Two seats or one? Conjoined twins test airline rulebook

— -- This isn't covered in the airline ticket agent's policy manual.

A Queen Creek, Ariz., mother who wanted to take her 1-year-old conjoined twin daughters on a cross-country flight to visit relatives was frustrated because she was told she'd have to buy an extra seat.

Airline officials said there was nothing they could do and suggested that Mandy Bailey contact the American Red Cross to see if it would pay for it.

After a call from a reporter, airline officials changed their mind, but so far, only half of the story has a happy ending.

The tale began when Bailey tried to use her frequent-flier miles to book a flight for herself and her sister-in-law, Shar Lybbert, on Delta Air Lines from Phoenix to Baltimore.

Delta agents told her she would have to purchase a ticket for her daughters Emma and Taylor, who are conjoined at the chest.

Because the twins have their own lungs, Delta originally told Bailey she had to buy an extra seat because both children need access to an oxygen mask in case of an emergency.

"They mulled it over for a day. .. and got back to me and told me 'this is all we can think of' and then said to call American Red Cross to see if they'll pay for it," said Bailey, adding that the airline told her "there needs to be (an oxygen) mask for everyone" even though both girls would be sitting on her lap.

After a phone call Wednesday from The Arizona Republic, a Delta spokesman said Bailey and Lybbert could sit together, and a ticket wouldn't be needed for the twins.

However, that arrangement will only work going to Baltimore, because Lybbert is scheduled to come home on a separate flight because a seat for her wasn't available with frequent-flier miles.

"It's a very unique situation that we're going to have to work with the customer to resolve," Delta spokesman Anthony Black said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has "two pertinent regulations" that apply to the situation, spokesman Ian Gregor said.

An airline must provide "enough oxygen for each passenger carried" on flights traveling more than 15,000 feet up and "that a child under the age of 2 can be held by an adult on the adult's lap."