Gay couple forced to give up plane seat to straight couple

[left-of-center2012]

David Cooley, an American businessman, was flying from New York to Los Angeles on an Alaska Airlines flight with his partner when the incident occurred. His partner was told he had to move to the main cabin from his Premium seat as a straight couple wanted to sit together. He was told that he would either have to move or leave the plane.

“After my travelling companion and I had been seated in our assigned seats for a while, we were approached by the flight attendant and my companion was asked to move from his premium seat to coach, so a couple could sit together.

“I explained that we were a couple and wanted to sit together. He was given a choice to either give up the premium seat and move to coach or get off the plane. “We could not bear the feeling of humiliation for an entire cross-country flight and left the plane. I cannot believe that an airline in this day and age would give a straight couple preferential treatment over a gay couple and go so far as to ask us to leave.”

In a statement to GSN, a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines confirmed that the incident had taken place. “When boarding flight 1407 from JFK to LAX, a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple in Premium Class,” the statement said. “We reseated one of the guests from Premium Class in the Main Cabin.

“We are deeply sorry for the situation, and are investigating the details while communicating directly with the guests involved to try and make this right.”

https://tinyurl.com/y9rqyv7e

[RhodeIslandOne]

1. Why would anyone move to coach if they paid premium anyway?

[brooklynite]

7. Option 1: they DIDN'T pay for Premium Class tickets...

...but were assigned an upgrade for the mistake occurred.

Option 1: They DID buy Premium Class tickets but the computer oversold the plane. In which case, they'd receive a refund plus likely compensation for the mistake.

[LonePirate]

2. The airline screwed up and deserves the outrage and boycott.

If they cannot manage the dozen or two seats in first class, there is a larger problem with incompetence that needs to be addressed.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. You'd think this seating thing would all be done with computers or something, wouldn'tcha?

[jberryhill]

5. You'd think

But having done a lot of traveling for a number of years, it seems there are so many ways that seats are booked and assigned that sometimes things don’t synch up. I’ve seen doubly assigned seats a bunch of times.

[jberryhill]

4. Sounds like a seat assignment error

My wife and I had once booked a pair of seats in first class to Europe (using accumulated miles from business trips).

When we boarded, another couple was seated in the seats we were assigned, with boarding passes for those seats.

The airline found that the seats were sold before we had upgraded to them, refunded the miles, and we went in coach.

It was a minor annoyance, but at the end of the day, when they accidentally assign the same seats twice, it’s not as if four people are going to get two seats.

[ProudLib72]

14. I just smile and ask who wants to sit in whose lap

Makes meal time awkward, though.

[lpbk2713]

6. Notice how airlines only address problems when they are made public?

If an offended passenger were to call an 800 number they would get an
apology from a CSR cube rat and that would be as far as it would go.

[brooklynite]

8. Let's be clear about what this is NOT about...

It is NOT about gay vs straight passengers. Seat assignments are handled by computer and conflicts are resolved by priority categories (first come; highest paid price; mileage plan status, etc.).

[LanternWaste]

9. Who is arguing it is about that?

[brooklynite]

10. See the title of the OP

[Duncan Grant]

13. "...a couple was mistakenly assigned the same seats as another couple..."

The article doesn’t say anything about priority categories, etc. - only that there was a mistaken assignment. I’m inclined to believe the gay couple.

[RhodeIslandOne]

15. It may have been about what was assumed

That two men sitting together are not a couple so therefore....

And when they found out otherwise, they weren't smart enough to see the fallout of making a stink.

[marble falls]

11. Jeez. I wonder what they would do to me and my wife who are a couple without "benifit of clergy" ...

we are going backwards in the US. I hated the fifties!

[WillowTree]

12. It would be interesting to know which couple booked the seats first.

That should have been the deciding factor IMO.

[onenote]

16. This did not involve First Class seats

Premium Class seats on Alaska are seats with extra legroom and early boarding (and complimentary cocktails). It is a bit nicer than what other airlines offer in the way of "premium seating", in part because it is separate from the main cabin. But its not first class seats. In particular, it is available for as little as $15 on some flights. And there are three seats on each side of the aisle in premium, compared with two seats in first class. That is why only one of the two guys was asked to move. Not surprisingly, having one person of a couple while the remaining person sat next to the folks who bumped that person's companion wasn't acceptable. And once it became known that there were two couples vying for the seats, and one couple or the other was going to be split up, it should have been resolved on some neutral basis -- who booked first, who boarded first, whatever.