According to reports, 14-year-old Anton Berg booked a flight through the Scandinavian airline SAS to visit his grandparents in Stockholm, Sweden. The flight departed from Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina and was supposed to connect to Stockholm from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
However, according to Anton’s mother, Brenda Berg, her son was placed on the wrong flight during his transfer in New Jersey. Instead of being directed to a flight headed to Sweden, Anton was instead escorted to a flight heading off to Dusseldorf, Germany, operated by German airline Eurowings.
According to Brenda, she was forced to register her son as an unaccompanied minor by United Airlines and pay a $150 fee for the service because the airline’s policies state that minors between the ages five and 14 must be assisted by an airline representative. A United Airlines employee told Business Insider that Anton was rushed onto the Dusseldorf flight by his escort because the flight was waiting on one more passenger who had a similar name to Anton.
When Anton realized he had boarded the wrong plane before takeoff, he notified a flight attendant, and the plane went back to the gate. However, by the time Anton got off his wrong flight, the correct flight to Sweden had already departed.
SAS eventually helped Anton book another flight to Stockholm through Copenhagen, Denmark.
"This is not what we wanted — an international transfer," Berg tweeted. "I have been up all night thinking about the fact that he was one call button away from landing in Germany without being on the manifest!"
Following the incident, United Airlines issued a statement to Business Inside:
"The safety and well-being of all of our customers is our top priority, and we have been in frequent contact with the young man's family to confirm his safety and to apologize for this issue. Once Eurowings recognized that he had boarded the wrong aircraft in Newark, the plane returned to the gate — before taking off. Our staff then assisted the young customer to ensure that he boarded the correct rebooked flight later that evening. We have confirmed that this young customer safely reached his destination."
In addition, although United Airlines told Business Insider that it refunded the registration fee, Brenda said she had not heard from the airline since Sunday night.
"If he had been 10, this would have been so much worse," Brenda said. "There's a lot that needs to be fixed, but ultimately, if you're going to have an unaccompanied-minor program, it absolutely has to work correctly."
United Airlines did not immediately respond to Sputnik’s request for comment.