After a Southwest Airlines flight attendant asked a family to leave because their 2-year-old son would not keep his face mask on, a private pilot offered them a free ride to their final destination, Fox 7 reported.
Erik Harvey posted a Facebook video describing his experience boarding and then getting kicked off the Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to Austin on April 1. (‘We Have Lost Our Ever-Loving Minds’: Airline Draws Big Rebukes For Family Kicked Off Plane Over Child Not Wearing Mask)
“I should be sitting in a plane seat right now on my way to Austin, Texas going back to visit people, going back to see friends and family and hang out and it’s been months since we’ve been back,” Harvey said in the Facebook post.
In the video, he described how his 2-year-old son, Jackson, kept his face mask on as they boarded the plane. When they sat in their seats, Jackson kept taking his mask off despite his parents’ best efforts to keep it on. The flight attendant cited federal regulations and asked them to leave the plane. It was too late for them to retrieve their luggage, Harvey said.
“It’s surreal and I can’t wrap my head around it,” Harvey said in the video. “I’m going to take this and I’m going to use this as fuel as I move forward to be a little more vocal.”
James Peck, a family friend and private pilot, happened to watch the video and offered to fly them from Denver to Austin. “I knew that I could use that as a great excuse to go take a flight and help them out and get them here,” Peck told Fox 7.
Harvey’s wife, Michelle, admitted she was nervous to take the flight but accepted. Harvey said to Fox 7, “The miracles will come to you, things will show up, and that Good Samaritan will show up.”
In a statement to Fox 7, Southwest Airlines said, “We regret the inconvenience this family experienced on their recent Southwest Airlines trip. However, federal law requires all Customers two and over to wear a face mask while at the airport and onboard the aircraft.”