Spirit Airlines mix-up causes boy, 6, to end up at wrong Florida airport, family says: 'Find my grandson'
ORLANDO, Fla. - UPDATE: On Dec. 29, Spirit Airlines announced that it has fired the agent responsible for the mix-up that caused a 6-year-old boy to be put on the wrong flight.
Original story continues below:
An airline mix-up caused a little boy to end up at the wrong airport.
The 6-year-old, who was flying from Philadelphia was supposed to land in Fort Myers. Instead, he ended up in Orlando – four hours away from his grandmother, Maria Ramos.
"I go to RSW to pick him up – as I should. I go there with my ID and everything," Ramos said. "The lady that took care of me said, ‘No, he 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.' 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’" Ramos said.
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Ramos’ grandson, Casper, was flying as an unaccompanied minor with Spirit Airlines. According to Ramos, he took off from Philadelphia on Dec. 21, and was supposed to land in Fort Myers a few hours later but never made it.
Ramos said she was frantic when she found out the airline had lost her grandson.
"I just went crazy. I got a panic attack," Ramos said. "I was asking, where’s my grandson? You had him. Nobody knew where was Casper."
Amid the chaos, Ramos said she got a FaceTime call from Casper.
"He said ‘Yes, I landed, I’m in the airport, where are you, grandma?’" Ramos recalled. "I said, ‘Give me the adult with you.' He said, ‘There’s nobody with me.’"
Ramos said she instructed Casper to find a uniformed employee, and that’s when she finally found out where he was.
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"I wanted to die, I said, ‘What do you mean he’s in Orlando airport?'" Ramos said.
Ramos said Spirit Airlines offered to have a driver take Casper to Fort Myers. She declined and hightailed it three-and-a-half hours to pick him up.
"He had this on all the way," Ramos said holding up a lanyard. "[It] says final destination: RSW… so, what happened there?"
On top of the ticket price, Ramos said she paid an extra $150 for Casper to fly as an unaccompanied minor.
She said per the airline's policy, he was not allowed a carry-on, so his luggage had to be checked at an additional fee. She said Casper’s luggage did make it on the correct flight.
She said she has not been contacted by Spirit Airlines, except for a text from a Spirit Airlines employee in Orlando. It read:
"We are so sorry for the terrible mistake. [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."
"It’s like you lost your bag, and we found your bag here. I’m returning your bag, have a Merry Christmas," Ramos said.
A statement sent to FOX 35 from Spirit Airlines reads:
"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. 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 asked in response to the statement. "For me to find out where was my son – my grandson was, he had to call me!"
According to Ramos she is not worried about the money, she just wants an explanation and for Spirit to take accountability.
"All I need is for them to give me a call and tell me, listen, we made a mistake. For some reason his ticket was not scanned before boarding the plane. Tell me, tell me, but they don’t reach out to me."
Ramos said the company did reach out to her daughter, Casper’s mother, but Ramos was the one who purchased the ticket and has yet to hear from them.