Mom wants airlines to reexamine mask policies after getting kicked off flight
Flying with children can be hard enough, as parents have to make sure that they keep their masks on during the entire flight.
FOX 35 reporter Sydney Cameron spoke to a mom who was not allowed on her flight because her toddler would not keep a mask on.
Video showed an emotional mother in the Charlotte International Airport, yelling at an airline employee after she said she and her two-year-old son were kicked off an American Airlines flight from Charlotte to New Hampshire.
"I was feeling a level of frustration I had never experienced as a mom because I felt guilty," the mother, Rachel Starr Davis, explained. She said that she tried everything to comply with American's face mask policy requiring everyone two years of age and up wear a mask while on the plane. "About 15 or 20 minutes had passed of me trying to get a mask on him when I was finally, literally holding the mask over his nose and mouth. And he was screaming and crying and I was crying."
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Davis said that they were trying to take their seats on the plane when a flight attendant asked her to put a mask on her son.
"As I'm settling my bags down and getting my son out of his sling, I hear the flight attendant on the phone saying clearly it's going to be a problem and we're going to need you to come down. I knew she was talking about us but I didn't even have the opportunity to get the mask out," the mother told FOX 35.
She kept trying to put a mask on her toddler but the flight crew made everyone get off the plane, telling her she and her son could not get back on. They eventually made it home, hours later on a different American flight.
"The situation was completely mishandled from start to finish," Davis said.
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This is just the latest incident of parents who say they were kicked off flights because of toddlers and face mask problems. Travel expert John Morrison said that most major U.S. domestic airlines are being very strict on their face mask policies.
John Morrison of Aquetas Travel said that the airlines "won't make exceptions, so you are basically signing that contract when you check-in. You are agreeing to their terms and conditions."
According to their websites, three of the major airlines -- American, Jetblue, and Alaska -- all require face masks for children 2 and older. Delta said on its website that children younger than 2 and young children who cannot maintain a face covering are exempt and do not need a pre-travel clearance.
Morrison warns that if you have to travel with a toddler, prepare ahead of time.
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Meanwhile, Davis wants all airlines to reexamine their face mask policies and retrain their flight crews. She said that "I would like them to address with their first crew and team how to deal with these situations with some common sense, compassion, and understanding."
American Airlines said that they are investigating the incident and they follow CDC guidelines, which state that children two years of age and older should wear a mask in public.
Tune in to FOX 35 Orlando for the latest Central Florida news.