Frontier Airlines deplanes Jewish infant for allegedly not wearing mask, viral video triggers outrage
Frontier Airlines is in hot waters after it canceled a flight from Florida on Sunday after a group of passengers allegedly refused to wear masks. However, the family involved has claimed they were kicked out of the plane simply because of a maskless baby.
The situation grew tense aboard flight 2878 as it prepared to depart Miami en route to LaGuardia Airport at 7 pm, and it wasn't long before the airline forced all passengers to deplane and rescheduled a flight for the next day, the New York Post reported.
RELATED ARTICLES
“Multiple people, including several adults, were asked repeatedly to wear their masks and refused to do so,” Frontier Airlines said in a statement Sunday night. “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.”
Speaking to The Post, however, passenger Hershey Greenbaum said the child seemed to be the only reason for the family's removal from the flight. “We were all on the plane when they [flight attendants] came on and saw the 18-month-old baby without a mask,” Greenbaum said. The father can be seen in video footage from the incident, explaining to flight staff that the child was under the age of two. Several other passengers came to the defense of the family, Greenbaum said, adding that the crowd grew "rowdy" when asked to leave the plane.
The parents told attendants they would try to fit a mask on the baby's face, but the latter took action nonetheless, according to Greenbaum. “All the people on the plane were getting really mad and rowdy because what are you going to do? It’s an 18-month old baby,” he said. “Most of them were saying ‘Don’t let them do this to you.' Most of the people were against it, Jewish or not Jewish, why are you picking on an 18-month-old kid?”
But the airline said: “To be clear, the issue did not stem from a child under the age of two.”
Members of a large group, including adults, refused to wear masks as flight 2878 was preparing for departure from MIA-LGA. Repeated requests to comply with federal law necessitated their removal from the flight. The issue did not stem from a child under 2.
— Frontier Airlines (@FlyFrontier) March 1, 2021
The interaction was filmed in part by at least one passenger, and the video was later shared on Twitter by the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council.
An Orthodox Jewish person spoke up in defense of the Hasidic couple. Then the whole family siblings and in-laws started leaving the plane at which point the @FlyFrontier ordered everyone off of the airplane. pic.twitter.com/N1OwqxFI3Q
— OJPAC (@OJPAC) March 1, 2021
Flight staff was called out by passengers for what they believed to be unjustified action “I’m having it all on tape, this is gonna go all over the news,” one passenger said in the video. “You’re all going to suffer the consequences of this.”
“What are you accomplishing?” another added.
“You’re gonna pay the consequences,” a third passenger was heard shouting, while another yelled: “This is Nazi Germany."
Greenbaum said at least 15 police officers responded to the incident, while some passengers claimed they saw staff exchange high fives after the group was booted from the flight. “At the end, they all high-fived each other, and they said — I think they said — ‘We did it,’” one woman said, according to The Federalist.
According to federal guidelines, all passengers aboard commercial aircraft are required to wear face coverings and those resisting compliance are liable to pay steep fines and penalties. However, exceptions are provided for passengers under the age of 2, per the outlet.