Family kicked off United Airlines flight after toddler, 2, would not ‘comply’ with mask rule
'I am still sitting here in confusion, disbelief, disgust and humiliation’
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Your support makes all the difference.A couple was reportedly removed from a New Jersey-bound United Airlines flight because their two-year-old daughter refused to keep her mask on, violating the compliance guidelines of the airline.
The couple boarded the flight from Denver to travel to New Jersey’s Newark international airport with their daughter when they were asked to disembark by a staff member.
In a video posted on social media, Eliz Orban, the mother of the two-year-old, said: "Today, we were asked to leave the plane after it had rolled out, and they had to bring it back to the gate because our two-year-old daughter would not ‘comply’ and keep her mask on."
The video shows the repeated attempts of the couple to coax their daughter into wearing a mask, without any success.
“Come here, you have to put this on,” the father of the child is seen saying, while the child playfully covers her face with her hands and pushes the mask away.
Later in the video the staff of the airline can be seen asking the couple to get off the plane, saying they had given them the opportunity to help the child wear a mask but they were not complying.
While the couple attempts to reason with the staff, the father can be seen holding the mask on the child’s face:
“I’m literally holding it over my daughter’s face,” he said. “This is compliance right here.”
“We can’t force her,” Ms Orban can be heard saying. “She’s literally holding it, and she’s crying.”
But the airline asked them to take their belongings and exit the aircraft.
“I am still sitting here in confusion, disbelief, disgust, and humiliation,” wrote Ms Orban on her Instagram account, which has been changed to a private profile following the incident.
While speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Ms Orban – whose profile on the page identifies her as a bodybuilder and former biathlon skier – said her experience was “absolutely traumatizing, very humiliating too”.
“I’ve never been more confused in my life.”
United Airlines released a statement and said they are investigating this incident and have made contact with the family. The airline said they have refunded the tickets of the family and returned their car seat and bags. Who guidelines, posted in August this year, state that “children aged 5 years and under should not be required to wear masks”.
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