Michelle and also Erik Harvey had some anxiety as their April 1 trip from Denver to Texas approached. The couple from Parker recognized federal regulation required any kind of passengers over 2 years of ages to put on a mask, as well as they understood their 2 1/2 years of age son Jackson didn’t care much for masks.
They found a mask from the animated motion picture “Cars” that they believed he could like, as well as crossed their fingers. He used the mask onto the Austin-bound plane at Denver International Airport yet prior to takeoff he drew it off and also would not place it back on.
” He got his mask, threw it off and said ‘That’s it,'” claimed Erik Harvey.
Harvey claimed a Southwest Airlines flight attendant informed them if their son would not keep the mask on, they would certainly need to leave the aircraft.
” We walked off that airplane in a daze,” stated Erik.
A spokesman for Southwest stated, “We are sorry for the trouble this household experienced on their recent Southwest Airlines trip. Nevertheless, government legislation needs all clients 2 and over to use a face mask while at the airport terminal as well as onboard the aircraft.”
” We were under the impact they were mosting likely to deal with us due to the fact that he is so young,” yet Michelle Harvey said a steward was adamant about her child complying with the policy and would not move.
While she said they comprehend the mandate and comprehend the flight staff had a job to do, “It felt very unfair, it really felt very wrong you’re kicking us off the flight.”
After getting off the plane, Erik Harvey uploaded a prolonged video clip account to his Facebook web page. A previous coworker, James Peck, who lives in Texas, happened to see the video clip as well as promptly supplied to fly to Colorado in his twin-engine aircraft, get the Harvey family, provide them to Texas after that fly them back to Colorado a few days later.
Peck told CBS4 he knew he would certainly be surrendering a couple of days of his time and countless dollars in gas costs, but he stated he knew he might “turn their day around in a big means.”
” I was blown away,” stated Erik Harvey after touching down at Centennial Airport Thursday with Peck at the controls of his airplane. “This individual is legit. Simply an unbelievable guy.”
Southwest accepted totally reimburse the Harveys’ trip expenses.
The Harveys claim they hope their experience causes more conversation concerning mask usage and also the science behind it. They claim while they adhere to mask guidelines, they are unconvinced of how numerous policies are enforced and think airlines are irregular in mask enforcement.