Spirit Airlines has reversed course and agreed to give a sick Clearwater man a refund on a $197 ticket he couldn't use.
Jerry Meekins has terminal esophageal cancer. He bought a ticket to Atlantic City to see his daughter, who was undergoing surgery, but then his doctor told him his immune system was too compromised for him to fly.
Meekins asked Spirit for a refund but was repeatedly denied because he had a non-refundable ticket. Spirit said its no-refund policy was necessary to keep prices low for all customers.
The controversy made national news after the Tampa Bay Times first reported on it last month.
The airline relented. According to the Times, Spirit CEO Ben Baldenza called Meekins on Friday to say he was personally refunding Meekins' ticket cost and would also make a $5,000 donation in Meekins' name to the Wounded Warrior Project.
"Every day, we seek to balance customer service with customers' demands for the lowest airfare possible," Baldanza said in a statement published in the Times. "But sometimes we make mistakes.
"In my statements regarding Mr. Meekins' request for a refund, I failed to explain why our policy on refunds makes Spirit Airlines the only affordable choice for so many travelers, and I did not demonstrate the respect or the compassion that I should have, given his medical condition and his service to our country."
According to the Times, Meekins, a 76-year-old Vietnam War veteran, drove to New Jersey this week and brought his daughter home from the hospital after her surgery.