TRAVEL writer deemed a "risk to the flight". What did he do? He asked a mum to swap seats so her four-year-old would stop kicking him.

Writing in the Huffington Post, Kevin Richberg says he was on board a JetBlue flight from New York to Bogota, Colombia. Seated next to him was "a fidgety four year old, kicking and punching, jumping and swaying".

The child's mother had been placed several rows ahead of her son. Flight attendants then asked a woman in Mr Richberg's row to swap seats so the mother could sit next to her son.

"After she sat, and before she could orient herself, her seat belt, and her belongings, I asked her if she wouldn't mind switching places with her son, since it would help me sleep undisturbed by the four-year-old's movements during the eight hour flight," Mr Richberg writes. "She immediately and bluntly refused!"

"I attempted to ask her a second time, trying to explain the logic of my request and the nature of the child's fidgety kicks."

"‘He's autistic!' she replied, and again refused to switch places with him this time with the excuse. "I gave him a pill, he'll be OK."

But it wasn't OK.

According to Mr Richberg a Jet Blue flight attendant then came to ask if there was a problem. He explained that he would like the mother and son to trade places so he would not be kicked during the whole flight.

"The next thing I knew I was being ushered off the flight with my hand luggage in tow to the words 'risk to the flight' being repeated to me as the answer to every question I attempted to pose."

Mr Richberg complained to JetBlue. This is the answer he received:

Kevin, although we understand your frustration, please know that seat selections are offered as a courtesy to our customers. However, as stated in our Contract of Carriage, they are not guaranteed. Occasionally we need to move individuals as a courtesy to other customers...

The Inflight Crew of any airline has the authority to remove anyone they deem a risk to the flight or who does not follow instructions of the Crew. It is a federal offence to interfere with the operation of a commercial flight.

So he wrote to them again asking why he was a flight risk for asking a mother to swap seats with her kicking child.

A month later JetBlue replied.

Out of respect for the privacy of our customers, we don't comment publicly on the details of a specific customer matter. We stand behind our crewmembers' decisions to put the safety of all of our customers on board as their number one priority.

What do you think? Should he have been booted off? Or did the airline over-react? Tell us below.

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