A BRIDE and groom flying to a tropical paradise for their wedding claim they were kicked off a United Airlines flight for moving seats on a half-empty flight to let another passenger sleep.
The latest accusation is yet another blow to United, which is still reeling from the treatment of Dr David Dao, a passenger who was injured when he was dragged off a flight last week after he refused to relinquish his seat for airline staff.
When Michael Hohl and his fiance Amber Maxwell boarded the flight from Houston to Costa Rica on Saturday they discovered a traveller spread across their seats napping.
Instead of waking the snoozing man, they moved up a few rows as the plane had plenty of empty seats but were told they had to move back – which they claim they did.
But United Airlines claims they “repeatedly” tried to get into the ‘economy plus’ seats and refused to listen to cabin crew.
Hohl told KHOU: “We thought (it was) not a big deal, it’s not like we are trying to jump up into a first-class seat.
“We were simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat.”
The seats they chose were an upgrade and a flight attendant approached and asked if they were in the seats they had paid for.
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They said they weren’t and asked if they could get an upgrade, but were told they needed to return to their ticketed seats.
The couple claim they did but soon after a US Marshall came on the plane and asked them to leave.
Hohl said: “They said that we were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight, to the safety of the other customers.”
A statement from United Airlines said: “We’re disappointed anytime a customer has an experience that doesn’t measure up to their expectations.
“These passengers repeatedly attempted to sit in upgraded seating which they did not purchase and they would not follow crew instructions to return to their assigned seats.
“We’ve been in touch with them and have rebooked them on flights tomorrow.”
Hohl said the whole incident was “quite strange” and has vowed to never fly United Airlines again. The couple will still marry on Thursday.
United says it will no longer force civilian passengers to give up their seats for staff if they have already boarded overbooked flights.
A former Miss Venezuela is suing United Airlines over a nightmarish midair incident in which a flight attendant handcuffed her and enlisted two burly men to forcibly remove her in a dispute that escalated after she asked for a pillow.
Carmen Maria Montiel, a Houston journalist and mom, was aboard a United red-eye flight in June 2013 from Houston to Bogota, Colombia, with husband Alex Lechin, a specialist lung doctor with whom she was engaged in a bitter divorce, and their 14-year-old daughter.