Spirit Airlines Apologizes After Unaccompanied 6-Year-Old Boy Lands in Wrong City

The six-year-old was a first-time flyer trying to visit his grandmother.

December 24, 2023

(Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Spirit Airlines had to make an apology after they fumbled and put a six-year-old child on the wrong flight during the busy holiday travel season, WINK-TV reports.

According to Spirit, the child was supposed to fly from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and into Fort Meyers, Florida, but was instead put on a flight to Orlando.

"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 said in a statement. "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 did not explain how the incident happened, as the boy was set to meet his grandmother for the holidays.

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,'" his grandmother, Maria Ramos, told the outlet.

The child ended up calling his grandmother to tell her where he landed, and now she wants to get to the bottom of the incident.

"I want them to call me [and] let me know how my grandson ended up in Orlando," Ramos said. "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?"