Family says they were kicked off United flight due to 2-year-old's mask violation
DENVER, Colorado -- A woman said United Airlines kicked her family off of a flight Saturday after her 2-year-old daughter refused to wear a mask.
Passenger Eliz Orban posted a video of her husband trying to put the mask on their daughter as their plane was set to take off from Denver to New Jersey. In the video, the child squirms and pulls away at her husband's attempts.
A flight attendant later asks the family to grab their belongings and exit the aircraft. Back in the terminal, the flight attendant is heard telling the couple they can no longer fly with United.
"This just happened 7 hours ago and I am still sitting here in confusion, disbelief, disgust and humiliation," Orban wrote in her post.
Orban said the family was excited about their weekend trip to New Jersey/New York City, where her husband grew up.
"We are premier silver members at @united, so we always fly with them," she said. "In fact, we had flown with Edeline 4 times already since the pandemic, without ever having an issue."
United Airlines released the following statement on the incident:
"The health and safety of our employees and customers is our highest priority, which is why we have a multi-layered set of policies, including mandating that everyone onboard two and older wears a mask. These procedures are not only backed by guidance from the CDC and our partners at the Cleveland Clinic, but they're also consistent across every major airline. We are investigating this specific incident and have made contact with the family. We also refunded their tickets and returned their car seat and bags."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people "age two and older should wear masks in public settings and when around people who don't live in their household."
