Originally Posted by
Xhorst
After all this time, I think only one poster has managed to hit the nail on the head:
Simple fact (from evidence available) is that the CC refused a perfectly reasonable request for a mutual seat swap. That was the totally avoidable issue here. People talk about respect - it goes both ways. Passengers need to respect the crew, and the crew need to respect a father's desire to be sitting next to his wife and infant, and accommodate if possible.
Refusing a reasonable request which had no safety grounds for refusal would absolutely make my blood boil if it meant I would spend the next 4 hours sitting away from my wife and infant for no bloody reason.
Hopefully I wouldn't end up full-on Michael Douglas Falling Down, but I would be very pissed off. Keep in mind that a father of a new-born has an elevated protective instinct over the average male - human nature.
For all of you arguing aviation law - it's irrelevant. He's been charged with resisting arrest. Nothing to do with aviation law. However, an interesting point has been raised in the process: that annoying word "safety" keeps appearing. What was unsafe about this mutual seat swap?
One poster continually implies that the CC are powerless to authorise such a seat swap, in which case the inflexibility lies with the Airline - I'm not sure whether to believe that. I've swapped seats many times over the years - sometimes with CC approval, sometimes without their knowledge, sometimes at their request so two family members can sit together!
So, I don't get why it was a problem on this occasion.
I agree entirely with all your practical arguments and conclusion.
(I'd only note that in order to be found guilty of resisting arrest, you have to have been the subject of a lawful arrest. For what alleged crime was old mate being arrested? That's why the substance of the safety issue becomes important if the crime is a failure to comply with a direction under one of the CASRs quoted above, all of which have a safety element. The definition of a CC is someone given duties
to perform "in the interests of the safety of an aircraft’s passengers".)