‘DISAPPOINTING’

Tour Organizer Claims Hellish Flight Delay Wasn’t High-School Group’s Fault

American Airlines has said the students refused to wear masks, ultimately forcing their entire flight to be canceled.

A tour organizer alleges American Airlines was wrong to blame an entire group of Boston high-school graduates for a delayed flight—as only one student actually refused to wear a mask after the plane’s air conditioning system failed, the Boston Globe reports. The group’s initial flight was severely delayed when the plane scheduled to fly from Charlotte, North Carolina, to the Bahamas suffered mechanical issues. “During this time some passengers including the students may have removed masks due to the no air-conditioning/ventilation, quite unbearable conditions,” Eugene Winer, president of the Breakaway Beach, the company that organized the trip, told the Globe. “One passenger was officially escorted off of the aircraft but was not ticketed or charged with an offense.” He said that all passengers had to board a second plane because of the mechanical issues—but that flight was ultimately canceled after the airline couldn’t find an available pilot. Winer called the actions of the airline “disappointing.” “The act of one individual is not the responsibility of others, and the students that were abiding by the rules should not have had to endure this type of treatment,” he said.