Originally Posted by
LGA_UAL
By FAA rule, the flight attendant must move one of the passengers out of that row. They can't have five people in a row that only has four masks. I guess the flight attendant technically could have moved the mother and one child to the other row, but that doesn't seem necessary (or prudent) if the flight isn't full. It is only asking for unnecessary confrontation.
The fight attendant didn't move the passenger so they could have an empty seat. The other passenger was moved to comply with FAA regulations.
I think the OP is just lamenting the irony that the very folks who created the FAA-violative situation stood to benefit from it.
I think all flights should be like international flights where lap infants are accounted for on the manifest. No more "sorting it out" on the plane.
As the system stands currently, any parents could do what the parents did in the OP's situation to gain the entire row because, as you said, the FA will try not to split up the family which is feasible on flights which are not full.