Several travelers shared safety concerns commenting on an online user’s post about a sizable suitcase with a seatbelt around it in an aisle seat allegedly in Delta’s first class.
The online user @PomeloAdventurous389 documented the incident on Reddit’s designated thread for Delta Air Lines discussions. The Redditor explained that their husband was upgraded to first class on a Delta flight. After boarding, he noticed another passenger had secured a seat for their carry-on luggage. The Reddit user noted that their husband was traveling from Orange County’s John Wayne Airport to Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport the morning the post was shared. Moreover, they claimed that the woman with the belted-in suitcase was initially unable to put it in an overhead bin – which led to the carry-on apparently getting its own seat.
The post included a photo of the suitcase lying flat on an airplane seat, seemingly strapped in with a seatbelt, with its wheels grazing the seat in front of it.
“Another FC passenger couldn’t fit her bag into the overhead compartment, so naturally, it was given [an] FC seat,” the Redditor explained.
In the replies, the original poster shared more alleged context. They claimed that the woman with the suitcase didn’t pay for the piece of luggage to have its own first class seat. They said, “Apparently, both the FA and the owner (of the suitcase) attempted to get it in the appropriate spaces (FC closet included), and this was the only remedy. It’s standard carry-on size but expanded and stuffed full.”
How Did Others React To The Suitcase Incident In Delta’s First Class?
Online users reacted to the bag being in a first class seat instead of being checked and placed in the cargo hold.
Several questioned whether the luggage’s place in the first class seat was legal and cleared from a safety standpoint. The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) says, “Carry-on baggage may be stowed either against a passenger class divider or bulkhead if both are stressed for inertia loads, if it is restrained from shifting by FAA-approved tiedown straps or cargo nets.” Other storage options include coat closets and other FAA-approved compartments, but none of those storage options seem to justify the Delta flyer’s strapped suitcase in first class.
One Reddit user candidly said, “I’ll be honest, this happened to me once. I was upgraded, [the] list was cleared, [and the] bag didn’t fit in overhead so [the] FA (flight attendant) told me to buckle it next to me in the window seat.”
One person commented on the suitcase’s positioning and said, “How do you get out [to] use the restroom? What about an emergency deplaning situation?”
“FA should never have allowed that. You are not allowed to block egress in case of an emergency,” another added.
