Father's demand for son's free first class upgrade delays flight for 3 hours

A flight in China was delayed for three hours and cancelled last month after an irate couple demanded their 2-year-old child be upgraded to first class for free.

A passenger said that the ruckus kicked off at 11am on December 30 after an unsupervised boy began to sob in the seat next to him on a flight from Chengdu to Beijing, The New York Post reported.

It was soon revealed that the toddler's parents, seated in first class, bought their child an economy ticket.

The father demanded for his son to be moved to first class at no extra cost, as he argued that he had already paid for two first-class tickets and should get the third one for free, the South China Morning Post reported.

The incensed dad berated a group of passengers, crewmembers and security guards.

"Stop swearing at me," fumed the father. "You have no right to do that."

When a security guard attempted to de-escalate the situation, the parent shouted: "What gives you the right to order me about?"

Police finally arrived and escorted the angry passenger off the plane at around 2pm — three hours after the rumpus initially began.

The flight was cancelled, forcing around 300 passengers to rebook, with the airline crew attributing the cancellation to weather issues. However, many speculated that the man's tantrum was the real cause.

Social media reacted to the man’s tantrum with one commenter fuming, "This man is so selfish."

"He can switch seats," advised another. "Let him sit in economy class, and have the mum take care of the child in the first-class cabin."

Some chastised the airline for their handling of the situation.

"Keeping the quarrel going for hours?" said one commenter. "The problem-solving skills of the crew are poor."