Spirit Airlines mistakenly flew a 6-year-old first-time flyer to the wrong airport hundreds of miles away from his initial destination during the holiday travel rush.
Maria Ramos said that her grandson Casper was set to arrive at Southwest Florida Airport in Fort Myers from Philadelphia on Thursday when he flew by himself, according to WINK News.
Ramos, however, became horrified when she was told that Casper never got on the plane bound for Fort Myers — only the boy’s bag made it.
“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,” Ramos told the outlet.
“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.’”
Casper was sent to Orlando International Airport, located more than 200 miles north of the Fort Myers Airport, where the two family members were to meet, the grandmother recalled.
Ramos was sent on a four-hour drive to pick up the six-year-old, sharing that the major mishap was one of the most terrifying experiences of her life.
Spirit Airlines has offered to reimburse her for the drive.
Ramos, however, prefers an explanation of the travel mishap.
“I want them to call me,” Ramos told the outlet. “Let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando. 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 and he jumped in the wrong plane by himself?”
In a statement given to the outlet, Spirit Airlines acknowledged their careless mistake.
“On Dec. 21, an unaccompanied child traveling from Philadelphia (PHL) to Fort Myers (RSW) was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando (MCO),” the airline’s spokesman, Michael Lopardi, wrote.
“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. We apologize to the family for this experience.”
Spirit Airlines allows unaccompanied minors — whose ages must range between 5 and 14 years old — to travel domestically across the US on direct flights.
The significant oversight by the low-cost airline happened on the day holiday travel was said to have peaked, according to the FAA.
On Dec. 21, 2023, nearly 50,000 flights took off around the US, packed with those traveling during the holiday season.