Airline mistakenly switches 5-year-old boys, flies them to wrong cities

JetBlue airlines made a terrible mistake of mixing up two five-year-old boys and sending them to the wrong destinations, distressing their parents. A woman in New York told reporters that she broke out in a panic fit when another boy was handed to her by JetBlue staffer at the Kennedy Airport.

Maribel Martinez told reporters that her five-year-old son was supposed to come back from Dominican Republic on August 17 and she was anxiously waiting for him. However, when a JetBlue employee presented her with another boy of the same age, she was shocked.

“No, this is not my child,” she recalled telling JetBlue employees. “I was freaking out.”

Martinez informed the JetBlue staff in a worried frenzy that this was someone else’s child. The staff immediately got down to figuring out where her son, Andy, had landed.

After three long hours, the staff was able to locate Andy who had landed in Boston.

“I thought he was kidnapped,” said Martinez. “I thought I would never see him again.”

It was found out that both the five-year-old boys had boarded the plane from Dominican Republic. Martinez’s son was wearing a wristband with his name on it but somehow the other child was carrying Andy’s passport. In this confusion, the mix-up occurred and the boys were flown to each other’s destination.

JetBlue apologized for its mistake and is reviewing how it all happened.

“Upon learning of the error, our teams in JFK and Boston immediately took steps to assist the children in reaching their correct destinations,” the airline said in a statement.

“While the children were always under the care and supervision of JetBlue crew members, we realise this situation was distressing for their families.”

JetBlue refunded Martinez $475 for Andy’s return ticket and also gave the family $2,100 in flying credit to make up for its mistake.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=53917

Posted by fatimaarshad on Sep 2 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.