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Bridal party stranded, denied travel after airline employee says bride’s mother was too intoxicated to fly

Posted at 5:58 PM, Mar 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-13 19:58:34-04

SACRAMENTO - A planned bachelorette party weekend in Mexico turned into a mess for a bridal party from Sacramento Thursday.

When the group landed in Phoenix for their connecting flight, an American Airlines employee told the group that the bride's mother couldn't board the next plane because she looked drunk.

"The bride's mom doesn't do the greatest with traveling," bridesmaid Amber Granlund said. "She's in her 50s, almost 60s. There could have been something else going on."

Granlund said the woman had one or two drinks before the flight but was not intoxicated.

Cellphone video shows Granlund speaking with an airline employee, who says she is going to call the police.

"She had already called the cops at that point," she said. "About eight of them showed up."

The airline said after banning the bride's mother, some in the group became irate and "posed a safety risk to crew members and other passengers."

Some of the women in the group were pregnant or breastfeeding. Others were in their 50s.

All of them were stranded without a way to fly to Cabo San Lucas on a trip that cost a total of $30,000.

Granlund said most of the group spent the night in the airport before eventually making it to Mexico.

"We had about a good full day of no airline drama," Granlund said.

Granlund said they estimate the ordeal cost them an additional $16,000 and a huge amount of frustration.

"A mess," Granlund said. "A complete mess that could have been avoided, absolutely."

She said American Airlines offered to give the group a partial refund on the flights they had to re-book. They have not yet received that refund.