New York
CNN
—
United Airlines is apologizing to a mother who says a flight crew asked her to remove her son from his breathing machine before they could take off.
“The way you treated my son when we were attempting to fly home from Tampa to Newark was absolutely ridiculous,” Melissa Sotomayor said in a nearly 10-minute TikTok video that has gained more than 1.3 million views.
Her nearly two-year-old son, Noah, is “medically complex” and relies on a breathing tube, ventilator and other devices, she posted.
“Once we got seated, a male flight attendant approached me and stated I needed to take my son off of the ventilator and the portable oxygen concentrator, because they need to be secure for takeoff,” she said. “I explained to him that I could not take my son off of those pieces of equipment because they are keeping him alive.”
Sotomayor says they had just flown United to Tampa with no problem, and she had letters from doctors clearing her son to fly and other documentation.
“The captain comes back to me and he says… ‘I do not feel that your son should be flying. It’s dangerous for him. Look at him,’” Sotomayor recounted. “I said, ‘there is no problem. My son is medically cleared’… I have fought for my son’s life, his entire life, and I am still doing so.”
The equipment was FAA approved and United’s accessibility department selected their seats, she says she told the crew.
Eventually the family was allowed to continue on the flight, which landed in Newark nearly an hour behind schedule.
“We’ve connected with the customer to address her concerns and apologized for any frustration she may have experienced,” the airline said in a short statement.
The airline did not immediately respond to a question about whether Sotomayor was offered compensation.
“United Airlines called me a few days ago,” Sotomayor told CNN Monday. “They watched my video. The apology was not sincere.”
She says she is working to find a lawyer.
Sotomayor did not say if United offered her compensation.
