Frontier flies unaccompanied Tampa Bay minor to Puerto Rico instead of Cleveland

Parrish parents faced a Christmas nightmare when their son, Logan Lose, aged 16, ended up on a flight to Puerto Rico instead of Cleveland. Departing from Tampa International Airport, Logan boarded the wrong flight, as both the Puerto Rico and Cleveland flights were boarding from the same gate, causing confusion, according to WFLA.

Ryan, Logan’s father, explained that the Frontier Airlines boarding agent checked his son’s baggage and verified his boarding pass on his phone, allowing him to board the jet. It was only after landing in Puerto Rico that Logan realized the error and contacted his family in distress.

“Logan said they didn’t scan it,” Ryan Lose said. “They would’ve known it was the wrong flight if they scanned the boarding pass.”

The mix-up originated from the simultaneous boarding of flights to Puerto Rico and Cleveland from the same gate, with Logan’s flight to Puerto Rico departing two hours earlier. Despite Logan’s efforts to ask the right questions and present his boarding pass, the confusion persisted.

“Help me please,” he said. “I’m so scared. They told me it was Ohio.”

“My first reaction was panic,” his father said. “He’s panicking, he’s scared, and I can’t be there to keep him safe.”

Frontier Airlines’ Director of Corporate Communications, Jennifer de la Cruz, acknowledged the mistake at the gate.

“He was able to board as a result of an error on the part of the boarding agent,” de la Cruz said. “He was immediately flown back to Tampa on the same aircraft and accommodated on a flight Cleveland the following day.”

However, the initial denial from Frontier regarding Logan being on the wrong flight heightened the distress for the Lose family.

“They kept brushing it off, saying no that’s not possible. That can’t happen,” Lose said. “And when they did finally realize their mistake and said it looks like Logan did get on the other plane, they just said, oh sorry and that was it.”

Frontier Airlines offered a $200 travel voucher as compensation, but Ryan Lose expressed that it fell short of addressing the significant stress and inconvenience caused by the incident.

“They offered me a voucher to an airline that just lost my son,” Lose said. “I want accountability. These airlines are not being held accountable.”

According to de la Cruz, Frontier Airlines lacks an “unaccompanied minor program” for guiding young travelers, although the airline permits passengers aged 15 and above to travel independently.