First and foremost, yes, the 6-year-old unaccompanied traveler is safe at home. Also, yes, Spirit Airlines has apologized for whatever fiasco caused them to send the UNACCOMPANIED child on the wrong flight. Alone.
The kid was supposed to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers to visit Grandma on December 21st. According to the airline, the minor “incorrectly boarded” a flight to Orlando instead.
“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,’” Grandma Maria Ramos told the local news station. The boy did call her to say he’d landed, albeit 160 miles away from where he was supposed to be.
“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?”
As to the situation, spirit issued the following statement on December 23rd:
“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.”
