A family of 22 said that Frontier Airlines staff celebrated and ‘high-fived each other’ after they kicked them off a plane because their 15-month-old baby was not wearing a mask.
The Hassidic Jewish family and witnesses claim that the staff overreacted to the infant whose face wasn’t covered as federal guidelines don’t require children under the age of 2 to wear face masks.
Witnesses also claimed that staffers “high-fived each other” and “cheered” while saying “We did it!” after they managed to kick the family off the plane.
But the airline said that it hasn’t “seen any information to support these claims.”
Frontier spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz told Daily Mail: “Yesterday, while flight 2878 from Miami to New York-La Guardia was preparing to leave the gate, a large group of passengers repeatedly refused to comply with the US government’s federal mask mandate.”
The spokesperson continued: “Multiple people, including several adults, were asked repeatedly to wear their masks and refused to do so.
“Multiple people, including several adults, were asked repeatedly to wear their masks and refused to do so. Based on the continued refusal to comply with the federal mask mandate, refusal to disembark the aircraft and aggression towards the flight crew, local law enforcement was engaged.
“The flight was ultimately canceled.”
De la Cruz added: “Frontier Airlines and US government policy mandate that all passengers over the age of two, other than those with a recognized ADA disability that prevents them from wearing a mask, must wear a mask while onboard an aircraft.
“To be clear, the issue did not involve a child under the age of two.”
51-year-old Marin Joseph from Brooklyn, New York said that his family was unfairly removed from the plane by airline staff.
“We came onto the plane, everything was smooth, no problems at all,” he told Daily Mail. “Everybody wore the masks and followed the mandate.”
But before takeoff, flight attendants approached his daughter because her 15-month-old son wasn’t wearing a mask. When they tried to explain that the infant wasn’t required to wear a mask, the staff demanded to know why the child wasn’t wearing one.
Only moments later, someone announced on the loudspeaker that all passengers in the last two rows were required to go out of the plane.
Joseph said that he tried to speak with staff but they weren’t receptive until children started crying.
“All the children started crying,” Joseph said. His daughter, who is also six months pregnant, then “started having contractions.”
The flight was eventually canceled and all the passengers were forced to deplane but Frontier didn’t apologize or offer any accommodations, Joseph said.
“I want to make sure other people don’t go through what happened to us,” Joseph said.
“We paid for tickets and we were just harassed. It was an anti-Semitic episode. We want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“This reminds me of 80 years ago when we were singled out in Nazi Germany,” he added.
Many witnesses refuted the airline’s claims and verified Joseph’s story, saying staffers and flight attendants even “high-fived each other” when they ordered the Jewish family to leave.
“She’s a one-year-old baby,” one of the witnesses said.
“I saw (airline staffers) high-fiving each other and saying ‘Job well done to those Jews,’” one passenger said in an interview.
“This is anti-Hasidic Jews, that’s what this is all about,” another passenger yelled, while another said: “You’re gonna pay the consequences!”
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