Dad removed from Frontier flight for holding 2-year-old daughter on lap before takeoff

A father says he was kicked off a Frontier flight in Florida for holding his 2-year-old daughter on his lap before takeoff. The airline said in a statement that it was following a policy designed to keep passengers safe.

“What was the most awesome daddy/daughter weekend ended with my toddler and I being removed from @flyfrontier Flight 1301 from Orlando to Atlanta,” the father, Chrisean Rose, wrote on Instagram. “All because she was too nervous to sit in her seat during takeoff and wanted to sit in my lap.”

In a video posted on his Instagram page on Aug. 7, a flight attendant can be heard telling Rose to leave the airplane.

“I’m going to ask you one last time to step off the aircraft,” says the flight attendant. ““They will arrest you, I’m telling you that right now.”

At one point, someone announced over the intercom that passengers would have to “partially deplane” because of an “unfortunate incident.”

Rose called the experience “beyond disheartening” and said it was “handled very poorly” by Frontier staff.

Frontier said in a statement that its staff followed airline policy.

“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 statement says. “The parent refused to comply and therefore was asked to exit the aircraft with the child. At Frontier, safety is our number one priority.”

Jeff Craig, an assistant professor who teaches a flight safety course at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, said that it is standard practice for all airlines to require children 2 years of age and older to be buckled into their own seats during takeoff.

An adult may not have the ability to hold onto a child over 2 years in case of extreme turbulence or another event during takeoff, Craig told McClatchy News.

If the child goes airborne, they could seriously injure themselves or other passengers, he said. That is why airlines ask passengers to stow and secure tray tables, laptops and other items before takeoff so that they don’t fly around aircraft in the event of something unexpected.

Rose wrote that he wouldn’t be flying Frontier again after the incident.

Commenters on Rose’s Instagram post said they felt he was treated unfairly by airline staff.

“@flyfrontier should be ashamed of themselves,” one user wrote. “So sorry you had this experience.”

Other commenters empathized with how stressful flights can be for parents, ”As if flying with kids isn’t already unnerving.”

But the flight expert reiterated how it’s particularly important to secure all passengers during takeoff and landing because the airplane is accelerating in ways it doesn’t normally do during flight.

“That dad probably had his hands full, I’m sure, but from the flight attendant perspective and from the perspective of the company, I think they did exactly what they needed to do to ensure that child’s safety and to ensure the safety of the other passengers,” Craig said.

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