Holding a Flight - DEMANDING That Passengers Exchange Seats

[floridaguy]

I was on flight 241 on 1/16/2024 going from MCO to PIT.  The flight was announced as "full" and everyone got on board pretty quickly.  However, we were told that they needed two people to change seats so that a family of three could "sit together".

Apparently, no one wanted to move.  After a few requests, we were told that the flight WOULD NOT LEAVE until two people changed their seats.  I find this borderline illegal if not illegal in fact.

The next announcement was that the plane would sit there until they had cooperation.  Apparently, daddy and two kids flew to MCO to see the mouse and insisted that they all sit together.  

The passenger beside me said what I was already thinking.  He indicated that they knew full well that Southwest does not have assigned seats.  Nonetheless, they insist and compel others to move their seat.  Rest assured, I did not move nor would I have moved.

Southwest should have given the passengers a refund and ordered them off the flight for not following flight crew's instructions to find an open seat.  

Would Southwest really ground a plane and have a showdown with its passengers?

[bec102896]

I bet you would complain if the kid sat alone next to you too right? If the kid cries you would probably ring the call button 

that’s why they will try and get people to move so they don’t have some kind of interaction with a set of strangers and a kid. 

Maybe they were on a connection and running late maybe they don’t know about family boarding you were new at one point 

make it a great year or not the choice is yours (be kind to people and kindness will be returned) 

[floridaguy]

I will give an award of "honorable mention" by trying to spin this back on me.  This is not about me.

Southwest is going to have to decide whether its rules apply to everyone.  What I can see is that since they didn't find the first open seat, they were failing to follow flight crew instructions and should have been thrown off the flight.

[DancingDavidE]

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@floridaguy wrote:

I will give an award of "honorable mention" by trying to spin this back on me.  This is not about me.

Southwest is going to have to decide whether its rules apply to everyone.  What I can see is that since they didn't find the first open seat, they were failing to follow flight crew instructions and should have been thrown off the flight.

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From the description it sounds like flight crew instructions were "wait here while we ask for two people to move"

[floridaguy]

No, the announcement wasn't that benign.  We were told that the plane would not move until two people changed their seats.  

I'd say it is time for an investigation.

[DancingDavidE · Accepted solution]

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@floridaguy wrote:

I was on flight 241 on 1/16/2024 going from MCO to PIT.  The flight was announced as "full" and everyone got on board pretty quickly.  However, we were told that they needed two people to change seats so that a family of three could "sit together".

Apparently, no one wanted to move.  After a few requests, we were told that the flight WOULD NOT LEAVE until two people changed their seats.  I find this borderline illegal if not illegal in fact.

The next announcement was that the plane would sit there until they had cooperation.  Apparently, daddy and two kids flew to MCO to see the mouse and insisted that they all sit together.  

The passenger beside me said what I was already thinking.  He indicated that they knew full well that Southwest does not have assigned seats.  Nonetheless, they insist and compel others to move their seat.  Rest assured, I did not move nor would I have moved.

Southwest should have given the passengers a refund and ordered them off the flight for not following flight crew's instructions to find an open seat.  

Would Southwest really ground a plane and have a showdown with its passengers?

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Illegal for them to say that?

Are they really going to cancel the flight - no IMO they would eventually fly and the family would either split up or bump to a later flight, or some other resolution.

They also will have given drink coupon to the people that moved - only useful if they would like to have a beverage of course. They usually get results after busting out the coupon offers.

I would offer if I wasn't in the exit row or traveling with my own family.