Spirit Airlines has apologized after it mistakenly put an unaccompanied child on the wrong flight. The child was supposed to fly from Philadelphia International Airport to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers on Thursday – the height of the holiday season travel rush.  However according to the airline, the minor was “incorrectly boarded” on a flight to Orlando.

Spirit said in a statement: “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.” Spirit did not provide any information about the child or explain how the mistake happened.

Fort Myers local TV station WINK-TV identified the child as a 6-year-old first-time flyer who was supposed to visit his grandmother.  The boy’s grandma, Maria Ramos, told the station: “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.’”   Ramos’ grandchild later called her and said he had landed — 160 miles away.

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