A family in Houston said they were fired from a Southwest Airlines flight after a three-year-old boy with autism would not wear a face mask.
The incident, first reported by KPRC Channel 2 in Houston, happened Monday morning.
Alyssa Sadler told the station she was returning home with her son and one-year-old daughter from Midland, Texas.
The flight had bounced back from the gate, but Sadler’s son, she said, has a sensory processing disorder and does not like people as things that touch his face would not wear a mask.
“He screamed. He threw a fit. He shouted ‘No, no, no,'” Sadler told KPRC. “It just wasn’t a good morning.”
Eventually, the plane returned to the gate, and Sadler and her children stepped out.
Southwest requires all passengers over the age of two to wear masks as face masks on board due to the coronavirus pandemic. The airline, like America and Alaska, no longer allows exceptions, following several incidents in which people allegedly demanded illegal medical exemptions. (Delta requires passengers requesting an exemption to consult a contracted healthcare professional before boarding a flight.)
Sadler told KPRC that she had a letter from her son’s doctor, and that she did not know what other option she had. The family was back from visiting Sadler’s husband, who is a temporary job away from home.
“I think there needs to be something in place for children or even adults with a disability who can’t wear a mask. They need to have some sort of exemption,” she said. A family member will drive the family home later this week.
Southwest did not immediately return a request from Business Insider for comment. But in a July 22 press release announcing the strengthened mask policy, the airline said exemptions would no longer be granted except to children under two years old.
“If for any reason a customer is unable to wear face mask or mask, Southwest regrets that we will not be able to transport the individual.”
