Airline Profits Are So Bad They Are Now Selling Seats in the Bathroom?

On February 23, 2008, Gokhan Mutlu arrived at the San Diego airport to check in for his flight on JetBlue to New York. Upon checking in, he was told that his flight was full. However, he was allowed to board the flight when a flight attendant willingly agreed to give up her seat and travel in a “jump seat.” It is still unclear whether the flight attendant was working the flight.

90 minutes into the 5 ½ hour flight, the pilot told Mutlu that the flight attendant was uncomfortable in the jump seat, which is understandable because the jump seat is a rather tight seat in the airplane’s cockpit. So Mutlu was instructed to “hang out” in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight. Mutlu initially refused and the pilot became very angry and told Mutlu to “be grateful for being onboard.” Mutlu offered to sit in the jump seat, but was not allowed to because he was not an airline personnel. In the end, Mutlu was forced to sit in the bathroom for a period of time during the flight, including extended periods of turbulence. Eventually, another flight attendand knocked on the bathroom door and told Mutlu that he could return to his seat.

Mutlu has now sued them for $2 million. It should be noted that Mutlu was flying on a "buddy pass," which is a standby travel voucher that JetBlue employees give to friends, so JetBlue wasn't really making any money off of Mutlu. Could you imagine sitting in the bathroom for 30 minutes, let alone a few hours? Personally, I would have waited for the next flight.