“Incorrectly boarded”: Spirit Airlines placed unaccompanied 6-year-old on wrong holiday flight

On Thursday, Maria Ramos went to pick up her 6-year-old grandson at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers — only to be told that he was actually 160 miles away in Orlando. As reported by WINK-TV, a television station in Fort Myers, the child was an unaccompanied minor who had been traveling from Philadelphia to visit family. He was boarded onto the wrong flight by Spirit Airlines amid the holiday travel rush. 

“I want them to call me [and] let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando,” Ramos told the station. “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?

Spirit Airlines has since apologized that the child was “incorrectly boarded,” but has not offered any details on how the mistake was made. In a weekend statement, 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 … We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation.”