FORT MYERS, Fla. A 6-year-old boy, embarking on a solo journey to spend Christmas with his grandmother in southwest Florida, found himself on the wrong Spirit Airlines flight, landing 160 miles away in Orlando, Florida.
Maria Ramos, the grandmother eagerly awaiting her grandson’s arrival at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers on Thursday, was met with confusion when she was informed that the young traveler wasn’t on the expected Spirit Airlines flight.
“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 recounted to WINK News.
To her surprise, Ramos received a call from her grandson, who was in Orlando, explaining that he had landed there instead.
In a statement addressing the incident, Spirit Airlines claimed that the boy was under the constant care and supervision of an airline employee throughout the journey, despite the misstep of boarding him on the wrong flight. Once the error was identified, the airline promptly notified the family.
“We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation,” the statement asserted. “We apologize to the family for this experience.”
The incident has prompted concerns about the safety and security measures in place for unaccompanied minors traveling during the busy holiday season. Spirit Airlines reassures the public that a thorough internal investigation is underway to prevent such incidents in the future, emphasizing their commitment to passenger safety.
As the airline works to address the situation, the family is left to grapple with the unexpected twist to their holiday reunion plans, hoping that awareness raised by this incident will contribute to enhanced safety protocols for young travelers.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
