Gayle King calls out United Airlines over false seating advertisement during 9-hour flight
The complaint from King comes months after United was sued by customers who believed they were falsely charged for “window seats” that didn’t have windows.
Gayle King has taken numerous flights throughout her illustrious career, from space to sharing a space with Fox host Jesse Waters. However, her latest adventure with United Airlines might have topped them all … for all the wrong reasons.
In a since-deleted post on her Instagram, King, 71, shared her recent flight experience with United on January 4, highlighting that her plane ticket indicated she had booked a window seat. However, when she arrived at her assigned seat in business class, it didn’t have a window. Worst of all? King was on board for a nine-hour flight.
“I always like the window seat,” she said in the clip. “So I sit down and I go, ‘Oh great, let’s look out the window,” before being greeted with a pale wall. “There is no window. Well, maybe I can look at the neighbor’s window across the hall,” she continued, before patting the wall on the other side with her hand. “Oh, a wall.”
“What’s a girl to do? I asked the flight attendant. They were very nice,” she added. “It’s going to be a long ride.”
King could only sum up her experience with a written text for the post: “A window seat… without a window?!”
She captioned the whole ordeal, “When is a window seat not a window seat? C’mon @united! The flight attendant agreed it was NOT a window seat. He said he had never seen anything like this and while there was nothing he could do (full flight), he suggested I complain. This is me complaining…”
King wouldn’t be the first person to complain to United about false advertising. The airline was previously sued in August 2025 for charging passengers for window seats that didn’t have windows. The airline filed a motion to have the lawsuits dismissed, claiming that a “window” seat refers not to a seat actually having a window near it, but rather the seat’s position.
Judging by the timing of her flight, King was en route back to New York after celebrating her 71st birthday in Hawaii with longtime friend, Oprah Winfrey. King documented the entire experience on Instagram and how her Christmas holidays were once again “bathed in yellow.”
“Hiking and ringing in the new year in paradise,” King continued in her caption. “The best vacation is one with no schedule and hanging with the people you care about the most. Back to reality and 2026! My word for the year is CLARITY… what’s yours?”
Here’s hoping that on the next flight Gayle takes, she gets all of her proper accommodations.
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