For many military families, those final moments before deployment are ones they remember forever.
Which is why one mother says she was devastated when her family was reportedly denied gate passes to say goodbye before her son boarded his flight to Spain.
One of the most bittersweet moments a parent can have is sending their child off when they’ve joined the armed forces. They’re proud of the adult their offspring has become and that they’ll be serving their country, of course. But there’s also nostalgia of what had been their baby now being all grown up, plus missing them as they leave home, plus, let’s be honest, the fear of the possibility that, because of their service to their country, they might not come home. So those last few minutes are precious.
A difficult goodbye became even harder
So imagine your child is about to fly to their deployment, you’re escorting them to the airport, expecting to get a gate pass so you can stay with them until they board their plane, and the airline tells you no.
That’s exactly what happened to Kelsey Wood last week, when she tried to accompany her son, Brennen Phillips, to his gate at CVG.
Phillips was going to be stationed at a Navy base in Rota, Spain, but his mother said that American Airlines denied his family gate passes, also called airline escort passes, to be able to say their final goodbyes at his gate.
What TSA says about escort passes
The TSA allows non-flyers to obtain an airline escort pass if they need to accompany someone with special needs or are family members of arriving or departing U.S. service members. However, the TSA specifically states that the final decision rests with the airline – and that’s where things went south for Kelsey Wood.
Wood told local station WXIX Cincinnati that the American Airlines agent at the desk began asking questions.
“Does his orders state he is being deployed? They did in fact state that. We were told they did not. They said there was no return date. That’s because he’s not returning,” Wood said.
American Airlines said no
With that, American refused to give them the gate passes.
Crazy, huh?
But United Airlines initially approved the request
Wood thought she could maybe circumvent American altogether, and went to the United desk. THEY had no problem issuing her the passes… but once United staff realized that Phillips was actually flying on American, she had to return the passes.
Boo!
But still, she couldn’t figure out why United was easily able to initially issue her the passes, but American couldn’t.
Or wouldn’t.
Said Wood: “You cannot tell me no because it’s not a possibility — because I was handed one. It’s not an airport thing. You could do it. You just didn’t want to.”
In the end, Phillips had to head to his gate alone, with his family watching him from the other side of the security checkpoint.
“Everybody’s watching. I’m nervous. I’m in tears. I don’t know when I’m going to see my baby again… or if I will,” Wood told the news outlet.
Mom’s complaint and American Airlines’ response
Once she had gotten word that her son had arrived in Spain safely, Woods filed a complaint with American Airlines. The response, written by an American Airlines spokesperson was…interesting. It said, in part:
“We will share your experience with the appropriate leadership teams to ensure additional review, coaching, and reinforcement of guidance around gate pass procedures, particularly when supporting deploying service members and their families.
The airline also offered Wood a $75 credit, per family member involved, as compensation. Wood said that wasn’t enough for what her family endured.
The family said the experience was devastating
“We were going to say goodbye, eat our lunch together, have those last laughing moments together, the last hugs, the last pictures,” she told WLWT. “But it all ended in tears and chaos.”
“I just don’t want any other families to endure the pain, that’s the main thing,” she continued.
“This has really hurt me. I have dreaded this day. Although I knew it was going to be emotional, I didn’t expect it to turn out the way that it did. It was detrimental,” Wood said.
“We’re all Americans. Our military is why we have what we have. They fight for our country, and our world has come to this — and I’m like, where’s your heart?” Wood said.
To be fair, airlines are allowed to make the final call on issuing gate passes, even for military families.
And since passengers can no longer routinely bring non-travelers through security as they could before 9/11, escort passes are understandably handled with care.
Still, it’s easy to understand why Wood and her family were so upset.
For them, this wasn’t about trying to bypass security rules or score special treatment. It was about getting a few final moments together before an overseas deployment — moments they could never get back.
And whether American Airlines technically followed policy or not, the emotional fallout from that decision clearly isn’t something this family will forget any time soon.
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