United Airlines apologizes to woman who says crew asked her to remove son's ventilator: report

Core Points - United Airlines has apologized to a passenger, Melissa Sotomayor, after she claimed that flight crew members asked her to remove her toddler son's ventilator during a flight, which left her feeling humiliated [1][4][9] - Sotomayor shared her experience in a viral TikTok video, which has garnered over 1.2 million views, detailing the incident that occurred on March 8 during her flight from Tampa to Newark [4][9] - The airline stated that they reached out to Sotomayor to address her concerns and apologized for any frustration she experienced, although she felt the apology was insincere [4][5] Incident Details - Sotomayor had received medical clearance for her son, who is medically complex due to being born premature, and had documentation from his doctors allowing him to fly [5][6] - During the flight, multiple crew members insisted that she detach her son from his medical equipment, claiming it posed a danger, despite her showing them the necessary documentation [6][8] - The situation escalated when the captain accused her of being difficult and claimed that her son's medical equipment was a danger to other passengers [8][9] Passenger Reaction - Sotomayor expressed feeling disrespected and humiliated by the airline's treatment, stating she would never fly with United Airlines again [10]