Originally Posted by
mvoight
If the FA is going to insist I move to a less valuable seat (middle, etc), and permit the POS to then occupy 2 seats, while paying for one, then I will escalate my complaint. If I am forced to move, then the FA has given the POS a free second seat, which is contrary to AA policy.
While I agree 100% that your position is right from the standpoint of what should happen, I suspect from a T&C's perspective AA could in fact just move you. The T&C's are clear that no specific seat assignment is guaranteed, so if AA needed to swap you with someone else for any reason (operational, parent next to child, POS, etc), they are allowed to do so.
The policy is clear (IMO) that they can't deplane you if the flight is full to open up a seat next to a POS, but they can rearrange people (including you) to create a situation where the POS has a seat next to them that is empty and still comply with their stated policies.
Whether they should do so is a different question, and as I said I agree with your point about what they should do, but AA has no official concept of "a more valuable seat". A Y seat is a Y seat.
Gets a little more interesting these days if you paid for one of those "better" Y seats, though ...