Family Of Two Year Old Kicked Off United Over A Mask Is Back In The Air, Without The Kid

A family was kicked off of a United Airlines flight a week and a half ago after they couldn’t keep a mask on their two year old. Airline personnel initially told the two parents, elite members of MileagePlus, that they were banned from the airline but this was not correct.

The father wanted everyone to be re-accommodated on the next flight in first class. That didn’t happen. Instead their car seat was removed from checked baggage, they drove home, and the rest of their bags were delivered to them. Their weekend in New York – where they planned to violate New York’s quarantine rules – was off.

Video of the incident has been viewed at least 8 million times.

United’s media team chose not to respond when I asked about their policy requiring two year olds to wear masks, since on their website they only say the rule applies to children over two. The preponderance of scientific evidence shows that while two year olds can get the virus, they do not much spread it.

The real takeaway is that for parents of two year olds who have difficulty maintaining a mask throughout their flight, fly Delta which permits young children in that situation to be exempt from the requirement.

Flying Delta is exactly what the family did next but, oddly, without their daughter. They “had to get down to Palm Beach” and didn’t realize Delta wouldn’t have kicked them off if their two year old couldn’t remained masked for the full flight.

After their incident with United the Delta tickets were apparently gifted to them by someone who saw the incident. The trip, she suggested, was urgent. She posted this to Instagram from South Florida.

She could have brought her daughter on board Delta but didn’t, it seems from her social media account that she’s doing just fine.

(HT: Live and Let’s Fly)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. In fairness: I do think it’s unfortunate that this involved their daughter and that it turned out the way they did. I just… wonder about the motives. It seems they appreciate attention. I’m sad we are rewarding it.

  2. Maybe I’m a jerk because I’m just so used to free upgrades, but when will people stop thinking domestic First Class means that you’ve “made it”? This girl thinks that another family she knows traveled with a 2 year old without a mask and they were fine because they were in first class. Nobody cares anymore. Yes it is nicer. No, you are not a celebrity for flying domestic first class.

  3. For all things good on this earth, please STOP giving these people attention! They are what’s wrong with society!

  4. Thankful they were able to rid themselves of that pesky non-masker and achieve their real instagrammable life goal.

  5. I don’t mean to criticize anyone’s spelling or grammar, but am I the only one who got a laugh out of reading that she “balled her eyes out”?

    That’s the sort of thing I used to look forward to. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. Here’s hoping for a return to some semblance of normalcy in 2021.

  6. How’s your kid handling flying with a mask?

    For a young kid who keeps fussing about mask use but is required to use a mask during the flight, there is the “food and drink” exception that gets used by some, and then the various bribing efforts.

    If the “mask-required” kid is sleeping, then they are supposed to wear a mask during their sleep.

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