American Airlines passenger says crew took away 3-year-old nephew's snack box: 'I had to throw it'

The incident took place in an American Airlines flight from St. Louis to Dallas (Representational Photo).

An American Airlines passenger recently claimed that the airline crew had snatched her three-year-old nephew's snack box to show it to a friend who was seated at the front of the plane.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the user said that the flight attendant of the aircraft who had walked by the seat and taken the unwrapped snack box had gone away for several minutes after taking the box.

"Flew @AmericanAir today w/a 3 yr old & his snack box of unwrapped food. flight attendant walked by, snatched it without asking, & took it to show a friend seated near the front of the plane. Was gone several minutes. I had to throw it all out. I'm incensed! Contacting corporate," the user wrote in a detailed thread on August 12.

In the thread, the woman passenger, who was travelling from St. Louis to Dallas, further said that she was playing a game with her nephew with the snack box kept on the middle seat tray.

The flight attendant, who was collecting the trash inside the aircraft, walked by and saw the snack box in the tray and took it away, without permission.

"So since @AmericanAir neglected to see the seriousness of the issue, I’ll post the story in detail here. Fri., I traveled on AA with my 3 yr old nephew from STL to Dallas. We traveled w/ his snack box of unwrapped food for him to eat at various stages of our journey; had his iPad.

"and headphones on, and he and I were playing a game together on his iPad with his snack box sitting on my middle seat tray. The flight attendant was walking around collecting trash & sees the snack box she commented on earlier. I thought she was reaching for the trash on my tray.

"but instead grabbed my nephew’s snack box with all his food in it & INFORMS me that her friend traveling in the front of the plane is a new grandmother,& she was “going to show her this”. Before I could finish processing her statement, she snatched the snack box & walked off," she wrote.

Later in the thread, the woman wrote that the she tried to remain calm during the flight's journey to Dallas. But when the passengers were getting off the plane at Dallas, she spoke to the flight attendant and told her that while she was interested in the snack box, it was rude on her part to take someone else's belongings without permission.

The flight attendant said that she had just washed her hands but the passenger said that she was deviating from the issue at hand. The attendant tried to provide a justification, which the passenger felt was negating her actions.

Later, though, an apology came on behalf of the airline.

"What an adorable snack box! Our apology the crew member took it from you without asking first," the airline wrote.

The passenger, however, was left unconvinced by the response.