Why Did American Airlines Remove a Toddler From a Flight?
Joe Cortez September 16, 2021
Once again, conflicting stories are circulating about why a child not wearing a face covering was removed from an American Airlines flight. While the mother says the child was suffering from an asthma attack, the airline says the child was up and about prior to takeoff without showing any symptoms.
Face coverings for children are once again making headlines, after a mother is accusing American Airlines of unfairly removing her and her toddler over an alleged asthma attack. The incident – along with both sides of the story – have been widely shared on social media.
Mother Says Asthma Attack to Blame, While American Says Behavior Influenced Incident
The incident happened aboard American Airlines Flight 1284, traveling from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Colorado Springs Airport (COS) on Monday, September 13, 2021. Amanda Pendarvis shared a story to her Instagram account featuring her child, accusing the flight crew of unfairly removing her child for not wearing a face covering. Images of the story were shared across social media, which quickly went viral.
Hello, maybe we get flight attendant fired from @AmericanAir today?
My sweet friend’s 2 year old son was having an asthma attack and wouldn’t keep mask on (because he couldn’t breathe) – and they turned plane around and had police waiting to escort them off. A 2 year old. pic.twitter.com/Ks2VbnNASW
— Tiger Lily (@yogarespecter) September 14, 2021
In a follow-up 10-page story shared on her Instagram account, Pendarvis claims her son was able to fly between Oklahoma City and Dallas without a mask, but experienced trouble aboard AA1284. She says the flight was delayed on the tarmac for 40 minutes, during which time she allowed the child to walk between herself and her mother, on the other side of the aisle.
Her story claims a male flight attendant came up to her and asked the age of her son. When she said he was two, he asked her to have him wear a face covering, as current federal policy requires. Pendarvis says her child is asthmatic and refuses to wear a face mask, going so far to provide another attendant with a negative COVID-19 test. It was to no avail, as she says the flight was returned to the gate and her entire party was asked to deboard and met by police.
“This was not about you protecting passengers or having human beings and their health in mind,” Pendarvis writes in her Instagram story, addressing the flight attendant in question. “If that was the case, you would have certainly – without question – realized that a two-year-old who is sweating, hysterical, has zero concept of why his mother is forcing a mask on his face, has a negative COVID test, and is having asthmatic complications due to the absolute hysteria is not a health threat to other passengers.”
American tells a different story of what happened. In comments to MarketWatch, a spokesperson for the carrier says the child was “laying in the aisle and moving between seats on taxi out,” and attendants were never informed that he was suffering from an asthma attack.
”At no time was it made known to our crew members that a member of the party was experiencing an asthma attack or trouble breathing,” the airline statemen to MarketWatch reads. “Individuals were not addressed for failure to comply with face covering requirements at any point while administering treatment.”
Pendarvis and her family were ultimately rebooked on another American flight at no additional charge.
Debate Over Children’s Face Coverings Aboard Aircraft Continues
The incident is the latest in a long line of stories about how airlines should treat children aboard their aircraft. Families with autistic children have long complained about how airlines treat children with sensory issues, with Spirit Airlines going so far to change their policy to allow medical exemptions for those on the Autistic spectrum.
I refuse to fly with companies that waste 200 persons valuable time because of a missing mouth cloth.
Mandating masks for two year olds is beyond ridiculous.
I am a parent of a toddler. The rule is: wear a mask. So wear a mask. if you don't want to wear a mask, don't get on a plane. And don't get on a plane if you are having an asthma attack (and what pilot will take off after she learns that a passenger is in respiratory distress?). Finally, I really don't care if you don't think masks work or the virus is a hoax or Bill Gates stays up all night secretly putting microchips or fairy dust in vaccines. I want to carry a full-size tube of toothpaste on a plane. But, the rules say I can't, so I don't.
I don't get the mother's point. If the child was having an asthma attack, mask or not, she shouldn't be flying. You do not take off with a passenger having a medical emergency.
Flying is a privilege and not a right. If your child can't control themselves or you can't control them, then they don't fly. Flight crews are not babysitters (or adult sitters) on the ground or in the air. Learn to control your children, and yourself or stay on the ground. Every person, regardless of age, has to abide by the FAA rules which include wearing a mask (to protect others). This pandemic is caused by a virus that is causing illness and death for hundreds of thousands of people whether one believes in viruses or not. Just because a parent purchased a ticket for a child does not give that parent to right to disobey or not abide by the FAA rules. Yep, this toddler and parent needed to be on the ground.