United apologises after giving away toddler's purchased seat

United Airlines has apologised to a Hawaii teacher who was forced to hold her 2-year-old son on her lap for 3.5 hours after an employee gave the toddler's purchased seat to a standby passenger. Shirley Yamauchi says she paid almost US$1,000 each for 2 tickets because children over the age of 2 are required to have their own seat. She boarded the plane in Houston with her son, Taizo, and they took their seats. The teacher says a flight attendant came to check if Taizo was present before a standby passenger showed up with a ticket with the toddler's seat number. Yamauchi says she told a flight attendant about the problem, but the woman just shrugged, said the flight was full, and walked away. The company issued an apology 5 days after the incident. <br/>