US budget air carrier Spirit Airlines has acknowledged that they mistakenly placed a six-year-old boy, who was traveling alone to see his grandmother during the Christmas holidays, on the incorrect flight.

Last week, a young boy from Philadelphia, was en route to Florida. However, due to an unfortunate error by the airline, he was mistakenly directed to a different city instead.

The child’s grandmother was awaiting his arrival at Fort Myers’ Southwest Florida International Airport. Only to be shocked by the news from the carrier that the child did not board the Spirit Airlines flight. Although the child’s luggage was present, the child himself was not.

The Spirit Airlines mishap narrative shares certain resemblances with the film ‘Home Alone 2: Lost in New York’. Released in 1992, this comedy features Macaulay Culkin’s character getting separated from his family during their airport journey, leading to his unintended arrival in New York instead of Miami.

Luckily, the boy managed to contact his grandma and inform her of his safe arrival to Orlando airport, which is approximately 160 miles (260km) northeast of Fort Myers Airport, where she was waiting for him.

Ramos mentioned that Spirit Airlines proposed reimbursing her for the trip to Orlando to collect her grandson. However, she expressed a strong desire for clarification on how he grandson ended up in Orlando, what were the circumstances, did the airline assisted him in disembarking the plane, did the flight attendant, after receiving the necessary paperwork from his mother, allow him to proceed on his own or did he accidentally board the wrong plane on his own, and so on.

Spirit Airlines confirmed on Saturday that on December 21 “an unaccompanied child traveling from Philadelphia to Fort Myers was incorrectly boarded on a flight to Orlando.” It insisted that the boy “was always under the care and supervision of a Spirit Team Member, and as soon as we discovered the error, we took immediate steps to communicate with the family.”

Spirit Airlines verified that a mistake occurred with an unaccompanied minor traveling from Philadelphia to Fort Myers being mistakenly placed on a flight to Orlando.

The airline emphasized that the child was continuously accompanied and supervised by a Spirit team member, and as soon as the error was realized, prompt measures were taken to establish communication with the family.

Spirit Airlines has initiated an investigation into the incident and apologized to the family for the unfortunate experience.