A toddler was involuntarily bumped from an American Airlines flight while headed to a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to Disney World with his deaf mom and military veteran dad, who claim a ticketing agent lied to them about the plane being oversold.
Coby Stewart, the child’s father, was promised a $1,200 voucher and guaranteed to meet back up with his family later that day at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, but never got the reimbursement after the agent called him – while he was racing to an airport in another state to try and catch an alternate flight with his 4-year-old son Archer – and said the offer was no longer valid because the original flight hadn’t been sold out after all, according to a lawsuit reviewed by The Independent.
Attorney Chris Ieyoub told The Independent that Stewart was in fact not reunited with the others at Dallas, but that he and Archer finally arrived at the Disney resort that night, frazzled, well after the others. Stewart and Archer “risked life and limb” speeding to another airport in the next state over in order to catch their new flight, Ieyoub said.
American is reportedly the airline that involuntarily bumps the largest number of ticketed passengers, but complaints about the practice are common to all carriers. Air Canada made headlines in 2017 after bumping a 10-year-old boy off a flight to Costa Rica, after which his parents were forced to travel to two other airports and spend an extra $850 to get to their destination.
That same year, when a Chicago pulmonologist refused to be bumped off a United Airlines flight to Louisville in order to make room for a deadheading employee, he was forcibly dragged off the plane by police, suffering a concussion, a broken nose, and two shattered teeth.
Bumped passengers delayed for one to two hours are entitled to compensation equal to double the one-way price of the flight they were bumped from, with a ceiling of $1,075, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. For delays longer than two hours, bumped passengers can get four times the one-way value of their original ticket, with a cap of $2,150.
American Airlines did not respond to requests for comment.
On January 2, 2025, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, residents Coby and Emily Stewart paid $5,187.58 for six round-trip tickets on American, with service aboard American Eagle from Lake Charles Regional Airport to Orlando, Florida, for themselves and their four children, aged 4 to 11, according to their complaint, which was initially filed February 27 in state court and removed to federal court on March 10.
They were headed on a “once-in-a-lifetime trip” to Disney, and they booked everyone a “preferred seat,” the complaint states.
The Stewarts got to the airport nearly two hours in advance, and checked in immediately, the complaint continues. It says Coby identified himself to the ticket agent as former U.S. military, informing her as well that his wife was deaf and that he served as her sign language interpreter.
That’s when the agent told the couple that the flight was “oversold,” and that one person in their party would have to be bumped – even though the family had arrived well before many other passengers on the same flight, the complaint goes on.
Coby and Emily “reiterated to the ticketing agent that the family could not be separated due to [Emily’s] disability and her inability to attend four minor children… without the assistance of [her husband],” the complaint states.
Still, the ticket agent doubled down and “refused to accommodate” the family, according to the complaint.
“In fact, as the boarding process was beginning and after all of the plaintiffs were checked in and screened through TSA, the American Airlines ticketing agent advised Coby and Emily Stewart that [the carrier] was preparing to eject Archer Stewart, age four, from the flight,” the complaint maintains.
Left with no other choice, Coby left Emily with the other kids and headed with Archer to Jack Brooks Regional Airport in Beaumont, Texas, more than 90 minutes away, in an attempt to catch another flight. The American ticket agent at the airport in Lake Charles told Coby that he would be getting a $1,200 voucher for his trouble, and that he was “guaranteed to connect with his family in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport,” the complaint says.
While the two were racing to Beaumont, Coby got a phone call from the ticket agent, who said the original flight had not in fact been overbooked, and that she was rescinding his $1,200 voucher, the complaint alleges.
“It was only after learning of Emily Stewart’s special needs that the American Airlines ticketing agent advised the Stewart family that they were the one and only passengers in the lottery to be ejected from a full flight,” according to the complaint.
The Stewarts are now seeking damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, fear, and anxiety, plus court costs and interest.
Last week, American Airlines requested an additional 21 days to formally respond to the allegations, saying the carrier had “recently retained” counsel, and needs “additional time in which to conduct its investigation.”
