Spirit Airlines has apologized after putting a 6-year-old unaccompanied minor on the wrong flight.
The boy was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., on Thursday to visit his grandmother. wink tv report.
Instead, the boy “mistakenly boarded” a flight to Orlando, Spirit acknowledged in a statement Saturday.
The statement did not say how the error occurred during a busy holiday trip.
“The child was under the care and supervision of Spirit team members at all times and upon discovering the mistake, we immediately contacted the family and took immediate steps to re-establish contact,” Spirit said.
“We take transportation safety and responsibility for all of our guests seriously and have conducted an international investigation.
“We apologize to the family for going through this experience.”
The boy’s grandmother, Maria Ramos, told WINK-TV of her panic when she learned the boy hadn’t made his scheduled flight.
“They told me, ‘No, he’s not on this flight.’ There’s no way I’m going to miss my flight,”’ Ramos recalled.
“I ran to the flight attendant on the plane and asked, ‘Where is my grandson? Was he handed over in Philadelphia?’
“She said, ‘No, I don’t have kids.'”
Soon after, the boy called her to report that he had landed safely in the wrong city.
Ramos said Spirit did not explain the debacle.
“I want them to call me. [and] Please tell me how my grandson ended up in Orlando,” she said. Did they take him off the plane? Did the flight attendant let him go alone after his mother gave him the papers? Did he jump on the wrong plane alone? ”