Originally Posted by vishesh

Looking for FT's collective advice/wisdom on what, if anything, can or should be done about the following situation.

My mom flew AI recently from the U.S. to India on a staff ticket -- her brother is/was a longtime AI employee and she is eligible to fly on staff tickets (subject to availability) under AI's relatively generous Staff on Leave (SOL) policy. Depending on passenger load, SOL tickets are usually unconfirmed/standby until day of travel. Her ticket, however, was confirmed in economy well in advance -- probably because AI did not expect high load on this particular flight. AI's policy is that once a SOL ticket is confirmed, it "will not be allotted to any other revenue passenger." (See here: http://intranet.airindia.in/data/int...egulations.pdf) My dad was booked on the same flight, also economy, but on a paid ticket (separate PNR/ticket #). At the gate, AI staff confirmed my mom on an upgrade to J, and she got a J boarding pass. So that they could travel together, the staff persuaded my dad that paying for an upgrade at the gate was worth it, so he forked over a lot of money to upgrade. After they boarded and were seated in J -- it is unclear to me how long after they were seated -- AI flight attendants ejected my mom from her seat and moved her back to economy, claiming some kind of mix-up. (It is not entirely clear to me what reason the FA's offered. They may have had some other motive.) So my parents ended up having to take the 14+ hr flight seated separately -- my dad in J, my mom all the way in the back of economy.

So what can/should they do about this? At a minimum, it seems entirely unfair to convince my dad to pay for a costly upgrade at the gate on the premise that he would then get to sit with my mom, only to later eject her from her J seat and re-seat her in economy. And setting that aside, can an airline even eject someone from their seat if they have the proper boarding pass and are properly seated? I understand that SOL tickets are subject to availability, but once they confirmed her ticket in J by upgrading her and giving her a boarding pass, I would think that should tie their hands. If the real story is that they wanted her J seat for other passengers who are willing to pay for an upgrade, they shouldn't have confirmed her upgrade.

Anyway, I welcome any thoughts you all have. If anyone thinks that there is some kind of remedy available, I would be happy to hear what kind of recourse you think I have (if any).