Delta Air Lines has apologised after a couple were threatened with having their children put in foster care during a row with flight staff.

The operator said it was "sorry for the unfortunate experience" after Brian and Brittany Schear posted a video online showing them being told to leave their flight or be arrested during a dispute over a spare seat they had bought.

At one point, a member of Delta staff can be heard telling the family: "This is a federal offence and then you and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be in foster care."

It is the latest airline to be forced to apologise over onboard passenger incidents.

Image: Brian Schear says his family were forced off the plane because it was overbooked

Last month, United Airlines triggered outrage and a public relations disaster after a passenger was dragged off one of its flights.


The violent treatment of Dr David Dao, 69, who was forcibly removed from an overbooked US domestic flight after refusing to give up his seat, saw millions of dollars wiped off the value of United's parent company United Continental Holdings and calls for a boycott of the airline.

Footage of the Delta incident has been viewed more than two million times online and shows Mr Schear arguing with a police officer and a member of staff as he and his family sat on a flight waiting to depart from Maui, Hawaii, to Los Angeles.

May: Passenger dragged off plane

The dispute centred on whether Mr Shear was allowed to put his toddler son on a seat he had originally purchased for his 18-year-old son, and whether the younger boy needed to be in a car seat or sit on the lap of an adult.

The seat was available because the teenager had flown home on an earlier flight.

On the video, a person on camera - whose identity is not clear - tells Mr Schear: "You and your wife will be in jail... it's a federal offence if you don't abide".

Mr Schear says they were removed because the flight was overbooked, but Delta disputes this. Delta's website says tickets cannot be transferred to other passengers.

In the caption accompanying the video, Mr Shear wrote: "You will hear them lie to me numerous times to get my son out of the seat. The end result was we were all kicked off the flight.

"They oversold the flight. When will this all stop?

"It was midnight in Maui and we had to get a hotel and purchase new tickets the following day."

The airline said in a statement: "Delta's goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues.

"That did not happen in this case and we apologise."

It said it had contacted the Californian couple to refund their travel expenses and give additional compensation.

The apology came as members of a US Senate committee, holding an inquiry into the industry's customer service, criticised the handling of disputes with passengers, airline fees and the lack of competition in the sector.