Mom kicked off Spirit flight ‘for breastfeeding son’

A mother was kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight with her elderly parents and two-year-old son for not immediately stopping breastfeeding when cabin crew asked her to put him into his seat so that they could take off. 

Mei Rui, 34, her son Lukas and her parents were flying from Houston, Texas, to New York City on December 8 when they were booted off the plane. 

They had been sitting on the tarmac for almost three hours because of a de-icing delay, she claims, when she began to breastfeed her ‘exhausted’ two-year-old son. 

Shortly afterwards, a flight attendant told her to stop and put him in his seat because they  claimed they were ready to take off.

The mother claims the door was still open. 

Because of this, she asked for a few more minutes but then complied and ‘forced’ Lukas into his own seat where he began to cry for 25 minutes before a flight attendant asked them to get off.  

 

Mei Rui, her elderly parents and her two-year-old son were kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight on Friday because she would not immediately stop breastfeeding the toddler when cabin crew asked her to. Her son is seen above with his grandparents after being 'forced' into his seat by his mother. She says that 25 minutes afterwards, they were thrown off the aircraft

Mei Rui, her elderly parents and her two-year-old son were kicked off a Spirit Airlines flight on Friday because she would not immediately stop breastfeeding the toddler when cabin crew asked her to. Her son is seen above with his grandparents after being ‘forced’ into his seat by his mother. She says that 25 minutes afterwards, they were thrown off the aircraft 

When they refused, Spirit made the entire plane disembark then reboard. In videos taken at the gate afterwards, staff can be seen laughing and refusing to tell her exactly what they had done wrong beyond saying they did ‘not comply with instructions’. 

They called police to escort the family away from the gate. Fellow passengers who saw the incident unfold said they were ‘disgusted’ by how Spirit treated the family. 

Rui, a Yale medical school graduate and cancer researcher who is also an accomplished piano player and teacher, said the ordeal was worse than Hurricane Harvey which destroyed her home and her elderly parents’ home.

They were on their way to New York for her to participate in an assignment on behalf of the MD Anderson Cancer Center.  

After the incident at George Bush International Airport, Rui says her father was so distraught he collapsed and had to go to the hospital. 

In a Facebook post she wrote directly after the incident on Friday, she said: ‘This was an even more traumatic morning for us than when Harvey destroyed our homes. 

‘My dad almost had a heart attack and collapsed on the floor. I had never imagined something like this could happen to our family. 

Mei Rui, 34, was on her way from Texas to New York with her son and parents to take part in a work assignment. She is a cancer researcher 

Mei Rui, 34, was on her way from Texas to New York with her son and parents to take part in a work assignment. She is a cancer researcher 

Once they had been thrown off the plane, the mother, her parents and her son stood by the gate asking to be told which rule they had broken but were never given a straight answer beyond 'you were not compliant'. Eventually, police were called. She is pictured struggling with her son as police watch on and her parents stand by in a photograph taken by another passenger who said they were 'disgusted' by the ordeal 

Once they had been thrown off the plane, the mother, her parents and her son stood by the gate asking to be told which rule they had broken but were never given a straight answer beyond ‘you were not compliant’. Eventually, police were called. She is pictured struggling with her son as police watch on and her parents stand by in a photograph taken by another passenger who said they were ‘disgusted’ by the ordeal 

A Spirit employee (left) refused to tell the woman which rule she had broken and laughed when she asked what he would do if it happened to his family. 'It wouldn't happen to my family, I can assure you,' is what he told her. Right, one of the several police officers called

A Spirit employee (left) refused to tell the woman which rule she had broken and laughed when she asked what he would do if it happened to his family. 'It wouldn't happen to my family, I can assure you,' is what he told her. Right, one of the several police officers called

A Spirit employee (left) refused to tell the woman which rule she had broken and laughed when she asked what he would do if it happened to his family. ‘It wouldn’t happen to my family, I can assure you,’ is what he told her. Right, one of the several police officers called

‘I am heartbroken that I could not protect my old parents and Lukas from this cruelty!’ 

In videos she shared, Lukas can be seen wailing in his seat as his Chinese grandmother tried to console him and his mother pleaded: ‘He is in his seat? What else do you guys want?’ 

Her father, the toddler’s grandfather, watched on from across the aisle as a flight attendant told them: ‘I just need to check.’ 

Once they had been taken off the plane, she filmed more footage at the gate. 

There, a Spirit employee stood in front of her with two police officers and laughed while he said: ‘It wouldn’t happen to my family, I can assure you.’

Rui asked him again: ‘If you can tell me which rule I broke I will go with you.’ 

He replied: ‘I do not have the ability to do that. No, no.’  

He refused to tell her exactly what she had done to break the rules, saying only that she did not ‘comply’ with instructions. He dismissed her claims that they had been thrown off the flight because Lukas was crying. 

Rui, with her son, said the ordeal was worse for the family than Hurricane Harvey which claimed their houses 

Rui, with her son, said the ordeal was worse for the family than Hurricane Harvey which claimed their houses 

‘I just want to know why we are getting kicked off the plane!’ Rui, who is from Shanghai but has lived in the US since attending college, said. 

‘Because you were not compliant,’ was the answer she was given. 

They left the airport and, in a taxi away from it, her father collapsed, she said. 

‘My parents and my young son are completely traumatized from this experience. 

The man offered to place her on a different flight with another airline more than once but still did not say why they had been kicked off. 

Spirit refunded the woman and her family for their tickets. 

In a statement to CBS news, a spokesman said: ‘Our records indicate a passenger was removed from Flight 712 after refusing to comply with crew instructions several times during taxi to runway and safety briefing. 

‘To protect the safety of our guests and crew, FAA regulations and airline policies require all passengers to stay seated and buckled during takeoff and landing.’ 

They would not comment on Rui’s claims that the door was still open when she was breastfeeding.  



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