‘Where’s my grandson?’: Child travelling to visit grandma for Christmas put on wrong flight

A line of Spirit Airlines jets sit on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport on 20 May 2020, in Orlando, Florida.
A line of Spirit Airlines jets sit on the tarmac at Orlando International Airport on 20 May 2020, in Orlando, Florida. Copyright AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File
Copyright AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File
By Angela Symons with AP
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Spirit Airlines is investigating the incident, which saw the child stranded 260 km away from his grandmother's home.

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A 6-year-old boy travelling to visit his grandma for Christmas was put on wrong flight and ended up 260 km away.

Instead of heading to Fort Myers, he was put on a plane heading to the central Florida city of Orlando.

Spirit Airlines says the boy was accompanied by an employee at all times. It is conducting an investigation into how the incident happened.

‘Where’s my grandson?'

When his grandmother, Maria Ramos, showed up on Thursday at Southwest Florida International Airportto greet her grandson - who was flying for the first time from Philadelphia - she was told he wasn't on the 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 told local TV station WINK News.

She then got a call from her grandson from the airport in Orlando, telling her that he had landed.

Spirit Airlines is investigating the incident

In a statement, Spirit Airlines said the boy was under the care and supervision of an airlines employee the entire time, even though he was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando. Once the mistake was discovered, the airlines let the family know, the statement said.

“We take the safety and responsibility of transporting all of our Guests seriously and are conducting an internal investigation,” the statement said. “We apologise to the family for this experience.”

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