United Airlines just can’t seem to fly under the radar.
A Utah couple say they were booted Saturday from a Houston flight bound for Costa Rica, where they’re getting married, after they changed seats without permission — the latest public relations headache for the bedeviled company.
Michael Hohl and Amber Maxwell — whose destination wedding is set for Thursday — boarded Flight 1737 along with friends to find a napping man sprawled across their assigned seats, 24B and 24C, they told local TV affiliate KHOU.
They relocated to empty seats three rows up, 21B and 21C, with Hohl saying they were “simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat” on the apparently half-full flight.
Hohl said that after a flight attendant told them to return to their assigned seats, the couple did — only to be told to leave by another official. They left the aircraft without incident, according to the report.
“They said that we were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight, to the safety of the other customers,” Hohl said.
United offered a different account in a statement KHOU obtained.
“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,” the airline said. “We’ve been in touch with them and have rebooked them.”
Last week, a bloodied Dr. David Dao was hauled off a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., as horrified passengers recorded the incident.
