“The flight was delayed due to compliance issues with the federal mask requirement,” said Spirit Airlines.
By Josh Plank, World Israel News
Spirit Airlines on Tuesday changed its explanation of an incident where a Jewish two-year-old eating yogurt was thrown off a Monday flight for not wearing a surgical mask, Fox News reported.
A video of the incident has gone viral, prompting Spirit to issue an explanation on Twitter.
“We’re aware of incorrect information circulating about Spirit Airlines Flight 138 from Orlando to Atlantic City. The flight was delayed due to compliance issues with the federal mask requirement,” Spirit tweeted.
“We have allowed the Guests to continue on the flight to their destination after assurances of compliance. The safety of our Guests and Team Members is our top priority,” the airline said.
Rather than citing vague “compliance issues,” Spirit’s original tweet said, “The flight was delayed due to the adults in a party not complying with the federal mask requirement.”
However, the viral video clearly shows a flight attendant telling the family, “She’s not wearing a mask,” referring to the couple’s two-year-old daughter.
“The baby?” asked the child’s mother.
The flight attendant nodded yes.
Spirit’s tweet gained over two-thousand comments, many of which appeared to be negative.
“Poor attempt at damage control. I’m thinking you’re making things worse than if you had just owned up,” commented one user.
“We saw the video. Take down this lie,” another commented.
Spirit encouraged people to visit its website for more information about the airline’s face-covering policy.
The policy says that children under the age of two years old are exempt. The child involved in this incident was two years and one month old.
The policy also says, “Face coverings may be removed only while eating, drinking, or taking medication — when done eating, drinking, or taking medication, face coverings must be repositioned immediately.”
According to the video, the child was eating when the family was approached by the flight attendant.
The father, the pregnant mother, their seven-year-old with special needs, and the two-year-old were forced to deplane before eventually being allowed to reboard and continue to their destination.
The child’s mother, Avital Eisenberg, told Fox that the experience was “traumatic” for her children.
“I have no words. Next level craziness,” said Ari Eisenberg, the child’s father.
Last month, Frontier Airlines made headlines when it kicked a Jewish family off a flight because their 18-month-old wasn’t wearing a mask.