Jetblue Kicks Family Off Flight After Heated Exchange With Manager

Jetblue Kicks Family Off Flight After Heated Exchange With Manager
JetBlue plane on the tarmac at the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood International airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on June 19, 2001. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
NTD Television
7/19/2017
Updated:
7/19/2017

A mother and father claimed they were removed from a JetBlue flight for no reason and banned from the airline, after a heated confrontation with an airline manager. The parents Tamir and Mandy Raanan were traveling from Fort Lauderdale to New York with their three daughters when they were asked to leave after a passenger complained their 1-year-old daughter was kicking her seat, Daily Mail reports. But the mom Mandy said the situation was quickly cleared up, with other nearby passengers agreeing the incident was resolved. She said the passenger accepted her apology later, but the airline attendants did not move on from the incident. The family said they were repeatedly asked to leave the plane after flight manager Armando Gonzalez said the parents refused to cooperate, the Daily Mail reports. The couple said they were blacklisted by the airline on their July 2 flight without reason.   However, JetBlue denies the family’s version of the incident.

JetBlue flight 145 was delayed on March 9, 2013. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
JetBlue flight 145 was delayed on March 9, 2013. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The airline said it had no choice but to remove them, after their behavior became violent and threatening, according to the Daily Mail.

A video recorded by the family shows the heated exchange between the parents and the airline manager, who politely and repeatedly asked the family of five to leave and discuss the situation off the plane.

In the recorded video a nearby passenger could be heard saying, “I saw the whole thing, nothing happened.”

The parents soon found out they would not be getting back on the flight.

The mom, Mandy can be seen in the video distraught and in tears as Broward County Police officers arrive on the scene.

The officers explain that they could do nothing about the flight change, and told them to find their own accommodations before getting the next flight the following day, the Daily Mail reports.

To add insult to injury the family’s luggage was left behind on the flight, leaving them stranded in Florida without their belongings.

The next morning the family was told they were banned from all future flights with JetBlue as the airline investigates the incident. They had to fly home on another airline.

After finally arriving in New York, their luggage still had not arrived. It was mailed to them a week later.

The family’s lawyer, David Templer told the Daily Mail that what happened to the distraught family is illegal, saying the airline falsely accused the family of unleashing curses and physical threats. 

“It is convenient misinformation. If the incident had occurred the way JetBlue now claims, then it would have been a violation of laws and regulations to not immediately report it to federal or state law enforcement, which did not occur,” Templer told the Daily Mail.

“JetBlue’s conduct was unprofessional and reckless, if not malicious. It’s staff is poorly trained. It unnecessarily humiliated and then abandoned an entire family, including infants and toddlers,” Temple said.

From NTD Television