Mom Claims Flight Crew Demanded Her 21-Month-Old Son Remove His Life Support To Fly
"The ignorance was very much astounding."
Matej Kastelic | Shutterstock United Airlines has come under heavy fire after a mom opened up about a recent experience that she had on a flight with her almost 2-year-old son. In a TikTok, Melissa Sotomayor spoke for 10 minutes about a humiliating and unnecessary experience during a flight from Tampa, Florida, to Newark, New Jersey, on March 8.
Sotomayor claimed that she was disrespected by the flight crew aboard the plane after they insisted that she needed to modify her "medically complex" son's life support in order to fly. Now, Sotomayor is warning all parents and caregivers about the poor treatment she received.
The flight crew demanded that she remove her 21-month-old son's life support to fly.
Sotomayor explained that her son is dependent upon a tracheostomy and ventilator. He has vision problems and hearing problems, along with a G-tube. Before getting on their flight, Sotomayor made sure that all of her son's documentation was in order so that he could fly safely with no issues, as he did on their flight to Tampa. Yet things went south on their flight home.
"Once we got seated, a male flight attendant approached me and stated that I needed to take my son off the ventilator and portable oxygen concentrator because they needed to be secure for takeoff," Sotomayor recalled. "I explained to him that I could not take my son off of those pieces of equipment because they are keeping him alive."
The flight attendant then asked Sotomayor to present her appropriate documentation, which she did. The flight attendant then brought all of that to the front of the plane, and the next thing Sotomayor knew, a female flight attendant approached her and her son and repeated what was said by her male coworker.
Sotomayor was told that she needed to remove all of her son's life support machines and store them under the seat for takeoff. The mom argued that there wasn't enough room underneath the seats for them to be placed.
The plane was forced to taxi for an entire hour as Sotomayor went back and forth with the cabin crew, refusing to jeopardize her son's life.
At one point, the captain came back from the flight deck to speak with Sotomayor.
"The captain comes back to me, and he says, 'I'm going to contact United. I do not feel that your son should be flying,'" Sotomayor recounted. "And I said, 'There is no problem. My son is medically cleared.'"
After some time, the plane was eventually cleared by United to take off. During this entire debacle, passengers sitting near Sotomayor were on her side, pointing out that she was harassed by the flight crew for the duration that the plane was halted.
"The captain talked to me as if I was purposely endangering my son," Sotomayor said. "The ignorance was very much astounding. I ended up contacting corporate, and I spoke with a woman named Melissa. I informed her of the situation and gave her all details, and Melissa's response was less than caring."
United has since apologized to Sotomayor, but she insists that it wasn't sincere.
A spokesperson for United Airlines told Business Insider that the company had contacted Sotomayor to "address her concerns" and "apologized for any frustrations she may have experienced." However, Sotomayor told NBC News that she thought United's apology "was not sincere."
Sotomayor vowed that she would never fly with United again and urged parents and caregivers of children with disabilities — and those who have disabilities themselves — to do the same.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.