"For A Kid Crying?" Frontier Removes Father And His 2-Year-Old From Plane

An Atlanta father and his two-year-old child were removed from a Frontier Airlines flight because his daughter wouldn’t sit in her seat.

Chrisean Rose, the father of two-year-old Rayana, planned a father-daughter weekend to Disney World in Orlando. For each flight on his way to Orlando, his daughter was able to sit on his lap. Hence his confusion when a flight attendant on their return flight back to Atlanta refused to let them fly because his daughter would not sit in the seat assigned to her.

Rose told WSB-TV 2 that the flight attendant stated he would get arrested if his daughter did not sit in her seat. It was Rayana’s first time flying, and Rose was only trying to make her feel safe during their travels.

“She’s a small kid; she’s nervous. I explained to the flight attendant that this is only our first time traveling, and she’s a little bit nervous,” stated Rose.

Nonetheless, the Frontier Airlines flight attendant was persistent and demanded that Rose make Rayana sit in her seat. When Rose could not get his daughter to comply, the flight attendant asked Rose to get off of the plane. Rose refused. The pilot then returned the plane to the gate where all the passengers were required to get off.

“It’s wrong for you to do that,” Rose said. “I’m just trying to comfort her so she doesn’t interrupt the people in this flight, and this is what you do.”

Rose Had To Pay For A Return Flight

Rose then had to pay for another return flight to Atlanta with Delta. On their Delta flight, Rayana was allowed to sit on his lap. Rose later filed a complaint, and Frontier reimbursed him for the flight.

“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,” Frontier Airlines said in a statement.

Rose stated he had been made aware of the policy, but hoped Frontier would’ve understood that a toddler may want to be closer to her parent during her first time flying.

“Babies don’t understand policies,” Rose said. “The whole experience was beyond disheartening.” Rose said he will never fly with Frontier Airlines again.

“The police officers who they called to ‘arrest’ me ended up defending me and demanded that they stopped and take my stroller off,” Rose wrote on Instagram.

“I did not think it needed to be that far. I mean, arrest for what? For a kid crying?”

Related: ‘Karen’ Passenger Kicked Off Plane For Refusing To Sit Next To A Baby