Airline apologizes for child mix-up

MINNEAPOLIS – Delta Air Lines blamed a paperwork mix-up for sending two children to the wrong cities as they flew under the airline’s unaccompanied minors program.

Delta said the children were connecting through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Tuesday when they were put on the wrong connecting flights because of a “paperwork swap.”

Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec on Wednesday said a boy ended up in Cleveland instead of Boston while a girl was sent to Boston instead of Cleveland.

WHDH-TV in Boston identified one of the children as 9-year-old Kieren Kershaw, who was flying alone from Spokane to Boston to visit his grandparents when his paperwork was switched with the girl’s paperwork during the Minneapolis layover. The girl also was traveling alone.

“It was just weird. I was like, ‘I’m supposed to be at Boston, not Cleveland.’ It was just weird,” Kieren told the station after eventually landing in Boston.

Delta said it apologized to the families, sent the children to their final destinations at no cost, arranged full refunds and provided credits to the families for future travel.