A United Airlines passenger's mom went viral complaining about their travel chaos. Now he's using his platform to demand more accountability.

• Jack Ieronimo was one of the people stuck on board a United Airlines flight for seven hours in July.
• He later found out that his mother was filmed in a TikTok post about the incident.

Jack Ieronimo was one of the people on a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Rome that made headlines after passengers said they were stuck on board for seven hours without taking off.

Two weeks after the ordeal, Ieronimo returned home from his family trip to find that his mother, Christine, was filmed in a TikTok video from the day of the canceled flight, which was going viral.

In the clip, she can be seen at the head of a crowd at an airport gate voicing her concerns about the way the airline handled the situation. She says in the video that elderly people, babies, and pregnant women were among those on board and that passengers were "treated like animals."

Insider previously reported that passengers on the flight from Newark said they were stuck without food or water as temperatures soared to 80 degrees Fahrenheit because of a problem with the air conditioning. In a statement to Insider, United Airlines said passengers were offered the opportunity to get off the plane and were later offered snacks and beverages.

Ieronimo, 26, who makes a cameo in the TikTok video while standing in the crowd, told Insider he thought the video of his mother played a "key part" in the incident receiving public attention. He added that if it weren't for the clip, the situation "would have been swept under the rug." The US Department of Transportation said in a statement to CBS7 that it would investigate the matter.

He's now spoken out with his own video on TikTok that further explains his family's experience, with the goal of holding the airline to account.

Ieronimo called out United Airlines in a TikTok video that has gone hugely viral

Ieronimo, based in Rhode Island, told Insider that when he came across the TikTok post of his mother, he noticed that many people were responding to it with positivity.

Many commenters under the clip, which was posted on July 17 by Ieronimo's fellow passenger Bianca Dragone, applauded his mother for the way she spoke up on behalf of others and said they were shocked to hear her explain the details of what happened.

"It was cool because her feelings were validated," Ieronimo told Insider.

On August 22, Ieronimo posted his own TikTok video, acknowledging how viral Dragone's post had gotten and adding information about the experience. In it, he reiterates that he also hadn't seen any food or water being offered by the cabin crew and accuses United Airlines of trying to downplay the incident.

A spokesperson for United Airlines declined to comment in response to Ieronimo's video.

The TikTok became even more viral than the video of Ieronimo's mom, receiving 19.2 million views and helping him bring the incident to wider attention.

"I just wanted to be the person that could try and hold United accountable for their actions because it didn't seem like they were going to be held accountable based on what had come out already," Ieronimo told Insider. "It seemed like they were going to just sweep it under the rug and try and have everybody forget about the situation."

In his post, Ieronimo says he never wants to fly with United again and urges the airline to "make it right."

"The ball is in your court, Scott Kirby," he says at the end of the clip, referencing the CEO of United Airlines.

Ieronimo's mother told Insider the family was refunded the cost of the flight and given a $400 voucher as compensation. An email seen by Insider showed the airline offered the family another check for $550.03 as further compensation for out-of-pocket hotel costs but said reimbursement of the family's prepaid hotel expenses and flights to Rome with a different airline, which they booked after deciding they did not want to fly with United again, could not be covered within its policies.

Ieronimo, who said the family's tickets with an alternative airline cost over $4,000, said he was "extremely disappointed" with the airline's response in a written statement to Insider.

It's not clear what costs other passengers incurred, but Ieronimo said he thought they all deserved to be compensated for their additional expenses, saying: "It should not take a viral video getting 19 million views to get any sort of attention from United when they should have fully reimbursed us from the beginning."

United Airlines declined to comment.

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