“I was like, ‘well have you been fed?’, and they were like. ‘no, mom, no one's even given us any food or water,’” Amber Vensil tells Inside Edition.
A mother is suing American Airlines after, she says, her two sons traveling as unaccompanied minors were held in a locked room overnight with no food or water.
“I was like, ‘well have you been fed?’, and they were like ‘no, mom, no one's even given us any food or water,’” Amber Vensil tells Inside Edition.
Vensil says she paid $150 for each of her sons to be placed in the unaccompanied minors program for their flight from Missouri to Syracuse, New York.
The boys, a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old, had a layover in Charlotte, North Carolina, but their flight leaving Charolette got canceled, leaving them stranded at the airport.
“I was like, ‘hey are you guys okay? Did they take you to a room?’ and they were like, ‘no mom they just had us sitting on a sofa in a freezing cold room all night with the lights on,” Vensil says.
This isn’t the first reported issue with the unaccompanied minors program. Back in 2016, 13-year-old Mackenzie said that she was groped by a passenger for 30 minutes while on her flight from Dallas to Portland.
In 2016, Inside Edition put the program to the test by following an 8-year-old, with her parent's permission, while she traveled alone from Newark to Charlotte.
The airline placed a large sign around her neck identifying her as an unaccompanied minor and placed her in the last row on the flight so the attendants could keep a better eye on her.
She had the whole row to herself until an Inside Editon producer left his seat to sit next to her and even gave her a candy bar. No flight attendants noticed and no one spoke up.
As for Vensil’s sons, their mother is suing American Airlines in an attempt to find out what happened and hold them accountable.
“At this point, I just want to know what happened and I want to make sure it never happens to any other family,” Vensil says.
American Airlines tells Inside Edition the safety of their customers is of high priority.
“The safety and comfort of our customers, including unaccompanied minors in our care, are our highest priorities and we’re committed to providing a positive experience to everyone who travels with us. We have been in touch with Ms. Vencill directly and we are reviewing the details of the lawsuit,” American Airlines says.
