Even with all those security lines and boarding pass checks, it just keeps happening.
Somehow , despite the Orwellianairport check - in physical process , people are still ending up on the wrong flights . And I ’m not talking about a little Denver instead of Boulder domestic flight switcheroo . masses are terminate up in the wrong countries without passports ! And whilesometimes it ’s a traveller ’s mistake , I ca n’t aid but wonder how airlines have a scheme in place where this can happen on asemi - unconstipated footing .
Most recently , this pass off to Beverly Ellis - Hebard , a New Jersey cleaning lady plan to fly from Philadelphia to Jacksonville , Florida via Frontier Airlines . Except she soon discovered that she was on a flight headed towards Jamaica . And Ellis - Hebard did not have a passport , so she had to stick around in the jetway between the plane and airport until she could room a flight back to the US once she landed , according toABC News 7 .
" I fly once every six weeks . I piece Frontier flights because we flew so often , " Ellis - Hebard explained to the outlet . She owns a 2d home plate in Jacksonville , Florida and consider herself a veteran traveller . So this switch up was not due to any kind of novel - traveling - jitters . About 20 minute before boarding she ask the gate agent if she had time to run to the restroom and was say that she did . Upon returning from the restroom , she saw that her plane was already boarding and rushed to get on her flight .
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During the rush , she cut her hand on her baggage when she was asked to shape whether or not it was too big for a carry - on . It was n’t . “ I put it in and when I die to take it out my arm right here got all skin up . I was bleeding , " she excuse .
Once she was posture in her bottom and settled , she search out a flying attendee for help with her cut . It was at this point that Ellis - Hebard earn the gate for her own flight had switch , and she was headed towards Jamaica without a pass .
She eventually made it back to the US , with a $ 600 flight voucher and her ticket give back from Frontier . The airline also come out an apologia in a statement shared withABC News 7.But Ellis - Hebard is not the only passenger who ’s experienced such an issue . Somewhat splendidly , model and source Chrissy Teigen was on a flight from LAX to Tokyo when it was ferment around midflight , because anotherpassenger aboard was on the wrong flight . This is n’t an issue unique to American air hose , either . to begin with this year , a passenger flying with IndiGo was put on an airport shuttlecock towards his flight to Patna . Except , alternatively , he landed in Udaipur , which is in an entirely different region of India .
Way back in 2017 , it was report that K of people really board the wrong flight every single year , which is likely happening again now that travel has pick up after the first three years of the pandemic .
It is also a situation that has been memorialize in film , like inHome Alone 2 : Lost in New York . In many of these scenario , it seems like a combining of overworked employee , a high intensity of travelers , and poor system management from airlines and airports from the top down . You ’d think with all of the information required from passenger before fly these years ( I finger like we ’re only a year away from TSA enquire for DNA samples at security checkpoint ) , there ’d be a trivial less intermixture up of information on their close .
Just check that you quadruple check you are board the correct flight next clip , and ask again before officially tread into your planer .