fox News. “As a result, her son’s seat appeared to be not checked in, and we released his seat to another customer and Ms. Yamauchi held her son for the flight.
"We deeply apologize to Ms. Yamauchi and her son for this experience," the statement continued. "We are refunding their tickets and providing compensation as a goodwill gesture. We are also working with our employees to prevent this from happening again.”
Yamuachi, however, doesn’t sound too keen on flying with United anytime soon.
"It's worrisome,” said Yamuachi, according to KITV Everyone who has helped me so far has contradicted each other. With their suggestions, this needs to stop. United has made errors that make national headlines … yet, it continues.”
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
So, what is scarier - they will bump a 2 year old's seat and refuse to discuss it, or that they failed to scan a passenger boarding pass, still let the person on the plane and didn't investigate it?
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
United continues to give itself more and more
black eyes. I hope they give Ms. Yamauchi and
her son upgrades to first on all legs of their flight
back to Hawaii.
I think the worst part of this scenario is
that the child's boarding pass was mis-read.
If it can happen to a child, it can happen to
anyone else, possibly allowing miscreants to
board a plane.
And WTH happened that the cabin attendant
allowed/insisted that the child sit in the lap
of its mother? Presumably the child had its
own seat from Hawaii to Houston. Why did
the cabin attendant/gate agent not take a
quick look at its own records? Serious lack
of training on United's part.
Hasn't there been enough bad press to impact bottom lines, yet?
This is ridiculous.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
So after the incident when the passenger was dragged off, United announced was a passenger was borded they would be taken off. I assume the attendant was upholding that policy. United needs to train their people better.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
Sounds like at the gate the boarding pass was not scanned and the agent may have thought the kid was a lap child. I am not sure what see told the flight attendant, sounds like she did not press the issue. the flight attendant probably assumed again the kid was or could be a lap child.
Citing FAA requirements should have gotten the flight attendant to fix the problem.
Sounds like at the gate the boarding pass was not scanned and the agent may have thought the kid was a lap child. I am not sure what see told the flight attendant, sounds like she did not press the issue. the flight attendant probably assumed again the kid was or could be a lap child.
Citing FAA requirements should have gotten the flight attendant to fix the problem.
The child had a paid ticket. And his age should have been on it b/c of ID requirements when traveling with a child. If a child didn't scan in, but his mother did, they should have been checking before giving away his PAID seat.
And once they discovered the error - they should have figured something else out, not make the kid sit on his mother's lap, especially since they make you buy a ticket for him b/c it's unsafe not to. I guess it's only unsafe when they don't need his seat.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
I am getting so sick and of the airlines, and United seems to be doing it more, of doing the wrong thing, then apologizing like "we said we're sorry so you can't be mad at us anymore."
This was not the first time passenger rights have been violated, it continues and they think just saying sorry will be ok.
I have worked with people who believe ask for forgiveness later instead of doing the right thing first. Those people must be working for the airlines.
United's problems do not seem to be one of service but rather knowing and following regulations and procedures. I wonder if the Gate agents are given any training at all?? All the problems seem to go back to the way the gate handled the boarding procedures... And, in this particular case, if a two year old is required to have a seat why didn't the cabin attendant know this?? And the mother is afraid to make any waves because she is Asian and does not care to be dragged off the plane or worse.. Looks like more and more people working for major airlines are just putting in their time and waiting for retirement. On the other hand, this "everybody come on and fly" campaign that has been going since the 747 was introduced allows all kinds of people on the planes and, especially in economy, not all of them are so nice. I have no idea how to solve this problem. Stop flying that carrier? Encourages others to raise their prices. Sue them into bankruptcy? Where are you then when you need a flight? People just do not seem to be people anymore; thinking only of themselves ( the great and mighty ME). Enough; off the soap box.
