The mother of a 4-year-old boy says she, her son and her husband were kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight because her son was not wearing a mask.
The Arkansas woman says the family was removed from the flight on Monday, even though they had a doctor’s note exempting the boy, who’s non-verbal with autism, from wearing a mask.
Her son, Carter Kimball, "had a medical note from his physician stating that he's exempt from wearing masks because whenever he wears a mask he holds his breath or he starts freaking out and he will harm himself,” said his mother, Callie Kimball, to KTVH-TV, a CBS affiliate in Little Rock.
The woman says the family has flown Spirit Airlines with no problems before, including on Friday when they departed Arkansas to visit family in Las Vegas.
But on the return flight home on Monday, Callie says the family was removed from the flight, even after her husband shared the note with the flight staff.
"He has a disability. It's protected under the American Disability Act and they go, 'No no no. Autism's not a disability. He has to wear a mask or he has to get off the plane,'" Callie said of the experience.
Callie also said the experience was upsetting for her son, who loves airplanes.
"Kids on the (autism) spectrum, they're usually very obsessed with something," Callie explained. "He is obsessed with airplanes. So he was sitting in his seat, quietly and looking out the window, and this lady was like, 'Get off!'"
The mother said that it was a difficult moment for her as well.
“I've never in my life -- being the parent of an autistic kid is really hard and I've never in my life experienced that kind of discrimination from someone,” she explained.
Callie said her family managed to buy new tickets for a flight with American Airlines, who honored the doctor’s note. However, she told KTVH that Spirit had not refunded their tickets.
"So we're out all of our flights, a thousand bucks and we have a son who's just so distraught now that he like threw all of his airplanes down,” Kimball said.
Spirit says that they have indeed issued the refund, but said there may be a lag via the time it takes for credit card charge-backs to go through.
The airline also clarified its mask policy.
"Our existing policy does not provide for medical exemptions, regardless of diagnosis. Our team members explained this to a family traveling today, but never questioned anyone's medical status in the process,” Spirit explained.
"Starting March 19, 2021, guests with a medical disability who are traveling on or after March 22, 2021 can apply for an exemption as provided for in the federal mandate requiring masks in airports and on planes,” the company added.
The company also clarified to CBS News that its current mask exemption policy only applies to children 2 or younger.
"We remind guests of our face covering policy throughout the booking process, in a pre-trip email sent prior to departure, and in a required acknowledgement that is part of the check-in procedure," a spokesman told the outlet.
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