American Airlines Boots Single Mom Over Toddler's Mask Tantrum: 'He's 2 Years Old, He Doesn't Get It'
A single mother was kicked off an interstate flight last week over her inability to force a mask on her fussy 2-year-old son.
Rachel Davis saw the last leg of a return trip to her home state of New Hampshire transformed into a full-blown nightmare on Sept. 17, when American Airlines emptied a preboarded flight in pursuit of full compliance with its coronavirus-related public health protocols.
Accompanied by her own mother, Davis was flying out of Charlotte, North Carolina, after a week in Florida on business and was convinced by a confirmation email and lenient policy enforcement on numerous flights that week that her newly 2-year old son was clear to fly without a mask.
When the family initially boarded its final flight, however, they found the opposite to be true.
They were greeted by one crew member in particular who demanded that a baggage-encumbered Davis immediately cover her child’s face.
In the moments that followed, Davis later wrote on Instagram, she was continually berated by flight staff, who continued with their demands as emotions ran high and she, her mother and a helpful stranger attempted to mask the toddler under threat of permanent removal from the plane.
“They put me in an impossible situation as a mom and as a passenger,” Davis told The Western Journal in a telephone interview.
“No mom should ever feel like I felt on that flight. No nana should ever feel like she felt, my mom felt on that flight.”
WARNING: The following post contains language that some readers may find offensive.
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According to USA Today, all 12 major airlines require that individuals age 2 and older don face coverings in order to fly, with specific medical exceptions made on a company-by-company basis.
The widespread policy is maintained despite discrepancies between the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the optimal age at which children should begin wearing masks — and American Airlines is no outlier in enforcing it.
“To ensure the safety of our customers and team, American Airlines requires all persons 2 years and older to wear an appropriate face covering throughout the entirety of their journey,” a company representative told The Western Journal. “Policies are enforced and approved face coverings are made available at key points throughout the customer journey.”
“We’ve reached out to the family to learn more about their recent travel experience and to address their concerns,” the representative added.
Davis later confirmed American Airlines had contacted her in connection with an internal investigation that would also incorporate the accounts of involved staff and nearby passengers.
After receiving messages and comments suggesting she “knowingly disregarded” the face mask policy, Davis shared a screenshot of what she says is the original flight confirmation. The photo showed an email stating children “2 years old or younger” were exempt from wearing a mask.
When asked about the validity of the confirmation email, a representative from American Airlines directed The Western Journal to the “Travel Requirements” section of the airline’s website.
In both her Instagram post and telephone interview, Davis emphasized she hoped the incident would raise awareness for the lack of consideration and humanity present in the ongoing national dialogue surrounding mask policy.
“I really hope that this creates a conversation among the people in power … that they evaluate their policies and they look at them and make a change that makes sense — have a policy that has some flexibility for these circumstances, so that people aren’t being tormented,” she said.
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“That was a very traumatizing experience for me and my son and my mom. I couldn’t sleep. I kept replaying it over and over in my head. Where did I go wrong? Why did it escalate to the point it did? I felt so much guilt for how I forced my hand on my son’s face like that,” Davis said.
“We cannot abandon common sense, compassion and human decency in moments where it’s absolutely necessary. And right now, that’s what’s happening all over the place.”
According to Davis, her son was already exhausted from several previous layovers and likely would have fallen to sleep before takeoff had a stir not been caused.
Instead, the child deplaned screaming, his mother in tears following numerous attempts to dress him in the mask — all made amid frustrating back-and-forth with American Airlines staff, who repeatedly accused the family of being noncompliant.
A video received by The Western Journal revealed the tail end of the incident.
“I don’t know what you want me to do to keep the mask on him,” Davis can be heard yelling through tears at the gate. “What do you want me to do, duct tape his face? He’s 2 years old, he doesn’t get it!”
It was not the first time a major airline had received media attention for over its enforcement of public health protocols.
American Airlines itself was at the center of a separate controversy in June when it temporarily banned right-wing influencer and former Democrat Brandon Straka in light of a verbal argument with flight staff over the company’s mandatory in-flight face covering policy.
The ban came just one day after Straka saw his trip to President Donald Trump’s comeback campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, interrupted during the boarding process at LaGuardia Airport over his refusal to don the required personal protective equipment.
Numerous other instances of mask-related removal from aircraft have befallen traveling parents and families, often sparking major disagreements and even fights — an increasingly common societal circumstance Davis said is untenable.
“This has divided our country and the world. … It has divided people to the point where, when faced with a situation where somebody is either doing their best or not doing their best, they are abandoning common sense, they are abandoning compassion, they are abandoning human decency,” Davis said.
“They’re not they’re not looking at this from a community perspective,” she added.
“They’re standing firm in their issue one way or the other, and rather than trying to understand where the other person is coming from now, now we’ve pinned everybody against each other and everybody’s standing firm in their position.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
UPDATE, Sept. 24, 2020: This article has been updated to include additional information from Davis as well as a screenshot she says is the flight confirmation stating children “2 years old and younger” were exempt from the American Airlines face mask policy.
