United Airlines takes away toddlers seat giving it standby

United Airlines takes away toddlers seat giving it standby

A mom and her two-year-old son were forced to endure a three and a half hour flight together in just one seat after United Airlines gave the toddler's seat to a standby passenger.

Shirley Yamauchi, a Hawaii teacher says she and her son, who weighs 25lbs were forced to share a seat after a United Airlines stewardess told her the seat she paid $1,000 and was purchased three months ago, was given to someone flying standby.

Yamauchi says she bought the airline tickets for a teachers conference in Boston. Because children over the age of two are required to have their own seat, she purchased a ticket for her son, Taizo - paying $1,000 for each ticket.

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Shirley Yamauchi had to fly with her son on her lap for over three hours on the last leg of an 18 hour trip from Hawaii to Boston 

Shirley Yamauchis (left) son's (right) ticket was given away to a passenger flying standby despite buying their  tickets three months in advance 

More shocking yet, the standby passenger paid just $75 for his ticket.  

The Kapolei Middle School teacher says they were sitting on the plane in Houston when a flight attendant came to check if Taizo was present. 

'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,' she said.

She says she told the flight attendant about the problem, but the woman just shrugged, said the flight was full, and walked away.

'I had to move my son onto my lap. He's 25 pounds. He's half my height. I was very uncomfortable. My hand, my left arm was smashed up against the w all. I lost feeling in my legs and left arm,' she said.

Shirley Yamauchi posted about the incident to her Facebook, calling out the United Airlines employee who shrugged off her complaints that she had paid for her son's ticket, yet they were forced to give up his seat to another passenger 

Yamauchi's son was in various uncomfortable positions on the long flight 

Yamauchi's son was scrunched up in her lap for over three hours during the flight from Houston to Boston 

Yamauchi and her son were on the final leg of their 18-hour flight from Hawaii to Boston.

Yamauchi said she wanted to speak up, but was afraid of retaliation.

'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 said. 

'It was very shocking. I was confused. I told him, I bought both of these seats. The flight attendant came by, shrugs and says 'flights full',' Yamauchi said.

Yamauchi says she didn't want to cause a scene, remembering the recent United incidents like the Kentucky man who was violently dragged off his flight in April.

'I'm scared. I'm worried. I'm traveling with an infant. I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't want either of us to get hurt,' she said to KITV Island News. 

United Airlines says I'm sorry a lot 

United issues an apology to a mother, Emily France, who claims her son passed out from dehydration on a plane that was grounded for almost two hours during a heat wave in Denver 

Honeymoon couple Mike and Rachel Brumfield were left stranded at airport after alerting crews of leak and being given only a food voucher, they end up taking a Delta flight to Venice instead, United apologizes generally to those on the flight 

U nited Airlines employees shoved an elderly man, Ronald Tigner, to the ground in 2015, United issues an apology when video of the incident was released this June as part of a lawsuit 

United Airlines issues an apology after an employee is accused of kicking a passenger Lindsey Urbani who was sleeping in a chapel 

United issues an apology to #1 tennis player in the world, Zhang Shuai after an argument with a United customer rep who refused to allow Shuai on with her tennis racket. The rep tore up her boarding pass in front of her 

United issues an apology to Henry Amador-Batten, a gay father, who was flying with his son to their North Carolina home when he was accused of inappropriately touching his son

United issues an apology in April after passenger David Dao was forcibly removed from a plane when his paid seat was given to a United Airlines employ ee who needed to get somewhere

 

'I had him in all these contorted sleeping positions. In the end, very sadly, he was standing up between my knees,' she said.

The FAA strongly advises against a child sitting on someone's lap, saying to passengers 'Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence.'

'What happened to my son was unsafe, uncomfortable and unfair,' Yamauchi said.

With no help from staff aboard Flight 2047 - Yamauchi searched for help. She spoke to agents at the gate, who directed her to customer service. Who then directed her to a hotline number.

When she finally reached someone on the phone they told her she couldn't be refunded right away or it'd cancel the rest o f her flight arrangements home. 

Flights home for an adjusted ticket price would be additional expenses on top of the $1,000 ticket that her son did not use. 

'It's worrisome. 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,' Yamauchi said.

United Airlines has come under fire often this year, and has issued many apologies for a variety of issues customers have experienced with the airline

Five days after the flight, the airline is finally issuing an apology. A spokesman for United says because gate agents inaccurately scanned Taizo's boarding pass, their system showed him as not checked in, so his seat was released to another passenger.

The company said, 'We deeply apologize to Ms. Yamauchi and her son for this experience. We are refunding her son's ticket and providing a travel voucher. We are also working with our gate staff to prevent this from happening again.'

Yamauchi says the incident makes her nervous about flying United again.

'I had bought both of these tickets way in advance. We did the two hour check-in time before boarding. I had my recei pts. I had my boarding pass. Yet this happened,' Yamauchi said. 

 

 

 

 

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