If you paid thousands for first class on a Hawaii redeye and were told at the gate your seat had been given to an airline pilot, you would not take it lightly. That is exactly what happened to former SNL cast member Jim Breuer, and he did not go quietly. Breuer, who recently launched his “Find The Funny” comedy tour, is having a difficult time seeing the humor in this situation. After watching his video below, we understand why.
Breuer and his wife were booked in first class on an overnight American Airlines flight from Honolulu to Phoenix. Weeks before departure, the airline emailed them to pre-select their first class meals, steak or chicken, reinforcing that they were confirmed premium passengers. At the gate, a supervisor informed them that their tickets had already been changed, that two uniformed pilots would be taking their seats, and that they had been reassigned to row 18 for the six-hour redeye.
That Honolulu to Phoenix route is typically flown by an A321, where first class is arranged 2-2 across, and economy is 3-3. On a narrow-body aircraft like that, the difference is not subtle: it is between a two-across premium cabin designed for space and some sleep, and a three-across economy cabin where a middle seat is always an issue.
On a redeye from Hawaii, the entire reason many travelers pay for first class is to arrive home functional the next morning. Breuer says he was offered a next-day option, but only in extra-legroom economy, and not seated together, so there was no real recovery path back to any sense of comfort, let alone first class. At the time his video was recorded, Breuer had received a $400 refund and a $500 voucher.
When calling American Airlines before boarding, he was told to fill out a complaint form, which he did. Breuer also received an email response several days later, but his request for someone from American Airlines to call and speak with him about this has gone unanswered. Breuer, with 1.5 million Facebook fans, released the video below, which currently has over 200,000 views and is still growing.
This was not overbooking.
Breuer says he was told the flight was overbooked, which sounds routine but does not describe what actually happened. This was not a classic oversell of the cabin because the first class seats were not given to other paying passengers, but were reassigned to deadheading pilots under contract provisions that apply to transoceanic routes, including mainland to Hawaii flights.
Hawaii flights are classified differently from most mainland domestic segments, and under certain pilot agreements, crew positioning on those routes can mean confirmed placement into the highest cabin at booking, even if that displaces a paying passenger.
One BOH reader recently noted seeing an American Airlines captain seated in row 25 on a Miami to Salt Lake City flight, which illustrates the contrast because on mainland routes, pilots sit in economy, while on Hawaii routes, the rules shift. Passengers rarely hear about that when they purchase their tickets, and once they see a confirmed seat number, they assume the seat is theirs. After all, the airline took the money.
A pattern on Hawaii routes.
This is not the first time this has surfaced, and in recent months, multiple Hawaii premium cabin downgrades have drawn attention across different carriers. When we wrote about the bumping dynamic earlier this month, readers immediately responded with their own stories that closely mirror what Breuer described.
Reader MignonB told us she and her husband were bumped from paid first class to economy on American Airlines flights to and from Maui last September, and they were separated both directions and spent weeks fighting to receive the correct refund. There was no viral video or celebrity platform, just another Hawaii flight, and the same outcome left them scrambling and frustrated.
Several readers pushed back on the idea that this is about luxury or entitlement, explaining that they purchase first class because of age, medical needs, or the physical strain of long flights over the Pacific. For them, being sent to the back of the plane is not simply inconvenient; it can be physically difficult and undo the very reason they paid so much more in the first place.
Another reader shared that she, too, had been bumped and has never flown that airline again, which highlights the long tail of brand damage airlines may not be thinking about in the moment when they reassign a seat so publicly.
When these stories are centered around Hawaii routes, it’s hard for us to dismiss them as random one-offs and easier to see them as a core part of how these flights are structured.
Why Hawaii is different.
Flights between the mainland and Hawaii are grouped with transoceanic routes in pilot contract provisions, which means the same deadheading rules apply even though Hawaii is domestic. On many mainland domestic routes, deadheading pilots sit in economy and may receive upgrade priority if space is available, but they do not typically displace confirmed first-class passengers.
On mainland to Hawaii flights, pilot contracts can provide confirmed access to the premium cabin when positioning crew, and if those seats are needed, paying passengers can be moved. That applies across routes serving Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, and Big Island to and from major mainland hubs, and there is no data available that shows how often passengers are displaced this way on Hawaii flights. These situations usually come to light only when someone speaks up, whether that is a celebrity with a platform like this, or a couple quietly fighting for a refund months later.
The compensation gap.
Breuer’s reported $400 refund plus a $500 voucher highlights another point of contention in these situations. Under contracts of carriage, airlines generally refund the difference between the first-class fare and the applicable economy fare if a passenger elects to travel after a downgrade, but the complication is how that difference is calculated. It is typically based on the airline’s internal fare structure for that specific flight rather than on what the passenger feels the premium experience was worth.
For travelers who paid thousands for overnight first class seats, the math can feel detached from reality because the experience they purchased was sleep, space, and arrival in reasonable condition. When that disappears at the gate, and the financial recovery feels modest, the frustration lingers, and several readers have already said they are reconsidering which airlines they use to fly to Hawaii because of this policy.
What this means for Hawaii visitors.
Airlines will argue that crew positioning and rest requirements are essential and embedded in negotiated contracts, and these decisions are not arbitrary but part of their operational structure behind long flights over the Pacific. The reality for travelers, however, is that paying for first class on a mainland to Hawaii flight does not guarantee that you will sit in first class, and on certain routes and under certain crew positioning scenarios your confirmed premium seat can be reassigned.
Breuer’s video amplified the issue because he has a platform, but the underlying risk has been lodged in the airline fine print for years, affecting regular Hawaii travelers without the benefit of his viral reach.
Has this happened to you on a Hawaii flight? Were you told it was simply overbooking? When you book first class to or from Hawaii, do you believe that seat is truly guaranteed? How do you feel after watching Breuer’s video?
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Reminiscent of the UA debacle in 2017, and shows an airline trying to skirt the policies adopted in the aftermath. Gate agents are now authorized to offer much higher $ amounts to induce passengers to voluntarily give up their seats to crew members who need to be accommodated. This is more likely to induce volunteers (hey, we all have our price!) before having to bump randomly selected passengers. (Accommodations include giving pilots the opportunity to sleep, due to government regulation.) Here it looks like AA did not go through the process of seeking volunteers, which would have required them to pay cash on the barrel, and instead chose passengers at random and made them believe they were not entitled to much of any compensationand certaonly not compensationon the spot. Shame on AA, and this passenger, famous or not, is entitled to complain.
I haven’t been bumped from 1st class but I have been bumped frm premium economy to economy. My wife and I were seated together in premium and we were moved to economy after we had checked in. And, the seats were not together. No explanation provided. It just happened. Fortunately for us, the flight was not full and I was able to move us back to premium but not together
Can travel insurance compensate
(financially) when this situation arises? My wife and I travel first class for health reasons and have not encountered this situation, but I would prefer to be prepared if possible.
Man this happens to us all the time in various forms on American! It’s so frustrating, especially the part where it falls on deaf ears at the airline.
The most recent was it happened to our kids when they and the grandkids were coming to visit us via United, half the family got bumped for pilots.
It really happens all the time.
Happened a couple of years ago to us on a return flight from east coast to Hawaii on United. To United’s credit, rather than just auto-bumping, they opened up a bidding process to get a couple of people to volunteer to downgrade. In the end United paid out $10,000 per seat in travel credits to free up the seats for the pilots, who by union rules are entitled to a first class seat on flights over a certain time length. We were so incensed about being bumped that there was no price that was going to move us – but in retrospect we both agreed for $10,000 per person, we probably should have taken the money and the pain and enjoyed a later first class vacation to Europe. 🙂
This is supposed to be the process always, on all airlines. UA led the way on adopting these policies after they physically dragged a passenger off a flight. That debacle cost the airline millions.
I’m appaled do many people excuse having their rights stripped away so easily. If I pay for a first class ticket, that’s the expectation of service. How many other service or sales businesses can just change your product at the last minute and get away with it? These occurences happen because of multiple failures throughout their system, we the customers should not pay the price for their continual failures.
We were on a return flight from American and got bumped from paid first class tickets to coach on the redeye back from HNL to LAX. My wife and I were medically disabled and required wheel chair transport at both ends. This made no difference to the staff or the pilots displacing us. Way-to-go!
American Airlines are by far the worst at serving their customers. Their motto is : “We’re not happy if you are.” I for one, for two actually, will nit spend another penny with AA, and will continue to spread tge word on how bad they are. Often we can blame corporate and forgive the boots on the ground employees, but not with AA. Time and again their staff makes tenuous situations worse.
Aloha. An example of what’s happening everywhere, not just airlines. So many people want the product and the supplier knows it. Customer threatens to not return, and often doesn’t. But the supplier doesn’t care because there is always another set of cheeks to sit in the seat. With oversell and under capacity, no one cares and the customer goes to another supplier that does the same thing. People are getting used to being treated badly.
I couldn’t care less that some self important so-called celebrity (that I’ve never heard of) got his ego hurt. It’s in the pilot’s contract.
Want to “guarantee” your seat? Join the airline’s Frequent Flyer program and obtain even the lowest status (which is easy to do) and you won’t have to be concerned about it.
So spending money on a ticket, planning a vacation and then having it upended is ok? You must be a AA pilot. We have fewer and fewer rights C as customers, its pathetic and putting up has nothing to do with status a b d everything to do with holding the company responsible for their end of the deal.
My husband is 6’4″. Economy on a flight to Hawaii is torture for him. If the airline took our first class seats for crew I’d be outraged and demanding more than $500.
how about holding those seats in case they are needed for crew and on departure day, if not needed, let people pay or use points to upgrade
Is this spelled out in the Contract Of Carriage specifically on Hawaii flights? If not, it should be. That said, my bet is this actor has a bit of that “I’m special” attitude that we see so often in them.
Okay I watched the video and you could tell he wasn’t inappropriate or just mad, he felt completely blindsided. That’s what would bother me too. Tell me upfront, don’t change it without a word at the gate. That’s terrible business.
We’re in our 70s and save years for one Hawaii trip. First class is not a luxury for us, it’s survival. If they bumped us to the back I would expect a full refund of the difference, not a voucher. And even then I wouldn’t be returning.
My sister and I were separated on an American Air Maui flight after paying for premium seats. It took three calls to even get a partial refund. Never again.
This is exactly why I screenshot my seat assignment before every flight (as BOH said they do too). Probably doesn’t help much, but I have a record of what I was supposed to receive and at least it makes me feel better.
What a cluster. The meal pre-order part too. You pay, pick your meal weeks ahead of time and then boom, row 18 and no food. That’s just sloppy on the part of management, pure and simple.
So economy passengers are supposed to feel bad for a first class downgrade? Sorry, but welcome to the back of the plane. That said, if you pay for something, you should actually get it.
Guess who gets bumped on the full flight, you the economy passenger, as AA is just pushing tge problem downward. No way they’re totally bumping that first class ticket off the flight, they’ll always screw over the people who paid the least. Such animosity toward people who pay more for nicer things? Don’t look now, but I’ll bet there are plenty that have less than you, hopefully they don’t have the same feelings… Where’s the Aloha?
I actually feel for the pilots too because they didn’t even make the rule. But the airline should never sell every single premium seat if they know they might need one. That’s just asking for trouble like this, and you never know when one incident will go viral.
Actually, I believe ‘the pilots’ may have made the rule. These things are typically negotiated by the pilots union, sometimes dictated by the FAA. You might question ‘why’ the pilots had to red-eye back on that particular flight? Could they have taken a later flight, or was this just a ‘convenient’ one for pending days off following? Not everything is obvious on face value.
This is why I stopped flying American years ago. Once burned, twice shy. Hawaii flights are expensive enough without playing seat roulette at the boarding gate.
We fly first class to Hawaii because my husband has a bad back and can’t sit upright for six hours safely. If they moved us at the gate like that I would absolutely lose it. This isn’t about champagne and food, it’s about needed comfort we paid for.