Couple Allegedly Chose Vacation Over Their 10-Year-Old Son, Ditching Him At The Airport

A Spanish air traffic controller is calling out a couple who allegedly ditched their 10-year-old son at an airport and went on vacation without him.

Just weeks earlier, a fellow traveler had accused another couple of leaving their children to sit alone on a flight, returning only to snatch an iPad from their tearful son before walking away.

Apparently, the boy's parents allegedly chose to continue their journey without him when they discovered his passport had expired.

The controller, who shared the shocking story on TikTok, said the child was not allowed to fly because his passport had expired, and he also needed a visa. Despite this, the parents reportedly decided to board the flight anyway, leaving their son behind at the terminal.

Speaking in Spanish, she called the situation "surreal" and said she could not believe what she was witnessing. In a translated version of the video, she added, "They call a relative, who might take half an hour, an hour, or three hours, and they calmly board the flight and leave the child behind."

According to The Daily Mail, the parents' plan did not go smoothly. Airport staff reportedly noticed the boy was alone and contacted the police. The couple was eventually found and brought to the airport's police station, where their son had been waiting. 

The online reaction was swift, with users blasting the parents' decision. One commenter summed up the mood by writing, "What an outrage!"

The Spanish airline case was not the only recent case of questionable parenting while traveling. Days earlier, another incident unfolded mid-flight on a different airline.

A Reddit user shared a post on the platform stating they were stunned after witnessing parents separate themselves from their two kids, believed to be around 8 and 13, on a flight.

The writer claimed the parents left the kids around strangers while they moved to a more comfortable spot farther back.

The person noted that it was okay at first, since the older one fell asleep and the younger one was on their iPad. But things took a turn mid-flight when the mother returned, not to sit with them, but to take the iPad away and instruct the younger child to sleep.

The result? A 20-minute meltdown. "He starts crying and yelling for his mom for 20 minutes," the post read.

The traveler, in a post titled "PSA: Do not leave your kids with strangers so you and your husband can sit together farther back in the plane," shared that the incident happened on a flight from Denver to Jacksonville.

They recalled that before takeoff, a flight attendant mentioned there were empty rows available in the back of the aircraft. "Kind of weird the parents wouldn't each keep a kid or ALL go back further so they could sit together," the user wrote, adding they were "baffled" by the parents' decision. 

In a follow-up, the passenger, who is also a parent, stated they would "NEVER" let their own child sit alone, especially when there was enough room for the whole family to stay together.

Adults misbehaving at airports is nothing new; however, a man at Dublin Airport put a twist on that phenomenon. The airport staff had to step in fast when the man flew into a violent rage after missing his flight.

The Blast shared details of the incident, where the man, described as being in his 20s, smashed up furniture and caused severe damage before being restrained. Airport Police quickly stepped in and handed him over to An Garda Síochána.

Dublin Airport later addressed the outburst, confirming the arrest and making their stance clear: "We hope the justice system deals with him appropriately and also that we never see him at Dublin Airport again."

While officials did not identify the man or the flight he missed, the Irish Examiner noted the chaos unfolded around 7:20 AM. 

Videos posted online show the man, partially covering his face, pacing erratically and throwing chairs and tables like props in a movie scene. 

In one of the clips, he is seen trying to tear wires from airport equipment used by budget airlines like Ryanair. After a struggle, he managed to bring a heavy metal box crashing to the ground.

At one point, he flexed his muscles mid-stride, seemingly feeding off the attention as he moved through the terminal.

His destruction did not stop there. He kicked over a Ryanair baggage weight checker and wrecked furniture around a nearby café before airport police tackled and restrained him.

Thankfully, airport staff stepped in for the 10-year-old boy allegedly left by his parents before the situation could escalate.