Overview

• Banks presented a doctor’s fitness-to-fly certificate; Spirit’s check-in staff advised she was ineligible to board under company rules
• Spirit referred her case to MedLink, which concluded she was unfit to fly despite her physician’s clearance
• The carrier refunded Banks’s fare; she and her husband faced unplanned hotel and rebooking expenses
• Banks criticized the absence of a clear written explanation and vowed never to fly Spirit again
• The incident highlights growing reliance on outsourced medical assessments and calls for more transparent airline safety protocols