A family was recently denied travel from California to Puerto Rico as one among the group didn’t have a passport. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico is a US territory, and a passport is due to this fact not required to travel between the island and the mainland US.
The incident took place at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on April twenty fifth. Passenger Marivi Roman Torres, her husband, Luís, and son, Alejandro, were on the Spirit Airlines check-in counter.
All three passengers were asked by the check-in agent to point out their passports, and even though it isn’t a requirement when traveling to Puerto Rico, Marivi and Luís obliged and presented their passports. Nevertheless, they didn’t have a passport for his or her two-year-old son, Alejandro.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
The Spirit Airlines worker offered to reschedule their flights for once they were in a position to obtain a passport for the toddler. The family as a substitute asked to talk to the supervisor on shift. Nevertheless, the supervisor backed up the check-in agent and refused to permit the family to travel to Puerto Rico with out a passport. As reported by CBS News, Marivi Roman Torres, said,
“At first, [the Spirit Airlines employee] told me, ‘That is a world flight.’ I asked her if there was anything that I could do, because I needless to say know that I don’t need a passport to go to Puerto Rico. They were completely inflexible, there was no empathy, they were like partitions.”
The family as a substitute abandoned their trip with Spirit Airlines and traveled with rival carrier JetBlue, reaching their destination much later than originally planned.
An apology from Spirit Airlines
Following the incident, Spirit Airlines issued an announcement, saying,
“On this specific case, an agent at LAX who’s latest to the position misunderstood the identification requirements. We’re providing the agent with additional coaching and reiterating proper procedure. We sincerely apologize to our Guest and their family for the inconvenience, and we issued a refund for the tickets and provided them with future travel vouchers.”
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
Despite the apology from Spirit Airlines, passenger Marivi said that she would now not travel with the airline, saying that
Spirit Airlines’ large presence in Puerto Rico
Spirit Airlines has a big presence in Puerto Rico, with around 25 flights per day to 3 different airports on the island – San Juan (SJU), Aguadilla (BQN), and Ponse (PSE). All flights are operated by the airline’s Airbus A320 family aircraft. Nevertheless, the carrier doesn’t currently fly directly from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Easy Flying
It isn’t known which route the family was taking, but a lot of possible options would have been available to them with the airline. A seek for travel from Los Angeles to San Juan on the Spirit Airlines website brings up options for travel via Newark (EWR), Atlanta (ATL), and Orlando (MCO).
What do you’re thinking that of this incident that occurred with Spirit Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport? Have you ever been asked to point out a passport when traveling between the mainland US and Puerto Rico? Share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below.