While waiting for a delayed flight from Louisville (SDF) KY, to Atlanta yesterday a family of 5 approached the GA with the wife demanding to know why only her husband (DM) had been upgraded to FC while the rest of the party was in either C+ or Coach. She informed the GA that she was ruining her family vacation to London by making her and her family sit apart from her husband/dad. She demanded that the GA move others to allow her family (of 5) to sit together in FC. The GA kind of smirked and informed her (politely) that the FC had checked in full and there was no way she could accommodate the request. The wife seemed to go off on that and again, loudly demanded to be moved into FC because her husband was DM. The GA repeated that there was no way and she and her family would have to take their assigned seats. The wife then demanded to “speak to someone with some authority” who could make the changes. The GA called a “redcoat” who basically told the woman the same thing the GA had told her. She got louder and louder but finally seemed to accept that she would not be upgraded for this 58 minute flight. Once she boarded she was in and out of her seat about 6 times during boarding, blocking the aisle each time. She even asked the female sitting next to her husband if she would mind trading seats with her so she could sit next to her husband. I thought the lady was going to laugh in her face when she told her she was sitting in C+ and wanted to trade her C+ for FC. She told her that maybe the person sitting next to her in C+ would trade with her husband’s FC seat and that way they could sit together. The husband shut down that conversation in a hurry. Finally, the FA told her she needed to be seated so everyone could be boarded and we could be on the way for the 1.5 hour delayed flight. She barked back that she should be in FC and she would take her time getting settled. The FA politely told her that if she was disruptive she would be removed from the flight. She then sat down and pulled out her cell phone and called Delta to complain. It was obvious she was getting nowhere with the call and she shouted into the phone “Thanks for nothing” and hung up
Finally she had to shut the phone off and stay seated for takeoff, but as soon as we were airborne she was out of her seat and in the aisle talking to her husband. The FA told her the seatbelt sign was still on and she would have to return to her seat. She commented that if Delta had seated her correctly she would be sitting next to her husband and her vacation to London would not have been ruined.
When we landed in Atlanta, she was immediately on her phone to Delta to inform them that she and her family were just arriving and they only had 20 to get to their gate for their vacation to London and to hold the plane for the family. She got real mad and slammed her phone down and shouted to her husband that Delta was no help. She then called back and I heard her tell Delta that she had just called and whoever she was talking to was rude and no help. When she explained her situation, the agent had told her “I hope you have your running shoes on”. (Priceless). She then turned and shouted to her kids (about 6-8 rows behind her) that when the plane stopped to jump up and run to the front so they could get off the plane. Needless to say the other passengers would have none of that as just about everyone was in the same situation. She cussed the entire way out of the jet bridge about the rude Delta people and the rude passengers on the flight who were ruining her vacation. I just shook my head and thought another DYKWIA.