A young man understandably scolded a family who let their child steal the aisle seat he had paid extra for on American Airlines. But even worse is when American Airlines flight attendants seemed to side with the thieving family.
American Airlines Crew Defends Seat-Stealing Family
Osaac Summer boarded an American Airlines redeye and found a little girl occupying his seat. He was told by the family that he would need to sit in the window seat nearby so that they would not be separated.
Um, no.
“I don’t care about your daughter, your child and none of that. I paid for this one! Stay in your lane and in your seat!”
He added, “I’m not five years old. I don’t care about looking out the window!”
Summer is 6-feet, 2-inches, and claimed he paid extra to assign that particular aisle seat.
@lalawright2 Respectfully they should’ve asked him if it was coo first cause he did pay for that seat.
As far as I am concerned, that is the end of he story, at least in terms of that particular seat.
Sorry, but a family cannot just claim any seat they want and then act like it is an entitlement.
But the story gets even worse. Summer shares his account of what happens and alleges:
- He saw another open seat and took it
- A flight attendant said he could not sit there (makes sense – it was assigned to someone else)
- The flight attendant then seemed to defend the actions of the poaching family, saying, “She got on the plane before you,” and urged him to take the window seat (how’s that for logic?)
- The flight attendant added, “You are being the bad guy” and told him he could walk off the plane if he wanted
- Another passenger got up and gave up her aisle seat for Summer (in an attempt to just get the flight out)
- Summer got “agitated” and “aggravated” after a family member told him to shut up when he was complaining about the seat to the flight attendant (I understand…)
- Then another flight attendant came by, knelt in front of the family and said, “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Your daughter is really beautiful. Thank you for flying with us.”
- Summer thought, “This is a joke now.” (no kidding…)
@osaacsummer MORAL OF THE STORY GIVE PEOPLE THEIR SEAT THEY PAID FOR! Follow up from @lalawright2 video of me on the plane.
It seems this matter was handled very poorly by the flight attendants.
CONCLUSION
As Summer says, “Moral of the story: just take your assigned seats and flight attendants, just do your jobs.”
He’s right. But may I add a couple of thoughts? Gate agents are overworked and show up to flights just ahead of boarding, already frazzled because they are under strict orders to get flights out on time. American Airlines must invest in the technology to ensure families are not separated onboard…there is not sufficient staffing and time to sort everything out at the gate and it’s also unreasonable to drop that on flight attendants to handle onboard.
As an aside, I don’t think families should be permitted to buy basic economy tickets. Basic economy tickets do not come with seat assignments; seat assignments are necessary for families with young children; therefore, basic economy class tickets should not be sold to families traveling with children who cannot be separated.
If seats are not available together on your chosen flight, find a different flight.
And I say that as a frequent traveler with two young children.
The audacity of poaching a seat without asking is bad enough, but a flight attendant reinforcing that is even worse.
It seems to me that Summer deserves an apology from all parties involved.
That man deserves more than an apology. Maybe 100,000 miles or a couple of free ticket vouchers are due.
+1. I’m appalled by American’s actions.
@ KPR — He will get nothing from AA becuase they don’t give a crap. The best he can hope for is winning a credit card dispute regarding the seat fee, which of course American will fight becuse they are incompetent.
Because… 🙂
In Canada, both of the major airlines charge for seat assignments and it’s not just basic economy. So if you want to sit together, just pay. I did. Actually, I just paid for one seat (and one seat assigned at check-in for no additional fee) and then traded that good seat rather than pay for 2 assigned seats.
Flight attendants do not need to have a college degree. This means they did not do well academicly in high school.
Like MAGA supporters.
Expect them to do dumb sh*t.
Jane Jacob, there was no reason to bring politics into this. Your behavior supports that narrative that the left is hateful. Not smart.
Leeches all vote democrat, it’s why they are crying about their medicaid getting cut.
Gentle philosophical observations. For starters, let’s respect FA’s in that some are jerks just like anyone else without it having to do with their formal education. That said, one way to alleviate the problem of ignorant MAGA knick-draggers would be to educate them, wouldn’t it? The problem with that, though, is that many MAGA folks find it difficult to get into higher education due to DEI quotas and preferences, yes? So whose fault is that?
Regarding the values of a HS education: It’s tragic that many do poorly in High School but also, many High School educations are no longer as valuable as they used to be. Personal anecdote: When I graduated from High School I had a first class education on history, algebra, and a foreign language. My father, RIP, was a HS graduate who knew 4 languages: Polish, German, Latin, and English. He wasn’t uncommon for his era, either.
Osaac Summer was in the right, but based on the short video it looks like he did a poor job in handling/presenting his case. Instead of getting emotional/attitudinal and settling on nabbing someone else’s seat, the best course is to remain calm, explain the issue to an FA, and explain that you are not content to accept a non-aisle seat. One way or another, the situation resolves itself from there.
Even when “the law” and the facts are on your side, acting a certain way over a 4 year old being in your seat isn’t going to play well with a lot of people because the child isn’t at fault, doesn’t know what’s going on and doesn’t understand why someone is upset with them/their family. If the parents are too dumb to handle it properly on their own, the flight crew will solve it if you don’t allow your emotions to get the better of you.
@ Lars — Why does he need to “present a case” when he paid for a seat and someone else is occupying it? Even if he agreed to change seats and then changed his mind, his boarding pass trumps all else.
Families unable to buy basic economy could be viewed as discrimination, even though it is not. As Matthew notes there really isn’t another option available. The family should have been asked to wait for another flight not Summer. The optics of removing a child are unpleasant but this is what happens if you fail to plan and pay for your needs.
“Families unable to buy basic economy could be viewed as discrimination, even though it is not.”
I would argue otherwise. Ahem. If someone is in a legal protected category, solving a “accommodations” issue by demanding they purchase a higher class fare is likely discriminatory. Example: Should passengers requiring service dogs be required to purchase a first class ticket so the cabin stewards will find it easier to accommodate the animal? Should passengers with medical devices be required to pay additional baggage fees?
This can spill over, pun intended, into larger passengers being expected to purchase longer legroom as Matt Klint is blessed but that’s not a disability (it’s a problem many men would love to have!) A child isn’t a disability, but they are protected and therefore one adult should be required to sit next to them. This shouldn’t extend to whole families, however, since with a family of 4, I often find it difficult to get seats all together even if I’m willing to pay extra for them. One parent and the child should be sufficient with the system throwing the rest of the family to the wolves.
I was running low on points and booked basic economy and they threw us in the 2nd row from the back. It wasn’t that bad in that we weren’t next to the lavatory directly and wife actually enjoyed the seats.
Time to end the option of Basic Economy for those traveling with small children.
@ Chad — That is an excellent solution to this problem.
Parents or families being cheap, lazy, or uninformed is not any other pax’s problem. And the airlines shouldn’t punish anyone for doing it right.
The FA needs to be retrained on how to handle these situations.
Somebody needs to explain to the FA that she works at American Airlines. The FA’s comment “she got on the plane before you” would only hold water if this were SWA.
Speaking of which…
Today is the first time I saw an article saying the date when Assigned Seating will begin on SWA (Jan 28, 2026) and when flights with Assigned Seats will begin to go on sale (July 29, 2025). (Aside: I have known that this was coming for several months now.) Seat poaching is probably going to create headaches for the SWA FAs — I worry if they will get worn down from having to repeatedly deal with seat poaching and they will follow the path of least resistance and do the same thing. (i.e. “Is there a problem? Maybe you need to be removed from the plane.”)
By the way, THANK YOU for your comments. Specifically:
1) Sorry, but a family cannot just claim any seat they want and then act like it is an entitlement.
2) As an aside, I don’t think families should be permitted to buy basic economy tickets. Basic economy tickets do not come with seat assignments; seat assignments are necessary for families with young children; therefore, basic economy class tickets should not be sold to families traveling with children who cannot be separated.
3) If seats are not available together on your chosen flight, find a different flight.
4) And I say that as a frequent traveler with two young children. — I REALLY appreciate your comment here.
I have had plenty of experience with people complaining about no seats together when they are families of 4-5. They are asking us to move everyone when they said they wanted to save money on seat assignments…cuz families cost more.
Im like; that was your choice and wanting to travel. Its not my problem. I chose this seat and why do you think im going to be sympathetic to your cause as you are the one saving money by hassling me?
To add they want to keep thier kitchen sink 2 carryons per person so they can save bag fees?
Sorry families step up and pay for your entourage so you can have a smoother trip….you couldnt pull this stuff in europe….
You wouldn’t need to pull this up in Europe as airlines must ensure that children are not separated from their parents. Even Ryanair must comply!
I wonder whyte the crew sided with the family,
the crew were knee grows.
Sadly, just another reason why flying these days is such a PITA bread !
As in life, travel by air is not fair and Shiite happens all the time ….
Au unfortunate combo of crappy pax & incompetent crew …
One of the parents needs to swap with the child so she’s not on her own. Problem solved. It’s not the first time the “child sitting alone” problem has arisen, and the solution seems obvious to me. Surely they’re not so desperately needy that they absolutely must be within touching distance of each other at all times?
Apolgising to the kid for the nasty man wanting to sit in the seat he paid extra for is galling. He is not the one in the wrong here.
I could buy out the whole plane, and I have every right to the entire plane to myself(as well as the crew and FAs).
Matt, this is one YOU should get involved in to ensure he gets compensation and this is addressed.
Don’t just use it for clicks, help this young man!
That is why we do not fly AA
I feel like a broken record, but American Airlines has the worst service/anti-customer culture so not surprised this happened.
The statement by flight attendant that the child got on board before you is just unintelligent reasoning. Of course the child got on before the gentleman. Aren’t families with children allowed to board before everyone else except those with wheelchairs or mobility issues?
The gentleman paid for his seat and he should have been allowed to keep his seat. He looks to be a very tall fellow so the aisle seat was a sensible choice for him. The family who did not pay for this seat were in the wrong. At the very least they should have asked if they could switch and if denied they would have had to be satisfied with it. Poor planning by this family in buying their seats should have ponied up the extra money to make sure they were together. If there wasn’t any available then they needed to look for another flight.
I think in many cases these days, people don’t push back hard enough in the right way. If you do it in the right way, and you do it respectfully, here is exactly how this is solved. My response here:
“According to my boarding pass, I am assigned Seat XXX. I suggest we get the Captain involved in this discussion or, if you feel that is not what we should do here, I can walk to the front of the aircraft and ask him myself.” [as I proceed to move towards the front of the airplane,
I am right here. The Captain WILL side with me.
If by some rare chance I am removed from the flight over this simple action, I receive a $500k check from American Airlines.
I win. Case closed.