Airline makes dad pay to sit next to daughter

A father of a 4-year-old girl wants airlines to reconsider how they treat families.

Frank Strong booked a Delta flight for him and his daughter from North Carolina to Alabama last month and when they arrived at the airport he found out they were seated 11 rows apart.

Considering his daughter's young age, he assumed the airline would be able to get them two seats together. And it could, but only for $88.

In a blog post titled "How Airlines Like Delta Hold Parents Hostage" Strong explained his side of the story:

He wrote, "Faced with a dilemma of handing over ransom money to Delta in exchange for certainty, or taking a risk that an agent might fix the problem at the gate, I opted to pay. No parent holds a higher responsibility - or more deeply visceral instinct - than keeping their child or children safe. That's hard to accomplish 11 rows away when the fasten seat belt sign is glowing."

After forking over the extra dough, the two boarded the flight to find *plenty* of empty seats on board.

Strong says it's not the first time he's heard of this happening, and airlines should take a look at their policies for passengers who might need to sit together: including families and those with disabilities.

He tweeted, "Dear @Delta Why do you think it's okay to put a toddler and parent in separate seats? We've been through this before. #CSR #customer"

One user responded, "OMG! That sucks on so many levels. Delta has no morals."

And Christina Zenaida said, "This is entirely unacceptable!"

According to Yahoo Parenting, Delta said in a statement that it is investigating the situation.

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