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WestJet flight canceled after airline insisted 19-month-old baby wear a mask but girl 'was crying hysterically'

Dad Safwan Choudhry said, 'She was crying hysterically, with the crew watching over us, until she threw up, at which point they told us you all need to get off the plane'

A flight from Calgary to Toronto was canceled on Tuesday, September 8, and police were also called since a 19-month-old child was not wearing a mask. WestJet Flight passenger Safwan Choudhry, who was flying with his wife and daughters 19-month-old Zara and Zupda, 3, said the airline wanted his younger daughter to wear a mask, but she “was hysterical”.

According to reports, Flight 652 was stopped from flying on Tuesday and all passengers were asked to deboard. Choudhry said they did not face any issue while checking-in, but just before the plane was about to take off, a number of WestJet crew members approached his wife and asked her to put masks on both of their daughters."It started with my toddler and once we got a mask on her, they turned to my 19-month-old infant and said 'every person on the plane has to wear a mask or the plane can't take off,'" the man said. “We were surprised to learn our 19-month-old daughter needed to be wearing a mask.”

Choudhry continued that when he and his wife tried to put a mask on their younger daughter, she refused. "Of course, being desperate to get home, we — despite there not being such a policy — opted to comply until she was crying hysterically, with the crew watching over us, until she threw up, at which point they told us you all need to get off the plane,” the man told CBC, adding he was told police would be called and his wife was threatened with arrest.

Choudhry also shared the video of the incident on his Twitter account, where he wrote: “Earlier today my family endure the most horrific & dehumanizing treatment onboard @WestJet plane. My wife was threatening to be arrested & forcibly removed unless my daughters, 3 yrs & 19 months would wear a mask. While my 3yrs wore her mask, the 19 months old was hysterical.”

In the video, police officers were seen arguing with the family while the infant was heard crying continuously. In another tweet, he stated, “Several @WestJet crew members wrongfully citing @Transport_gc policy for enforcing my 19 months to wear a mask. Eventually, the entire flight was canceled & all passengers were removed from the plane.”

He also said in the tweets: “While the sudden shocking decision by @WestJet to cancel the entire fight moments before take-off caused some passengers to hurl racist & Islamophobic remarks at my family, we are incredibly grateful and humbled by the overwhelming support & love from a majority of the passengers. We wish to extend our sincere regards & prayers for the passengers who had to endure any form of discomfort & hardship, we're glad to learn that most passengers have made it to their destination. We are dearly touched by all messages from various passengers throughout the day.”

A fellow passenger, named Marian Nur, who was present during the flight incident told CBC, “I was so shocked, the parents never raised their voices, they never got angry with the attendants, they were just trying to reason with them.” Nur also added that the response of WestJet "was just very unnecessary."

Several people on Twitter also came out in support of the family with one writing: "I'm so sorry this happened to you. There is no way any of the West jet crew involved have children. I will not be flying West jet in the future." "This is absolutely ridiculous and I’m so sorry your family had to go through that. My heart breaks for your child crying in this video," another added.

Meanwhile, the airline also released a statement in which its spokesperson Lauren Stewart said: “WestJet would like to clarify that there were two children, and we were not requiring the infant to wear a mask but did require the other child, who is over age two, to wear one.” Again on Wednesday, September 9, issued another statement that stated, “Our crew requested the presence of the authorities after the guests refused to comply with Transport Canada's interim order and subsequently refused to deplane the aircraft. Due to the rapid escalation of the situation on board, our crew felt uncomfortable to operate and the flight was subsequently canceled."