What Happened Aboard Spirit Flight 138? Family With Special Needs Child Deboarded Then Reboarded, Deleted Statement, Was A Flight Attendant Led Away By Police?

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Another day, another odd case of mask enforcement on an ultra low-cost carrier. Last month it was Frontier that had some explaining to do. Today’s it’s Spirit.

Viral video going around social media shows a family on Spirit flight 138 today from Orlando to Atlantic City with a father, pregnant mother, 7 year old son with special needs, and a 2 year old daughter being told they need to leave the plane due to mask non-compliance.

Below are some of those clips.

The family is told to leave the plane due to their 2 year old not being masked. However their 2 year old is eating when the family is told to leave. The father asks around if he was wearing a mask until then and other passengers confirm that he was.

Unsurprisingly, the 2 year old has no interest in wearing a mask, which is one of the reasons I haven’t flown anywhere with my own family since January 2020.

 

Police are called and the Spirit agents tell them they won’t fly the family and want them removed:

 

The family explains that the 2 year old won’t wear a mask, well, because she’s 2.

Now, that’s not really a good excuse. Everyone flying is told that 2 year olds need to wear a mask.

But the rule is completely absurd and one would hope that flight attendants would be OK as long as the parents make an effort to keep their child masked when not eating. A 2 year old can’t be expected to keep a mask on, but it is the rule. Their 7 year old son with special needs doesn’t appear to have been the issue and federal law now allows for health exceptions to in-flight mask rules.

I’m not quite sure if the talmudic migu like argument applies in that they could have lied about the 2 year old’s age but chose to be honest works, but worth a shot I suppose?

 

In the end, the entire plane was deboarded and the family accused the crew of being anti-Semitic:

 

After deboarding, the family had a conversation with the police:

 

 

The Orlando Police Department then spoke with the captain and he confirmed that all the crew were happy to have the family back on the flight, except for Darryl.

Passengers say that flight attendant Darryl was responsible for kicking the family off the flight.

 

Video shows Darryl walking away from the flight, along with police:

 

 

Darryl was replaced by another flight attendant and the flight reboarded:

 

Before reboarding, the family’s special needs child needed to take seizure medication, but the family didn’t have a syringe with them. The Orlando Police Department arranged for a syringe and the father gave the officer a warm hug before reboarding the plane.

 

The family was able to fly back to Atlantic City:

 

The flight arrived into Atlantic City 2 hours and 39 minutes behind schedule.

This sure is a weird one!

There are lots of stories of families with 2 year olds being kicked off flights. Personally I’m in favor of European rules that don’t require masks for young children as it’s simply not possible for young children to remain masked. Once we’re requiring 2 year olds to wear a mask, why not a 1 year old? Both can spread COVID-19 and neither is capable of keeping a mask on…

But I have never heard of an entire plane being deboarded due to a family’s mask non-compliance and then the family being allowed back on the plane.

For an airline to call police to kick a family off a flight and then reverse course to allow the family back on is practically unheard of. Someone high up must have made that call. Did a pilot overrule the flight attendant?

I reached out to Spirit for their side of the story and spoke with Spirit media relations manager Field Sutton.

Mr. Sutton said there’s a lot of bad information out there.

Many sites claimed that the flight attendant was removed or escorted away by the police. He said that’s completely incorrect and after a delay flight attendants are often changed out. He denied that Darryl was told not to fly by anyone and strongly denied that the police were involved in his removal, saying that video was just an unfortunate coincidence.

I asked why only Darryl didn’t fly, after all, if it was a crew timing issue, why didn’t they swap the entire crew? But Mr. Sutton said the reason Darryl didn’t fly was unrelated to the issue. I pushed for an official statement on why Darryl didn’t fly, and was told that Spirit would circle back to me on that.

Mr. Sutton also said the reason that the family was removed was that the parents were not wearing their masks originally, but that the original incident wasn’t captured on video.

I asked if he was aware of other cases where a family was deboarded and then allowed back on. Mr. Sutton said that supervisors often discuss the situation with a family and decide to allow them to fly, though that’s typically done on the plane.

Mr. Sutton also wanted to reiterate that if this were only about a 2 year old, they would never have families fly on their planes and that they’re aware of the difficulties of flying with young children.

But of course that depends on how the flight attendant interprets the rule. While most will let it slide, there are sticklers that will not.

Afterward, Spirit posted this statement blaming the adults,

 

I emailed Mr. Sutton again if they had any comment on why the video shows the blame being placed on the 2 year old, while their statement blames the adults, but have not received a response.

However, the airline later deleted that statement blaming the adults.

It’s certainly an odd story and Spirit’s statements don’t jibe with the videos we have indicating that the 2 year old was the problem. Rarely is the original incident caught on video, so it’s hard to get the full picture, but it’s hard to take Spirit’s word on this based on what we see in the video.

Perhaps that’s why they deleted their statement?

Given that the family flew in the end and Darryl did not, it seems like most of the Spirit employees must have realized that the airline was in the wrong and worked to fix it. Kudos to them for saving this from being a further PR nightmare by allowing the family to fly home!

These stories happen with all airlines, though of late they seem to be happening more often on the ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit.

Why is that?

My theory is that their agents are trained to be more rigid and not to allow for exceptions as may happen on other airlines. Certainly this can happen on any airline depending on the flight attendant, but it’s no surprise that it seems to be happening more often on airlines like Frontier and Spirit.

Personally, I have never flown on Frontier or Spirit and have no plans to change that anytime soon. Sure, things are normally fine, but when things go wrong, they go spectacularly wrong. Do these stories make you less likely to fly on an airline?

Perhaps it’s time for airlines to install in-flight surveillance on their planes? Should passengers wear a GoPro on their belt when they fly to prove their side of the story?

It’s certainly time to raise the age for mask requirements. Lufthansa and Swiss doesn’t require them for kids under 6. That makes sense to me, otherwise it’s hard to see myself flying with my family anytime soon.

What do you make of this story?

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205 Comments On "What Happened Aboard Spirit Flight 138? Family With Special Needs Child Deboarded Then Reboarded, Deleted Statement, Was A Flight Attendant Led Away By Police?"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Dans chosid

I just flew KLM from Amsterdam the crew told my kids under 11 to take off their masks and I had mine off for most of the 7 hour flight with no prob even walking around on the empty flight

MaiaG

If you are allowed to have your mask off most of the flight even when walking around, shame on KLM and you. Do we wonder why people unfairly blame many people who look like a few badly behaved people?

CL

If you think covid is a danger to you, don’t fly on a plane. You think covid takes a pause while eating a snack??

Ay

Yah the first thing local officials do when they’re local has a spike is night curfews which always made me wonder how the virus mysteriously shows up to the bar at 10:00 and then disappears in the morning!?! #CoviIdiots

Sam

When most of your career is built on AIDS you start doing funny things

Sl

Huh? Pls explain this one

Brian

Sam is trying to imply that since Dr. Fauci is a leader in the fight against aids, that he has no idea how to handle COVID. I guess because Sam doesn’t understand the education that would lead one to be an expert in infectious disease…

JB

Well said

Ay

Go ahead and cover your mouth and nose with a face diaper for the rest of your life. It’s a free country!

Brian

Oh no, it’s special.

Ejb

The father was clearly not wearing a mask when arguing with the FA in the video that circulated WA.

But the FA did say in that video that the issue was w the 2yo.

David Djmal

I was on the flight a few rows ahead. The father never took off his mask until he started talking, I’ve seen many people pull it down so people can hear them. He instantly pulls it up when he notices his mistake. They also never mentioned anything about the parents not complying.

Casper

I’m shocked that 32 people liked Spirits tweet. What is there to like?

ChapsTheMatzav

Ever heard of bots?

Concerned citizen

The White House can’t afford money on bots for joe Biden so they resort too deleting his dislikes and disabling the comments.

ChapsTheMatzav

Whos talking about the white house?
I think we may have a Joe Biden here…

Davidthebest

love the “MIGU” expression….
dan can we make a chavrusa?

isaac klein

sounds yeshivish but ok

S

Lol, Mr. Sutton claimed to know factually that the reason Darryl didn’t fly was unrelated to the issue, but then he told you he’ll have to circle back to give you a clear reason.
Mr. Sutton sounds like a really
credible source 🙂

Ejb

I don’t think you know how corporations work.

S

?

Work-for-ur-muny

That is very unSpirit-like to remove a flight attendant who was in the wrong.

Sam

True they generally simply mistreat all employees

Mk

Agree

Jonathan

I was on a spirit flight, Wednesday before Passover

A person, clearly an Orthodox Jew, and his family boarded the plane, holding his round matzah and silver Seder plate in his hand.

They were virtually last to board and the flight attendant didn’t let them put their carryon luggage (which they paid for carryon bag) in the numerous overhead bins; but made them take it all the way to their seat.

Then I personally heard the flight attendant make up a new policy for these Orthodox Jews, and said they had to put their mask back on between each bite of their food.

I don’t know what happened then, but the plane was turned back to the gate and the Jewish family was kicked off.

This occurred in ft lauderdale

I hope they sue spirit for huge damages.

Josh

I flew with Spirit twice in the last two weeks – all their flight sttendants announce that you have to put your mask back on between bites and sips. It had nothing to do with the Jews on your flight.

Yochanan

Just give the kid a lollipop. Problem solved.

David Djmal

The kid was eating when they came over and kicked them off. But yes they actually did that afterwards.

Dan\'s the Man

and punch a small hole for the lollipop stick to go through. This way they are eating and are masked!

sdd

Ruach Ra’ah

Dav

How could they lie about the child’s age, doesn’t it say the DOB in the passport?

yelped

You don’t need ID for domestic flights for children under 18 years of age.

Kobe Bryant

You don’t need ID for minors.

Shimon

You don’t need a passport for domestic flights

Anonymous

Darryl probably recently had Covid. Of course the company can’t now anonymously disclose this since his face and everyone else’s is on video

Dan\'s the Man

Uh… No

mike

African americans seem to be a lot more paranoid about covid for some reason or another, so he must have decided to ‘make a point’.
I was on a flight today and an African american young guy walked over to the flight attendant right at the start of the flight complaining that the person next to him isn’t wearing their mask properly. Luckily the united flight attendant was smart enough to brush him off politely without any incident.
Okay call me racist but it is my observation..

MaiaG

You had an observation based on one person. But if that person said the Jew over there took off his mask that’s just an observation too, right?
Maybe some African Americans are more concerned about Covid because they know more people who are sick or died. That may be over cautious to you but not is not being paranoid .

isaac klein

its not about covid its about there sudden rush of power in the name of covid these people never commanded control.. covid now has made them feel in power and they are drunk on it

Aay B.

Spot on! That’s exactly what’s happening over the last year or so. Every bellman, doorman, janitor and of course flight attendant is in on this power grab. They loooove it

Concerned citizen

There job is to serve you sodas and peanuts and make sure you get to your seat and buckle up at the right times.

Not to be the mask nazi!

Tamar

Both you and your observation are racist.

Barley

It’s just a new cudgel for them to beat people with. Not racist at all, just bigoted.

KR

Yes, it’s a racist statement when you singled out 1 race. So, you have a problem of people feeling safe when the medical community has continued to put out the information that masks properly worn significantly reduce the chance of transmission? Even though your post doesn’t specify age, my assumption is that you were not talking about a child not wearing their mask correctly but an adult which isn’t acceptable if they are choosing to fly.

reader

no I will not fly Spit’it airline
will need to wait a while before flying with family again

Kobe Bryant

Comeonman “Let me circle back to you” the new “depends on what is is”

Ejb

Or let us go through the internal process for getting an official statement.

Jodi

If the child just turned 2, how is she a lap
Infant? Don’t you need to purchase a seat once a child turns 2?

David Djmal

He paid for her seat

Jodi

He repeats that, but where was her seat?

David Djmal

Watch 0:30 in the first video. Empty middle seat on a fully booked flight (I was on it). Spirit puts families in the same row so they would have gotten seats ABCD, since the child was not sitting in D, the passenger in the middle moved over to the better aisle seat.

Rebecca

Across the aisle with the nanny

Jodi

Got it. I wondered why the mom kept asking that woman for things.

Marriott

This whole story is so outrageous. Even Eric Adams (Mayoral candidate who has been pretty lukewarm to Jews) came out with a statement condeming this.

Granted, he’s probably just trying to garner the Jewish vote, but still… It’s pretty obvious that Spirit was in the wrong. Everyone hates that airline anyways…. why do they need to give us more reasons lol.

Nirc

I just flew United and AA again with my 3 yr old – no mask entire time and was not even asked to put one on.

ChapsTheMatzav

Where you black?

Nirc

No

Liam K. Nuj

Were you a racist?

ChapsTheMatzav

No, just if your black you can walk anywhere (@ least in NYC) without a mask.
If your Jewish “please pick your mask up over your nose…”

Liz

Anyone who thinks a 2 year old is capable of keeping a mask on should not be in a position of power.

And any airline who doesn’t want to bend on the mask rule should insist on a negative pcr test for any young child who cannot wear a mask, not insist on something that is just not realistic

Concerned citizen

Or we can be understanding human beings. We seemed to be so struck with fear that we lost touch with what it is to be human. Simply amazing!

The data on kids show they aren’t spreaders of this disease. “But I know someone who caught it from a kid”
I understand and I believe you but the over all data shows they don’t spread it. Not saying there aren’t cases.

Nachi Farkas

Not interested in joining the calamity of the discussion and all the racist points but I do think its important to combat misinformation with direct sources.
Regarding your point that children aren’t spreads, this has been found to be false

News article with expert opinion detailing increased viral spread via pediatric population in covid variant B.1.1.7
https://abc7chicago.com/covid-chidlren-variant-coroanvirus-coronavirus-vaccine/10486843/

CDC brief updated in March detailing that children can and do spread covid.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/transmission_k_12_schools.html

Peer reviewed article in a minor journal: The role of children in the spread of COVID-19: Using household data from Bnei Brak, Israel, to estimate the relative susceptibility and infectivity of children
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008559

“While our estimates of children’s susceptibility and infectivity are lower than those of adults within a household, it is important to bear in mind that their role in the spread of COVID-19 is also affected by different contact patterns and hygienic habits outside the household, so that more intense contact and mixing among children and adolescents compared to adults, for example in schools, may offset the effect of reduced susceptibility.”

So to summarize children do spread covid, rates with previous strains are around 50-65% however the new variants can cause increased infection and children should not be dismissed as insignificant to the spread.

Jani

It was clearly motivated by antisemitism and they must pay the price!!!!

Talmid hacham

I would go with מיגו. Its not מיגו דהעזה because they can’t prove she isn’t 2 .

Bigger Talmid hacham

Classic Migu L’mafreia.
I would not go with מיגו.

challah baker

Someone once tried to use the ‘if I was lying, I would lie a better lie’ reasoning in court. The non yarmulka wearing judge replied, “no migus in court!”

Work-for-ur-muny

To which he should’ve answered, “had I been in Beis Din, I could’ve used my migu, so you must accept it…” Lol

Zipni

I totally get the family felt like they were being targeted (and maybe they even were), but to be honest, their behavior and attitude also left a bad taste in my mouth perhaps worse than that of the airline or crew. Imagine being a non-jew on that flight and seeing how rude they were. The dad calling out “one African American” as the issue as if that is important information? Coincidentally, right in front of an African American passenger. And then, claiming he could have lied, and feeling entitled because he was honest?! Reality check: you’re supposed to be honest as a default. That doesn’t automatically entitle you to anything whatsoever. They came across as bratty, entitled, and rude. They could have made their points and stood their ground without the add-ons.

Rebecca

Respectfully disagree. They handled themselves wonderfully considering they were being asked to deplane. While 7 months pregnant. With a toddler. With a disabled child. For no apparent reason. I’ve seen far worse behavior for less

Jodi

The reason was obvious. Everyone 2 and up needs to wear a mask. Doesn’t matter if you don’t like a rule, it’s the rule. They shouldn’t have flown. They were obnoxious.

Concerned citizen

“Rules are rules” wow! Let me ask you a question you ever go over speed limit when you drive? If you do even once then o think you should have your license suspended. “Rules are rules” no exceptions!

MaiaG

I agree.
They may have been right but they lost sympathy abd credibility with some of their behavior.
I’m also concerned about something else. Their child needed medication, which they had, but they didn’t have a syringe?

Jew

In their checked baggage that they would have used upon landing if on time.
Or….. They just simply forgot syringe

RF

Agreed. Spirit was definitely in the wrong- (as is any airline that enforces this stupid rule) However, this family’s behavior was extremely inappropriate. And what disturbed me most was how concerned they were about anti-semites. Well congrats guys- your attitude and rudeness created a bunch more on this flight.

Concerned citizen

Wow ! Dan your followers are showing true colors today !!!
Unbelievable!
Does anyone here have kids if there own or nieces or nephews? Or no of any kid that’s special needs?
Seriously guys it’s a disease that 99.9% survive. It’s not the Ebonic plague

JV

I agree with this. Without the commentary i would have been on their side. With the commentary and ego-stroking, they lost my respect. I would have been in my seen rolling my eyes calling them racist. Why even stoop to that level, completely unnecessary if you ask me. I’ve been asked to deplane before due to a misunderstanding. I promptly deplaned and got a few free flights from CS. I’m not going to fight with anyone they arent that important.

Jewels

They were entitled, they paid for their seats! Not only that, they were targeted unfairly! I would also get angry. It’s a parent’s worse nightmare to get kicked off. I would also put up a fight and challenge them!! Don’t be a lemalah!! Without fighting they wouldn’t have been able to get back on. Now spirit will get what they deserve, bad pr!!

Shaynah

They were not entitled to anything. In fact, because they paid for their seat they were likely contractually bound to mask their 2 year old given that was the airlines rule. It might be an unrealistic rule as Dan pointed out, but it’s the rule.

Concerned citizen

Right! Bec rules are rules! And we always have to follow the rules no question asked!

Concerned citizen

Totally disagree!!’ Sorry your plain wrong. First put yourself in there shoes for a second and I want to watch you be call cool and collective in that situation. About lying the kid was 2 years old 1 month. At no point did they say anything to make them feel entitled.

Eric

I just flew 3 flights with 4 kids over yom tov on UA & DL. While DL was a little more annoying about the masks, we really didn’t have a problem on any flights B”H. Stay away from the ULCC…

Carl B Maltzman

It’s sad that the man complains about anti-Semitism, but feels the need to describe the race of the flight attendant who caused the problem.

MaiaG

People don’t understand that. I’m sure people here will say they are just describing someone. But they would be upset if someone said that Jewish family is causing problems, instead of saying that family over there with the man in tbe black suit and the woman with a blue sweater.

Shimon

Get a life I would like to see how you would react if it was your child

Carl B Maltzman

If I was on that plane, I’d be very upset. And I’d be even more upset if someone said, “Those damn Yids are causing a delay.” And if I’d ask him what their religion has to do with it, and he said, “Get a life,” I’d be even more upset that he was proud of his bigotry.

Jew

Their nanny is black. Don’t think they have an issue per se with black people…

isaac klein

wait u have a nanny but fly spirit?

Carl B Maltzman

Wow, what a brilliant insight! I guess that’s why anti-Semites never go to a Jewish doctor, or hire a Jewish attorney or accountant. And when Alan Dershowitz volunteered his services to the Nazis marching in Skokie, they turned him down. Yeah, they have a Black maid, so they could not possibly be racist.

jew

Nanny isn’t maid. Try again.

Carl B Maltzman

Call her whatever you want if that makes you feel better. The definition of nanny is: a person, typically a woman, employed to care for a child in its own home. The “nanny” was providing water, etc. to the MOTHER, not the child–and definitely not at home. The fact is, the woman kept asking for things from the maid/”nanny.” and never once said “thank you.” I think the problem is that we have a family who spent a ton of money to go away on Pesach, even paid for the maid/”nanny” to go along—and feel entitled. Like the guy in Disney Springs who didn’t want his temperature taken because he “paid $15,000 for the trip.”

Concerned citizen

Right the black lady next to them was indeed there nanny

KMC

If I was frustrated I wouldn’t say something racially insensitive. Certain words or attitudes should not be part of our vocabulary. Consistent self control is a basic yesod of yiddishkeit; and if you mess up-which everyone does…. don’t make a mitzva out of it.
the “but they started it” excuse should be left to the preschool playground.
Get a life indeed.

Concerned citizen

Exactly!!!!! Think people think , put yourself in there shoes for just a minute

Concerned citizen

Ok but there a reason why 0 African Americans have been kicked of a flight this year. As far as I c is mostly Jews.

Carl B Maltzman

You mean NONE of the Black chat boards you’re on have shown people getting kicked off?

Ruvy

I flew Spirit today with my 2 yo and lied about his age when the flight attendant asked.
Problem solved.

The crew were obnoxious making announcements and harassing people about wearing a mask including my 4 yo making sure it’s covering his nose.

It’s time we speak up and make a stink about masking at 2 yo.

Concerned citizen

It’s time to end masking period!!! Either you got it and have T cell immunity, you’ve been Vaxed, you too young to have serious illness. That’s it we drop the stupid face diapers and move on with life. But then delta will have to fire there new executive doctor they just hired.

Btw people you think this is bad just wait for the covi pass to start.

You’ve seen nothing yet.

People think that communist pass is a pathway back to normal. Instead is a pathway to hell.

Liam K. Nuj

Perhaps your write and people should stop wearing there masks and start learning how to spell words like “you’re” and “their”.

ckmk47

LOL Thanks for that!

Carl B Maltzman

Stop making fun of this highly qualified epidemiologist! Just take his advice, and bask in his brilliance.

Anon

Perhaps learn to use “write” and “right” in the correct context if “you’re” commenting on grammar. Lol

Carl B Maltzman

Gee, we are so lucky to get the input from a world famous epidemiologist like yourself! And here I was taking dating advice from Matt Gaetz.

Carl B Maltzman

Yeah, it’s SO annoying that the flight crew is trying to protect the health of the passengers, when they could instead be hosting a mass spreader party, and have the airline close down again, and be out of a job again. Just SO annoying!

Rebecca

Even my 9 and 11 year old children know never to fly Spirit. Once in 2016 and never again.

Eric

I have been flying Spirit for well over a decade, exclusively for the reason that if you collect enough Free Spirit miles, you can fly a family of 6 or even 8 or more for free round trip from NY to FL every year during Yeshiva Break, when the tickets can be as little as 2500 miles per leg for direct flights. While I’ve never experienced anything like this, I’ve had my share of unfortunate incidents. Bottom line is – IMHO – if you are outwardly orthodox, you should go over and above the call of duty when it comes to adhering to the rules. I feel bad because the couple in question has a special – needs child as well as the two – year old, plus she’s pregnant, and while it did seem to their credit that they did a lot of things right, they also did many things plainly wrong. Was the flight attendant on a power-trip? Yes. It’s just an unfortunate incident all the way around, and the fact that it’s become an internet sensation only adds to level of Chilul HaShem. At least it had a somewhat happy ending, all things considered…

Scientist

Can someone please explain to me why the parents didn’t just keep saying repeatedly that the two year old wasn’t wearing a mask because she was eating?

Jew

Yah wondering that.
Maybe they only started eating later on or they knew that she can’t eat the whole flight…

Concerned citizen

Wasn’t going to matter.

CC

The flight needed to take off which meant that the child could not sit there nor should the tray table down have been down. The child shouldn’t have been eating at that moment. The parent decided to inconvenience everyone for her child to have a snack.

Baruch

I just took two flights with 3 little kids on Spirit. I was apprehensive after reading all the stories, but we have no problems at all. There were other orthodox people on the flight as well. They also didn’t have any problems. The reason we didn’t have problems is because we made sure to go above and beyond when it came to complying with the rules. We wore our masks the entire time and didn’t give the flight attendants any issues with whatever they told us to do. They also told the whole plane to put on their masks between each bite. We complied and we didn’t have any problems. We were nice to the flight attendants, we said hello and thank you. Everything worked out perfectly.
Somehow, I suspect that this isn’t the case in any of these stories. If you come on the plane with an attitude that this whole thing is stupid (which it may be) and refuse to comply and say why should I be bossed around, then you’re an idiot. I you act like a mench you have very little chance of getting kicked off the plane.

Oy

Mensches and non-mensches alike were told to board trains to Auschwitz.

JR

You, Oy, win the dumbest comment I think I’ve ever read on the internet. Wow!

Concerned citizen

-1000000000 he’s not wrong

Concerned citizen

Wow ! Good little sheep…seriously.

Liam K. Nuj

Just flew with my wife and 5 of our kids with Spirit LGA-FLL-FLL for $168 round-trip.
That’s $168 TOTAL for all SEVEN TICKETS.
So, yeah, I fly Spirit. But I doubt they make any money on me.

Concerned citizen

You purchase any extras?? water ? Seat cushion ? Bathroom pass?

Liam K. Nuj

Yes. 2 cans of soda at $3 each.
So I guess $174 for 7 round-trip tickets to Florida plus 2 cans of Coke is totally not worth it. Because I could have spent about a thousand dollars but I would have gotten FOURTEEN cans of Coke for “free” (those 12 extra cans work out to about $70 each)

Brooklyner

This is happening mostly in Orlando and ft Lauderdale. Notice it’s not happening the other way around?? Can anyone explain why the police are letting flight attendants be anti semitic?? Since when does a flight attendants have SO MUCH POWER? why is his / her word worth more than a plane full of people?

Carl B Maltzman

Because a plane isn’t a democracy. The crew is tasked with ensuring the safety of the passengers. They don’t ask, “Hey folks, does this look dangerous or not?” I’m not saying this flight attendant was correct, I’m just pointing out the rules of air safety.

O

Unfortunately, flight attendants do have tremendous power.

Sandy

I flew recently on Spirit. After the flight took off I gave my 3 year old daughter food to eat for the rest of the flight. I know a 2 year old is harder (or almost impossible), but you gotta try to keep them masked only until the flight takes off. Thinking about it as a 30-60 minute ordeal instead of a 3 hour ordeal should help with some of the parent anxiety. I’m not judging this case as I don’t know the details. Just saying that as parents we need to manage both our children’s and the flight attendants expectations the best we can and do the minimum for both. (Of course if all your children eat the entire flight it will make a Chilul Hashem).

Elephant

Let hundreds of people book flights on spirit on all their routes with kids with no masks let them be crippled for a day

#avoidspirit

Spirit and families with special needs children do not seem to be doing too well together these days, here’s a link to another story that happened with Spirit not too long ago.

https://www.facebook.com/113274213400333/posts/549119699815780/

Flyer

This is not a comment on this particular story as it is impossible to know all the details, but rather a comment in general.

As an Orthodox Jew who has flown a decent amount in the last few months, it really saddens me that we seem to have a disproportionate issue with mask compliance. It’s not just that we are an identifiable group – it truly is disproportionate.

I don’t understand why.

Even if you don’t believe in masks from a medical standpoint 1) it is the law 2) other people do believe in it and it makes them uncomfortable if others don’t wear them in public transport settings.

Add 1 & 2 together and you are bound to get a massive chillul hashem if nothing else

a

THIS should be the story.

g Sharon

There is no “mask law” in this country. They are called mandates and unless they are legislated they have no rule of law behind them. Check the court dockets there are many cases happening because of the over reach of power regarding masks & shut downs of business.

Flyer

Sharon,

This point is neither here nor there. Whether or not it is a law, it would still be the rule of the airline and noncompliance is just that…

Your point also happens to be factually incorrect. There is an executive order mandating makes on public transportation. Until that would challenged and overturned in court it is law.

Nolad

If only Dr. Seuss wasn’t previously banned, he would’ve been able to write another book.

Sam

Was thinking about cameras a while back. The kid was eating BTW, we both know they kicked off that flight attendant. Mabye his lawyer knows the CEO lol.

Onboard Spirit 138

Re: the FA, about 45 minutes before announcing the reboarding, I heard the crew saying they’re waiting for a new FA and then they can leave. Not sure why the FA stayed around, perhaps they were trying to convince him to cool down and they couldn’t leave without a full crew.

And no, despite what Spirit claims the parents were not warned about wearing a mask during the entire duration of the incident, at least since they boarded.

Jb

I don’t fly spirit and frontier for many reasons. As they say, you get for what you pay. Here’s my take:
Is it crazy to assume a 2 year old will wear a mask, yes! Is it likely they will the duration of the flight, no way! However, the law states 2 years and older need to wear a mask. Do they enforce that, likely most of the time no, but it is the lAw and if they choose to, the airline is right. So many people drove to Florida this year. If you have children who you know will not obey, why risk it? We the Jews come out looking like fools when these videos and cases come out. For the parents to consistently say “you try to get the mask on my two year old” doesn’t help their case. It’s not the staffs responsibility. Do I agree with the law, absolutely not. But again, the law is the law and if you want to enforce it, spirit didn’t do wrong. If you know your child can’t be masked don’t fly or don’t go. And don’t admit and blame the stewardess for her to get the mask on your child. Sucky rule, yes! Contact your senator or your local politicians to raise the age requirement.

Jew

Agree

2frum

When does the DOT – Pete Buttigieg – investigate these incidents?

Is this America?

When he finishes his bike ride.
After he drives a few hundred miles in his gas guzzling suburban. What a fraud the failed mayor is.

rob

“and was told that Spirit would circle back to me on that.”

Oh boy, you got the Jen Psaki treatment

In that case, I wouldn’t hold your breath for an answer

Carl B Maltzman

Better than the Sean Spicer, Sarah Hucksterbee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh MacAninny treatment: be told a bold face lie. Spicer would just rant, “The plane had the most people with masks on of any plane in history, period, end of story!”

isaac klein

triggered much?

Carl B Maltzman

Hooo haaaa. YOU seem to be triggered by Jen Psaki. Hey: Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Merrick Garland, George Soros, Jamie Raskin, Jerry Nadler, Adam Schiff, MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times. Why am I imagining your head just exploded? You right wingers are so delusional it’s just hilarious: You’re triggered by something, and if someone points it out, hoo haa, the rational person is called “triggered” by the cult member.

Cook

The individual or party that manages to raise the minimum age for mandated mask wearing by even only one year, I’d nominate for the Nobel Peace prize.
Wonder if there have been any real campaigns or petitions appealing to CDC to re-evaluate this arbitrary aspect (age) of the mandate.
If Europeans, ever the sticklers, can agree to spare children under 6, I can’t imagine why the US stubbornly sticks to its initial, perhaps impulsive, guideline (law?)

yelped

Exactly

Gemarakop

Seriously if there’s a rule there’s a rule. Can everybody use their brains for once or is it also a rule that you can’t.

AY

WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL FLYING SPIRIT

Liam K. Nuj

BECAUSE I’M SAVING LOTS OF MONEY AND I’VE NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ON ANY OF MY DOZENS OF SPIRIT FLIGHTS

Sillypainter

Ok, so we have the entire Spirit PR team here. Maia, Carl B Maltzman, and the rest. Dan, can you check IP addresses to confirm?

Liam K. Nuj

You forgot to mention Liam K. Nuj.
I’m insulted.

Flyer

I think there may be a simple explanation. I’ve seen at least one situation where a FA was close to timing out and I was pretty sure she created some drama before the plane left the gate to avoid having to fly. If this FA was about to time out and having a bad day picking a fight with a two year old over a mask was just his way of getting a break. Take it or leave it. Just a thought.

Abe

Just a side note there is no talmudic migu here migu means believe me what I am saying now because I could’ve said better and been believed for ex let’s say the argument they we’re making that she is over 2 and she was wearing a mask believe us because we could’ve just said she under 2 but saying she is over 2 and agreeing she didn’t wear a mask there is no migu

d

koach tayna

Eli

Correct, a migu does NOT apply here. I would say it even stronger than you – “migu” says, believe my current argument, which has no proof, because had I wanted to lie, I could have lied better. So in this case, even if we say he has the best migu in the world, it won’t help him at all, because it would make us believe his current argument – that she is over 2.

Long before COVID...

How do we not see it for what it is? This happened to me on JetBlue long before COVID. Only weeks before I made it to Mosaic. These are really hate crimes by POC against the POTB. If we don’t call it for what it is, who will?

Sara Lev

In the video on YWN, the father repeatedly takes off his mask. I don’t understand the confusion. He keeps lowering it to yell at the flight attendant. He was clearly breaking the rules.

There, I\'m saying it

If it’s safe to eat on a plane, then the mask mandate is stupid.

kmc

wow. Of course it is not safe to eat on a plane during a pandemic, but you can do it anyway; nothing is “safe”.
What does that have to do with masking the rest of the time?
Lets assume needing to eat/drink is unavoidable and lets assume being unmasked to eat does pose a slightly greater risk to others; if so, that may be a risk we are willing to accept. Just because you allow an unavoidable temporary risk, does that mean we should allow a higher level of risk the rest of the time?
Left turns are responsible for many more accidents than right turns. Does the fact that left turns are allowed mean we should have no traffic laws or precautions whatsoever? Just because we tolerate some risk does not mean we should not do the maximum to mitigate risk in an economically sound way.
But I guess you are the genius…..

Chala

@dan only you can get a petition going to get the rule raised to 5 or 6 yr olds! Lets do it!

Point lover

That probably explains why John Kerry doesn’t fly low cost carriers

YYZOGG

I have a feeling Darryl has been involved in more then one incident of this sort and he will not be back at his job anytime soon. Well before covid masks.

C.H.

I flew spirit a few months ago with 2 1/2 year old twins who were unmasked for both flights. The crew was kind to us as my toddlers were misbehaving and no one mentioned the lack of masks. I agree that spirit shouldn’t have asked them to get off the plane, but once they were asked to get off, they really should have so as not to inconvenience everyone else on the plane. the family’s refusal to get off the plane caused all the passengers to deplane. Also, if anyone watched the videos, the father of the child pulled down his mask multiple times while speaking to the stewardess…

John

Time for a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

Michael

Mr. Sutton is protecting the flight attendant Darryl that almost got a free paid day off by making up false claims, Mr. Sutton should rather acknowledge that the agent was wrong and the customer was right this time, and offer an apology.

Who new?

Mask Stupid Is…
On jet Blue TV Monitors at every seat
Breathe easy.
This plane is equipped with hospital-grade HEPA
filters that remove 99.97% of particles, bacteria
and viruses.

Now why exactly do I have to wear a mask?

Michael

For the remaining 0.03 of particles, bacteria
and viruses that the hospital-grade HEPA
filters does not remove.

Michael

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the pilot said “I am leaving with or without Darryl, with or without masks, I have to be in AC tonight” and he said it’s either Darryl or me, and spirit chose the pilot instead of Darryl-the-mask-police.

JV

Don’t think its far-fetched that at least the father was mask non-compliant. in the 6 minute video his mask was not worn properly and he took it below his mouth or nose over a dozen times. Even as they were talking to the cops the same thing.

If it was truly for the children not wearing masks then it is very unfortunate. i think flying with small kids is tough in general and trying to make them wear mask would be impossible. If we believe in the effectiveness of masks, traveling on a plan with young kids who will not wear masks is putting them in danger of contracting the virus.

Mr Migu

I’d rather fly Yugoslavian Airlines then fly Spirit.

Texas Totty

I recently flew with SWA and my 3-yr-old wouldn’t keep his mask on. We gave him a lollypop to suck on and a few seconds later the FA announced on the loudspeaker, “You must wear a mask except for when actively eating or drinking. And lollypops don’t count!”
But she said it with a smile and didn’t throw us off so all’s well…

ari levin

I flew spirit for the first time in my life this past Tuesday march 30th from acy to mco and Iyh will never fly again! You guessed about 20 min after we took off we flew into birds and they were scared so we had to turn around deplane and wait 6 hours, and of course spirit couldn’t do anything to change my flight, “you just have to wait till we attempt to fix the plane”. #neverspirit

Dave

So, what’s your point? My nephews flew Jet Blue and they had to delay it 45 minutes because they forgot to put water on the plane

1avigrun

Also to note the cdc came out with a scientific study that with masks they saw a difference of 0.05-1.8% which in other words insignificant besides the fact that officially masks only help for a small time of exposure not a stuffed flight, if anyone really cared about COVID it would be one person per row to be socially distanced

biobook

You misunderstood the recent CDC study. Masks are known to decrease COVID transmission. The CDC study was looking at whether a government-imposed mandate would affect the rate of new COVID cases and COVID deaths. They found that a mask mandate DID significantly decrease both of these.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/03/12/fact-check-cdc-study-links-mask-mandates-slowed-covid-infections/6938262002/

Vana

Boycott the Evil Spirit

770

I don’t want to evaluate or judge what happened
Judgment of any sort is no good
My heart is for the parents dealing w autism
No words to describe the endless giving

a

In everyone’s defense, I think they made a decision to go public and have people discuss them.

G

Dad kept taking his mask off.

ChapsTheMatzav

So ppl can hear him talk…

@dan

Time for change.org petition

marko

kudos for the family standing up for their rights!!!
kudos to other passengers for stepping in and speaking up for this family.
kudos for the local police department, and any staff members that did the right things.
ultimately they along with all passengers were vindicated and allowed to fly to their destination. sad they all had to endure a delay and stress for no good reason.

Mno

I just flew to Chicago from Newark for Pesach on United, and back with American. Both flights were full of kids. No one even blinked at my 2 year old who was not wearing a mask. At one point a stewardess was going down the aisle saying if your kid is 2 they need a mask, but did not wait around to see if it was done nor confirm the age of the kids. Was very impressed.

Rumor has it that the big airlines are trying to not pick fights. With air travel rebounding, they desperately need to get back to full flights to help their lost revenue, and they do not want to get on the bad side of anyone. Dan- have you heard anything like this?

ChapsTheMatzav

#CommonSense No-one wants to be delayed 2hrs because a steward wants a 2 year and one month old to wear a mask.

Allen

I hope it’s not because the steward saw the father with a yamulke, and felt the family is an easy target…

ChapsTheMatzav

Lol…I think she learned her lesson…

just saying

I flew jet blue ewr to fll and this really nice stewardess was giving out small prizes to the kids that were keeping their masks on… maybe all airlines can learn from this

a yid

I think it is ridiculous to throw ppl off planes for non-mask compliance. However, regardless of who was right or wrong. Language like that is never acceptable from a yid especially in public. there is no room for chillul hashem no matter what your rights are.

ChapsTheMatzav

+1

JP a friend of Uncle Mike

Why are they referring in the tweet to the paying customers as guests? Are purchasers of airline tickets only allowed on the plane at the good will of the airline? Are people purchasing a pizza pie only allowed to eat it at the good will of the pizza shop owner?

ChapsTheMatzav

Lol…its just the way that company’s talk.

Fan-of-Dan

It’s really an open and shut case. The 2 year old was eating, hence there was no requirement for the mask. As you see after she finished eating her yogurt, she attempted to put the mask on her face.. I think Derryl saw “Jews” as the “culprits”.. good to see that a video proved him otherwise and he was removed from the flight..

Steven R Gilmore

I’m amazed I took the time to read the comments. Some real bass-ackwards folks on here. This whole incident should have never happened. The family may have an anti-defamation suit if they choose to pursue that. One thing is for sure Darryl should be fired immediately or, at a minimum, put on ticketing desk duty.

Philip Strange

This man Daryl was making fun of my family, so we then reported him, after we reported him, he then proceeded to kick my family, including my 16 month old daughter, on my mother’s birthday, at 11pm, after a 3hour delay! This man needs to be stopped, he is a racist and he picked on more people than just my family.!

Philip Strange

2 weeks after this incident Darryl kicked my family off the plane in Myrtle Beach because we were trying to use my infant daughters car seat. DARYL claimed it wasn’t meant for an aircraft, but AMERICAN AIRLINES BROUGHT US HERE!

wpDiscuz