Spirit Airlines fires gate agent who placed 6-year-old on incorrect flight

Spirit Airlines has now fired a gate agent who placed an unaccompanied minor on the wrong flight just before Christmas.

Last Thursday, 6-year-old Casper Ramos of Philadelphia was preparing to spend Christmas with his grandmother Maria Ramos. As Grandma Ramos lives in Florida, Casper was about to go on a plane ride for the first time ever. Family members dropped him off at Philadelphia International Airport and placed him in the care of Spirit Airlines, which assists unaccompanied minors ages 5 to 14 on direct domestic flights.

However, as Blaze News reported on Tuesday, somewhere along the way, there was a mix-up, and Casper ended up in Orlando, nearly four hours from his intended destination of Fort Myers. What's worse is Grandma Ramos didn't even learn about the mistake until Casper FaceTimed her from the Orlando airport.

"He goes, 'Mama, I'm in the airport.' I said, 'Give me an adult, Casper, that is with you.' He said, 'No, Grandma, I don't have anyone with me,'" Maria Ramos recalled, according to Fox 4 Southwest Florida.

Maria eventually spoke with an adult, learned that Casper was in Orlando, and hopped in her car to drive about 160 miles to pick him up. It was one of the scariest moments of her life, she said, and she began demanding answers.

She received at least some of those answers on Thursday when Spirit Airlines announced that it had fired the gate agent responsible for placing Casper on the wrong flight.

"To better understand what occurred, we immediately launched a thorough internal investigation and discovered that a gate agent in Philadelphia (PHL) escorted the child to the incorrect aircraft," the statement from Spirit read in part. "This agent is no longer working with Spirit, and any individual whose actions resulted in the incorrect boarding will be held accountable for failing to follow our procedures."

The statement also claimed that the airline has "policies and procedures in place to prevent this type of situation from happening" and that it has been "in communication with the child’s family about this matter."

The news has brought some relief for Maria. "I’m happy about getting answers after seven days," she said.

"They called me, and they told me, 'I’m sorry, it’s our mistake.' I guess they looked at the camera," she added.

Still, Maria told news outlets that she still wants to learn more details about the mix-up. "I want more, and I really want to see videos," she said. "I really want to see videos. I’m working with Spirit Airlines to get back with more answers."

In its initial statement about the incident, Spirit Airlines insisted that Casper "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." It has also offered to reimburse Maria for the car trip, to fly Casper back to Philadelphia for free, and to give Maria a free round-trip ticket so that she can accompany him on the flight home.

The airline did not respond to the New York Post's request for further comment.

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