Spirit Airlines issued an apology after it placed a six-year-old boy on the wrong flight. The child was traveling to spend the holiday with his grandmother.
The six-year-old boy was supposed to travel to Southwest International Airport in Fort Myers from Philadelphia International Airport. However, instead of landing at Southwest International Airport, the child was “incorrectly boarded” on a wrong flight 160 miles away, to Orlando.
Spirit Airlines Investigates the Mishap
According to a statement, the child was accompanied by a Spirit Airlines employee the entire time. When the mistake was discovered, the airline immediately disclosed the incident to the family.
The airline said, “We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation.” Spirit Airlines added, “We apologise to the family for this experience.”
The child’s grandmother, Maria Ramos, knew about the situation through a phone call. She shared via WINK News that she discovered what happened when the plane the child was supposed to be on wasn’t on it.
Ramos said, “I ran inside the plane to the flight attendant and I asked her, ‘Where’s my grandson? He was handed over to you at Philadelphia?’ She said, ‘No I had no kids with me.’” Ramos then received a call to inform her that her grandson landed in Orlando.
However, Spirit Airlines didn’t provide additional details on how the child ended up on the wrong flight. And while the airline already apologized to the family, Ramos wants answers. She said, “I want them to call me.” She added “Let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando. How did that happen? Did they get him off the plane? The flight attendant– after mom handed him with paperwork– did she let him go by himself? He jumped in the wrong plane by himself?”
Unaccompanied Minors on Incorrect Flights
The same situation happened in recent years. In 2019, United Airlines mistakenly placed a boy on the wrong flight to Germany while he was supposed to be traveling to Sweden. In 2009, two different unaccompanied girls aged 8 and 10 were also misplaced on the wrong Continental Express Flights due to “miscommunication among staff.”
