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Father asked to leave flight for insisting young daughter sit on his lap
The flight originated from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, bound for Orlando. A flight attendant told the man his daughter exceeded the age limit of a child required to sit in a seat.
ATLANTA - A man said an incident on a Frontier Airlines flight ruined what was supposed to be a carefree weekend trip.
Chrisean Rose said his flight to Atlanta was fine, but his toddler was nervous on a flight from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to Orlando. It was her second time on an airplane, Rose said.
Rose said two flight attendants did not raise concerns when he held his child in his lap, but a third flight attendant instructed him to buckle his daughter in because she did not meet the age requirements to sit on his lap. The flight attendant threatened to have him arrested if he did not comply or leave the flight.
Frontier Airlines said its employees prioritized passengers' safety.
"On a recent flight preparing to depart from Orlando to Atlanta, a customer was advised that his child needed to be buckled into her own seat for takeoff. It is an FAA requirement that all passengers over the age of 24 months must be buckled into their own seat for takeoff and landing. The parent refused to comply and therefore was asked to exit the aircraft with the child. At Frontier, safety is our number one priority."
Ultimately, Rose left the flight.
Rose said his child was one month older than the age limit to not need a seat, but he felt the airline discriminated against him as a man.
"So again nobody even said what the policy was," he said. "They straight-up just said, ‘She was not the age for a lap child. And I said, ’How do you know that? Because I did not provide a birth certificate and I did not provide her age in any capacity.'"