Bride and groom Amber Maxwell and Michael Hohl kicked off United Airlines flight
A BRIDE and groom kicked off a United Airlines flight en route to their wedding say the reason they were marched off the plane was “absurd”.
A BRIDE and groom headed for their wedding in Costa Rica have been booted off a United Airlines flight.
NBC reports the incident happened on Saturday, local time, on United Airlines flight 1737, from Houston, Texas to Liberia, Costa Rica.
The incident comes in the same week a doctor was violently dragged off a United Airlines flight in Chicago.
According to the groom Michael Hohl, he and his fiancee Amber Maxwell discovered people sleeping in their allocated seats when they boarded the plane, after a layover at George Bush Intercontinental airport after departing Salt Lake City.
He said they moved to different seats in the same class, because people were sleeping in theirs and he didn’t want to wake them up.
“We thought not a big deal, it’s not like we are trying to jump up into a first-class seat,” said Hohl
“We were simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat.”
The couple were then approached by a flight attendant who asked if they were in their assigned seats.
The couple said they were not and requested an upgrade.
It was denied and they were told to return to their designated seats.
Hohl said they returned to their assigned seats, but soon after a US Marshall boarded the plane to escort them off the flight.
They say they left the plane calmly but Hohl said he didn’t understand what the problem was.
“They said that we were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight, to the safety of the other customers,” said Hohl.
The airline provided NBC with a statement regarding the incident.
“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 statement read. “We’ve been in touch with them and have rebooked them on flights tomorrow.”
Hohl described United’s handling of the incident as “absurd”.
Their wedding is still due to go ahead on Thursday.
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