Spirit Airlines issued an apology after putting a six-year-old unaccompanied minor on the wrong flight.
The child was set to fly on Thursday from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Florida, to visit his grandmother, WINK-TV reported.
Instead, the boy was “incorrectly boarded” on a flight to Orlando, Spirit acknowledged in a statement on Saturday.
The statement did not address how the error came to take place – during a busy holiday travel day.
“The child was always under the care and supervision of a Spirit Team Member, and as soon as we discovered the error, we took immediate steps to communicate with the family and reconnect them,” Spirit said.
“We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an international investigation.
“We apologize to the family for this experience.”
The boy’s grandmother, Maria Ramos, spoke to WINK-TV about her panic upon realising he hadn’t arrived on his intended flight.
“They told me, ‘No, he’s not on this flight. He missed his flight.’ I said, ‘No, he could not miss his flight because I have the check-in tag,’” Ms Ramos recalled.
“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.’”
Soon after, the boy called her to report that he had landed safely – in the wrong city.
Ms Ramos indicated that Spirit had not given her an explanation for the debacle.
“I want them to call me [and] let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando,” she said. “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?”
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