Amber Vencill (left) and an American Airlines plane (right) pictured in an interview an news segment that aired on WSOC-TV (images via WSOC-TV screengrabs)
A Jacksonville, Florida, mother has filed a civil lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court alleging that American Airlines negligently lost her sons in a North Carolina airport after a connecting flight to Syracuse, New York, was canceled. The alleged layover from hell resulted in the young boys, who were flying alone, staying overnight on a couch in a “freezing” room with no food or drink — as their mother, having no information as to their whereabouts, feared they may have been kidnapped or worse.
Amber Vencill’s lawsuit said that her sons, 10 and 12, “were flying as unaccompanied minors with American Airlines” on July 30, 2022. The boys, who had visited their father in Missouri, were headed to Syracuse to see her partner Ted’s family members, the suit said.
It was not a direct flight from Missouri to New York; there was a layover and connecting flight out of Charlotte, North Carolina. After multiple delays, the connecting flight from Charlotte to Syracuse was canceled.
That’s when Amber Vencill’s nightmare began, the suit said, even though she had paid for “unaccompanied minor chaperone services from American Airlines.”
“Someone on behalf of the defendant airline called Ted because he was the person listed as the pick-up person at Syracuse, and advised him that the children would be on a flight to Syracuse the next day July 31, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.,” the complaint said. “In the interim, defendant sent an email to the plaintiff mother at 11:38 p.m. saying the infant plaintiffs would be on a 5:21 p.m. flight on July 31, 2022.”
As the lawsuit put it, though American Airlines told Ted the boys “would be in a nice room for unaccompanied minors where there were beds and their own bathroom,” a “purported direct line” to contact the children didn’t work. Amber and Ted began to panic, not knowing which flight the boys would actually be on, or if they would even be on a flight, given the “conflicting [flight] information” provided, the complaint said.
Vencill said that a “kind” Charlotte Airport employee unaffiliated with American Airlines ultimately got her in touch with one of her sons.
The mother, during an interview that aired on WSOC-TV, said she thanked that airport employee “profusely.”
“There’s no words to really tell her how much I appreciated her in this moment,” Vencill said.
While finally knowing where her sons were was a gigantic relief, Vencill said she soon learned the “nice room” that was promised for the unaccompanied minors was far from nice.
One son told Vencill “that they had not had anything to eat or drink since the night before, not even a pretzel or snacks that are usually given out by the airline,” and that the “lost children’s room” they were in was “freezing,” the lawsuit said.
“The room was freezing, and the children spent the night on a sofa with the lights on,” the lawsuit said.
The unidentified Charlotte Airport employee, not American Airlines, gave the children food and drinks, after which point the children boarded an outbound flight to Syracuse and successfully reunited with Ted there, according to the complaint.
Though grateful she knew her children were no longer lost, the lawsuit said, American Airlines’ alleged response rang “hollow.”
“Plaintiff emailed the Board of Directors of American Airlines as to what had occurred. No one responded except customer relations finally notified her that the defendant was terribly sorry and would refund $150 that had been paid for a chaperone,” the lawsuit said, pointing to an American Airlines promise on what is supposed to happen when unaccompanied minors do not get to board a connecting flight until the next day.
“Defendant promises ‘In the rare case that your child needs to stay overnight because of a missed connection, we’ll arrange for overnight accommodations, meals and supervision. We’ll call if this occurs,”” the suit continued.
That her sons spent the night on a couch in a cold room for lost children without food or drink amounted to violations of American Airlines own stated “policies and procedures,” the mother alleged.
The complaint, signed by attorney David Jaroslawicz, said the alleged American Airlines response to offer a refund and “hollow apology” was a “[p]articularly offensive” thing to do. The lawsuit said it was like saying, “sorry we lost your kids lady but here is your money back.”
The lawsuit listed three causes of action. Plaintiff said the airline was reckless, careless, and negligent, causing Vencill “severe emotional distress” because she thought her sons might have been kidnapped or trafficked out of the country:
As a result of defendant’s negligence, plaintiff mother was caused to suffer severe emotional distress; fearful her children had been injured, lost, kidnapped and/or trafficked out of Charlotte to possibly a foreign country; caused unnecessary panic and distress for hours; and plaintiff has been otherwise damaged, all of which damages are permanent in nature and continuing into the future.
Vencill seeks damages and punitive damages, which her lawyers traced to American Airlines’ alleged “callous disregard for the well-being of plaintiff’s children.”
The mother was “distraught for hours worrying about her children and received no meaningful information as to her sons’ whereabouts except that they were allegedly last seen at Charlotte Airport,” the lawsuit said.
Reached for comment, an attorney for Vencill told Law&Crime that it was “simply inexcusable for American Airlines to have lost Ms. Vencill’s children.”
“What is even more disturbing is that American did not bother or care to pick up the phone to discuss what happened or to investigate, virtually ensuring that American’s failures are destined to be repeated,” said Elizabeth Eilender of the law firm Jaroslawicz & Jaros, PLLC. “If any airline is going to offer an unaccompanied minor chaperone service, they can’t lose the kids. Period.”
American Airlines responded to Law&Crime’s request for comment by saying 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.”
The airline added that it has been “in touch” with Amber Vencill and that it is reviewing the details of her lawsuit.
Read the lawsuit obtained by Law&Crime here.
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