Mother claims airline attendant offered her glue to fasten mask to crying two-year-old’s face

Flight attendant allegedly told her sarcastically that she could also cut a hole on her daughter’s mask

(Ali Cleek)

A flight attendant for Southwest Airlines allegedly told a woman on board one of their flights to “glue” a mask on to the face of her two-year-old daughter who was refusing to wear one.

Ali Cleek had boarded a Southwest flight from Orlando, Florida to Norfolk, Virginia, on 12 August with her husband and two children.

Two-year-old Drew was crying and would not wear a mask, because of which two flight attendants approached the couple and watched them.

Ms Cleek, in an Instagram post, said the only way her daughter knew how to calm herself was to suck her thumb, something “damn near impossible with a mask.”

“Drew is a thumb sucker and her only way she biologically knows how to soothe herself is by sucking her thumb which is damn near impossible with a mask,” Ms Cleek said in the post.

“Well two flight attendants stood over me watching as we held her down and tried to get her to wear it,” she added.

Ms Cleek said one of the attendants then allegedly gave her two options, comments she said that have left her “still shaking.”

She said the attendant sarcastically told her she could cut a hole on the mask or that she could “glue it to her face.”

The flight attendant indicated she had glue available, Ms Cleek told Fox News.

Ms Cleek said in her social media post that she was aware of the federal mask mandate in the US, but that “at some point we have to have human decency and compassion.”

“I don’t like being this person. Wearing a mask is the federal mandate… I get it. I respect it,” she said in the post.

Ms Cleek told Fox News that she was a “rule follower” and did not want to come across as being against wearing masks.

“I just know that regardless if it was sarcasm or not I was embarrassed and trying to follow the mandate as much as I could,” Ms Cleek was quoted as saying by the news channel. “My daughter is 2. We were doing everything we could to comply,” she added.

The airline, in a statement emailed to Fox News, did not mention the specific incident, but said passengers “over the age of two” should “wear a mask at all times throughout the travel journey”.

“The federal mask mandate for travellers has been in effect since February 2 2021 and requires all passengers over the age of two to wear a mask at all times throughout the travel journey,” the statement said.

“We [Southwest] appreciate the ongoing cooperation among our customers as we work, collectively, to follow the federal mandate and support the comfort and wellbeing of all who travel with us during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” it added.

Ms Cleek said she received a call from customer care of the airline and got an apology.

“They said they would essentially talk to the flight crew,” she said, adding that she hoped there will be a discussion within the airlines on what should be done in similar situations.

“I know I never want another parent to be in tears on an airplane because their 2-year-old won’t wear a mask,” Ms Cleek was quoted as saying by Fox News.

“I really don’t want parents to feel like they have to hold down their child to put on a mask. I also don’t want to feel like I can’t travel with my kids by plane,” she added.