​Jet Blue Apologizes After Refusing to Let Toddler Use Restroom

Not a great week for 3-year-olds.

Jennifer Deveraux was traveling with her 3-year-old daughter last Monday when her flight was delayed about half an hour while sitting on the tarmac. When her daughter started to cry, saying she had to go to the bathroom, flight attendants refused to let her go. The little girl, bound to the confines of a 3-year-old human’s body, was forced to urinate in her seat.

An understandably frustrated Deveraux got up to clean the mess, but a flight attendant refused to have it. According to WBZ:

“And I said, ‘please give me a break. My daughter had an accident because you wouldn’t let me take her to the bathroom. After I clean it up I will sit down.’ She turned around and reported it to the pilot,” Jennifer said.

Apparently the pilot then turned the plane around (because there’s time to do that, but there’s no time to let a 3-year-old go potty), announcing that there was a non-compliant passenger aboard. But another off-duty pilot and other passengers stood up for her and convinced the crew to let it go.

“It wasn’t about bad customer service at that point, it was about bad human decency. My daughter was sitting in a pool of urine and I couldn’t do anything about it,” Devereaux said. “And as a mom it just broke my heart.”

Jet Blue has since apologized to the family and stated:

“This incident in question happened while the aircraft was on an active taxiway, when FAA regulations require all customers to remain seated due to the risk of sudden aircraft movement… The crew made a safety and FAA regulation-based decision.”

Yep, the flight attendants were adhering to strict FAA protocol. Sure, Devereaux could have brought emergency toddler diapers even though it seems clear her daughter doesn’t need them. Still, there could have been a pretty straightforward solution to this. I mean, can’t flight attendants make a quick call to the pilots up front and let them know? The plane wasn’t exactly going anywhere. Allowing a little girl to pee herself when it’s a very clearly avoidable situation seems cruel. Making her continue to sit in it is absolutely ridiculous.