Phoenix boy removed from flight over allergies, passengers applaud

It all started when George Alvarado’s 7-year-old son, Giovanni, had an allergic reaction to a dog onboard.

Before Allegiant Flight 171 took off from the airport in Bellingham, Giovanni “began to get very itchy and he was scratching all over”.

He had suffered an allergic reaction, causing a 90-minute delay. And when the family packed up their belongings and exited the aircraft, some passengers clapped.

Of course, it’s unlikely that the passengers had any idea the family was returning from a “bucket list” trip so that Giovanni could spend some quality time with Alvarado, who has stage-four throat cancer.

The family caught the next available flight home the following day and said they don’t want anything more from the airline. He said the trip was “to make memories, and I am sad that this has to be a memory with my dad”. But my goodness, this was a 7-year-old boy! This delayed the flight as the family gathered their things. “And I am sad that this has to be a memory with my dad”. He says the incident was upsetting and he also told reporters that he wishes people could “just be nice”.

“When we stood up and walked to the front of the plane, the (people) in the back of the plane applauded”, Fabian-Roman said.

“It wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault we got off the plane … it was the flight attendant’s attitude that perpetuated people’s agitated behavior around us”, she said.

“As a dad I was just hopeless right there”, said Alvarado.

Some people on the plane started clapping as the family was escorted off the plane.

“People who don’t have sadness, they don’t understand”, he said.

The airline, Allegiant, is in direct contact with the family and has offered their apologies for the negative experience and the inconvenience.

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Allegiant said it had apologized to Fabian-Roman and “forwarded the family’s feedback on to the appropriate teams within the company to ensure any necessary service improvements will be made”. The couple had been together for some time but when they found out the man had terminal cancer, they chose to get married.