HOUSTON — A couple flying to Costa Rica for their wedding later this week were removed from a United Airlines flight in Houston for not following crew instructions.

Passenger Michael Hohl tells Houston television station KHOU he and his fiancé moved to empty seats because another passenger was asleep Saturday in their ticketed seats. They insisted they complied with a flight attendant to return to their proper seats, but a federal air marshal came aboard the flight and asked they get off. They were rebooked on another flight Sunday.

The airline said in a statement the couple repeatedly tried to sit in upgraded seats they didn't buy and wouldn't move.

United has been under fire for the contentious removal of a doctor from a plane in Chicago last week.

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