Mother accuses Qantas of homophobia, failing to acknowledge her family

A family lawyer has accused Qantas staff of "blatant homophobia" after her same-sex partner was asked to move seats to accommodate a married couple on a domestic flight.

Kristina Antoniades was left in tears and took to Facebook on Monday night after taking a business-class flight from Brisbane to Melbourne with her partner and their young daughter.

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The 35-year-old's partner Merrin Hicks was asked twice to vacate her seat to allow a husband and wife to sit together.

"Merrin was advised that Qantas had made the decision to move her seat to another so that a married couple could sit together," Ms Antoniades wrote.

"They did not acknowledge that we were a family and wanted to sit together."

Ms Hicks was eventually reissued her boarding pass with her original assigned seat, but after takeoff staff raised the issue again.

"I thought that would be the end of it but once the plane took off the flight manager asked why Merrin was seated next to the man and his wife seated behind them,” Ms Antoniades wrote.

"I again advised the flight manager that we were a family and wanted to be seated together. She asked me why I had taken it upon myself to move the wife away from her husband.

"I advised her that we were in our designated seats."

Ms Antoniades explained to the cabin manager that she, Ms Hicks and their two-year-old daughter Lily were a family and had every right to be seated together.

The lawyer told The Daily Mail the married couple – aged in their 50s or 60s – did not seem upset they could not sit side-by-side. The husband sat next to Ms Hicks and his wife was in the row behind them.

"The male passenger drank four glasses of wine and did not even appear upset by being separated," Ms Antoniades said.

"I have never experienced such blatant discrimination," she said.

A spokeswoman for the airline said there was some confusion on board as staff were working off an older passenger manifest. Qantas has apologised for the "unfortunate misunderstanding".

"We have been in contact with the passengers to apologise for the situation, where we were faced with two separate groups of customers asking to switch seats to sit together, including an elderly couple," she said.

Qantas, headed by openly gay CEO Alan Joyce, has offered Ms Antoniades extra frequent flyer miles along with the apology as a gesture of goodwill.

Ms Antoniades said the flight crew has not yet offered an apology.

Morning news break – November 11