Spirit Airlines has terminated the agent accountable for mishandling the travel arrangements of an unaccompanied 6-year-old on a journey from Pennsylvania to Florida.
An internal investigation determined that while under the agent’s supervision, the first grader was mistakenly placed on a flight to the incorrect destination.
The agent not only compromised the child’s safety but also potentially damaged the brand’s reputation and trust.
Casper, the young boy traveling to see his grandmother for the holiday, was supposed to be traveling from Philadelphia to Fort Myers on Thursday, Dec. 21, days before Christmas. Instead, a Spirit Airlines probe discovered a gate agent in Philadelphia escorted the boy to the wrong plane charted for Orlando, landing the child 160 miles away from his intended destination.
The airline, which has been ranked by Air Advisor as the second-most inexpensive carrier in the U.S., issued a statement regarding the careless agent’s employment at the company.
“This agent is no longer working with Spirit, and any individual whose actions resulted in the incorrect boarding will be held accountable for failing to follow our procedures,” Spirit said, according to Fox 35. “We are also reiterating our procedures to the team, and we are in communication with the child’s family about this matter.”
In an earlier statement to the public, the airline said, “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.”
Maria Ramos, the boy’s grandmother, mentioned that while the company now asserts it is reaching out, no one contacted her on the day of the incident to provide updates about her grandchild’s status.
The individual she spoke to at the Fort Myers airport informed her that the boy had missed his plane, and she had no information on his whereabouts. Surprisingly, no one from Orlando reached out to his emergency contact, and the tag around his neck with “final destination RSW” went unnoticed.
Her only means of locating him was when he initiated a FaceTime call on his own. It was during this call that she requested him to find an adult for her to communicate with.
“I go to RSW to pick him up – as I should. I go there with my ID and everything,” Ramos said. “The lady that took care of me said, ‘No, he missed his flight.’ I said, ‘What do you mean he missed his flight? He checked in. This is his ticket. He was checked in by his mom.’ She goes, ‘No, he missed his flight. He’s not on this flight. I said, ‘No, no, no you’ve got it wrong, you have to find my grandson.'”
She further stated that it took them five days for Spirit Airlines to contact her about the mix-up and seven days after the incident to give her answers to what happened.
“They called me, and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, it’s our mistake.’ I guess they looked at the camera,” she said.
Ramos has secured legal representation to see what her options are.
JetBlue Airways had a similar lawsuit leveled against their company over seven years ago. Maribel Martinez alleged that the airline confused her 5-year-old son with another solo traveler on Aug. 17, 2016.
She arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport to pick up her son, who was traveling from the Dominican Republic, but was handed a different child. Unlike Casper, her child had been shipped to a different state and was given into the custody of a stranger at Boston Logan International Airport.
The airline settled this case in 2016. The details of the settlement were never disclosed.
