Lawyer starts British Airways flight because nanny is ‘not sitting in business class’

• A lawyer and his family have been kicked off a British Airways flight from London to Turin, according to MailOnline.
• The family nanny was booked in business class but the flight sale was overrated.
• PA said they expelled him and his family because they did not tolerate “disruptive behavior.”

A senior British lawyer ordered the departure of a British Airways flight last week after a row with cabin crew over the nanny’s seating arrangement intensified, the Guardian reported. MailOnline.

The MailOnline reported that Charles Banner, 41, and his family, including two children, aged one and four, were escorted by armed police last Thursday on a flight from London Heathrow to Turin, Italy.

MailOnline said the flight was halted for 90 minutes due to an argument between Banner and the cabin crew about his nanny being unable to join them in business class.

Banner said he booked the nanny in business class so he and his wife could work while looking after their children, MailOnline reports. Banner is a member of the Queen’s Counsel – an attorney appointed by the Queen.

But British Airways downgraded its nanny because the flight was oversold, the airline said.

Banner told MailOnline that British Airways staff were “rude” to him when he asked cabin crew if the nanny could take a spare seat in business class. The airline insisted that there was no extra seat in the cabin.

The feud reportedly raged, and the pilot, according to MailOnline, insisted that they be removed from the flight. British Airways said police were called and the family was taken off the plane.

“If British Airways told me the nanny couldn’t sit with us at work, we wouldn’t have flown and we could have had a later flight. But they only told us when we got to the boarding gate,” Banner told MailOnline.

“I behaved perfectly, but I was challenging the cabin crew because it was the right thing to do. The pettiness and vengeful malice of the staff caused it. I was very polite about the whole thing,” he continued.

MailOnline reported that Banner and his family had to book a hotel near the airport and flew from London Gatwick the next day with easyJet.

The attorney did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.

In a statement sent to Insider about the incident, a British Airways spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate disruptive behavior and the safety of our customers and crew is our top priority.”