A Spirit Airlines gate agent is out of a job after putting an unaccompanied little boy on the wrong plane.
Grandma Maria Ramos paid an extra $150 for her six-year-old grandson, Casper, to fly on his own from Philadelphia, Pa., to Fort Myers, Fla.
His luggage made it, but Ramos soon learned that Casper was more than 160 miles away in Orlando. When Ramos went to the Fort Myers airport, she was told her grandson 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,’” Ramos told Fox 35 earlier this week. “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.'”
(Video: YouTube)
Ramos soon received a FaceTime call from Casper, who was apparently on his own in Orlando.
“He said ‘Yes, I landed, I’m in the airport, where are you, grandma?'” Ramos explained. “I said, ‘Give me the adult with you.’ He said, ‘There’s nobody with me.’”
The panicked grandma said she told little Casper to find a uniformed employee. That, she said, was when she learned her grandson’s location.
“I wanted to die,” Ramos said. “I said, ‘What do you mean he’s in Orlando airport?'”
“I want them to call me and let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando,” the grandmother told ABC 7. “How did that happen? Did they get him off the plane? Did the flight attendant, after Mom handed him with the paperwork, did she let him go by himself?”
(Video: YouTube)
Following an internal investigation, Spirit Airlines announced on Friday that the gate agent had been fired for escorting the little boy to the wrong plane.
“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 in a statement 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 a statement to Ramos, Spirit Airlines apologized profusely for the error.
“We are so sorry for the terrible mistake,” the company said. “(Casper) is a wonderful young man and was extremely polite and very social with our flight attendants and airport team. I am a grandfather myself and would only do for (Casper) as I would do for my own grandchildren. You must be very proud. Merry Christmas to you and your family.”
In its earlier statement to Fox 35, the airline stressed that Casper was never left alone.
“On Dec. 21, an unaccompanied child traveling from Philadelphia (PHL) to Fort Myers (RSW) was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando (MCO). 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,” Spirit Airline said at the time. “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.”
“Why are you lying?” Ramos said in response to the statement. “For me to find out where was my son – my grandson was, he had to call me!”
The airline did offer to drive Casper the three hours to his grandma’s house, according to FOX Business. Understandably, Ramos declined, choosing instead to pick the little boy up herself.
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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