children flying alone

[Mistress Trista]

This is a subject that just burns me up. Dh had to divert to Memphis due to a maintenance issue and he had an 8 year old on his flight flying alone. When they landed, no one was at the gate to take care of the child, so my dh had to take over. The little girl had a phone, so dh called her mother to let her know what had happened, then took her to get something to eat.

Fixing the plane was going to take a while, so all the passengers were assigned to other flights. Dh went to check on the girl's flight so they could keep her mother informed and she had been put on the last flight out that night to Atlanta, where she would catch another flight to her final destination. Dh shook his head and asked, "And what happens when that flight is late and she misses her connection? You need to put her on the first flight."

By this time, someone was FINALLY showing up to take care of the girl. dh wouldn't let her take the child, until something was done about moving her to a different flight. He had to go to a supervisor, but he finally got her changed.

WHERE ARE THEIR HEADS AT??? SHE'S 8!!!! WHY ARE UNACCOMPANIED MINORS NOT MADE FIRST PRIORITY??

This isn't the first time this sort of thing has pissed me off. I was flying with dh and saw a FA with a small girl across from us at the gate. You could tell the girl had downs or something and looked to be about 12 or so. The gate was packed, the gate agent busy. The FA got up and told the girl, "The lady at the gate will watch you till your flight gets here. STay here until she comes to get you."

I was shocked to see the FA leave the girl sitting there alone with a gate agent a good 30 feet away with her back to the child. She never once looked over to see about her, I know, I watched for her to. She did finally call the girl up and introduce her to the new FA and they boarded the flight. But when we landed, i watched for the girl's mother and made sure she was aware of what had happened. She could have walked off, been lead off, anything could have happened.

sorry, but that just pisses me off. I would never, ever put a child that young on a flight alone. If parents knew how lax the airlines were about watching the children, no child would fly alone.

[Bigsweetie]

Oh don't get me started on this one. I can't even believe that airlines allows this sort of thing. And the parents... what parent in their right mind would even think of letting their young child (and yes, I consider 8 young) to fly alone. Not only could someone have taken her at the airport she could've been molested by the guy sitting next to her on the plane!!!

Someone should slap those parents upside the head. I know airline tickets are expensive, but ask any parent that has lost a child and they'll tell you they'd put a second mortgage on their house if they had to to keep their kids from being harmed.

I can feel a rant coming on...

Kudos to your DH for looking out for that girl. Her mother & father should be kissing his feet right now!!!!!

[Mistress Trista]

Children flying alone scares the hell out of dh. When he has one on the flight, he always makes sure they get where they're going.

I don't understand parent's that do this either. Don't they worry? Aren't they scared what could happen to them at these airports? I truly believe that parents don't have a clue just how often their kids are left alone. I think they believe their kids are in perfect hands.

Maybe CNN should do a story in it.

[alfajoyeux]

I agree with you. My son is almost 12 and I think he's pretty responsible and I still wouldn't feel comfortable letting him fly alone!

What a great guy your dh is for looking out for her!

Wanda

[Regina]

Oh, my! My husband and I were just talking about this 2 days ago. He said that after seeing what he has seen, he would never stick our kids on a flight alone. I pointed out that you never know who they could be sitting next to, and the child could be molested on the plane. Not only that, but what if the plane gets delayed with no flight out that night, are they going to sit at the airport by themselves all night?

I don't think most parents realize what happens. Another set just isn't thinking that it will happen to their child. The last set just is the selfish set and is either trying to save time or money and shoving the responsibility of parenting on to someone else.

Like I said, some parents are just naive, but unfortunately, I think a good number of parents that send their young child off on a plane alone is just plain selfish.

Good for your husband, Trista, for staying with the child!

[katbuad]

I, too, have personally seen a gate agent turn their back, close the bridge door, and walk down to the plane leaving the child,10ish, sitting at the gate. Hubby (not on duty but in uniform) and I kept an eye on the child though no one approached the child nor did the child try to leave the gate area.

A direct Southwest is the only flight I would even consider sending a child on alone. The child carries the paperwork in a packet around their neck and everyone has to sign and keep a copy as the child is transfered from one person to the next (best that I can tell from an outsider's point of view).

Hubby has mentioned that a lot of parents don't know that they can get pass to go through security and meet the plan at the gate (both going and coming).

You guys are correct, it's just too scary.

[Brenda]

Trista, thank your husband for me for taking care of that little girl!! I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have had my capt delay our flight cause of UM's left unatended. They are the first ones to board and the last one's off. The last one's off so that the f/a can personally hand them over to the agent. Well, if the last flight cancels, then what? A 7 yr old cannot go to a hotel alone. I volunteered to stay behind and have them find a reservist to finish my last leg. Poor kid would be in ops just hanging out, waiting.
Or how about trying to put a UM next to a prisoner? YUP! INSANE, but TRUE! What idiots! So, no matter how much extra the parent has to pay, even for the direct flight, shit happens and it isn't worth it!

[Bigsweetie]

Originally Posted by katbuad

A direct Southwest is the only flight I would even consider sending a child on alone. The child carries the paperwork in a packet around their neck and everyone has to sign and keep a copy as the child is transfered from one person to the next (best that I can tell from an outsider's point of view).

Hubby has mentioned that a lot of parents don't know that they can get pass to go through security and meet the plan at the gate (both going and coming).

You guys are correct, it's just too scary.

But you have no idea, like Brenda mentioned, who they're sitting your child next to on the plane... Pedophiles fly too! And that stupid card around their neck wouldn't be enough insurance for me. JMO, but there's too much room for error and not all FA's take it seriously (as exampled above). Some do, but how the heck would you know?

It's not worth it!!!

Was it on this board that I read about some grandparents that were helping their grandkid get home and flew with them the first leg, and were supposed to see him to the gate of his second leg (they weren't going all the way) and since his second flight was late they left him with some maintenance guy and paid him to watch him til his flight left? Was that here that I read that? If I was that mother, i'd be inconsolable... not to mention i'd be calling the cops and telling those grandparents they're never seeing my kid again!!!

[UKcats06]

You would be amazed at some of the people that call reservations and get MAD we won't take anyone under like 5! I have heard one lady wanted her like 5 month old to go on an international flight and meet her somewhere that she was on business. When she was told that was not allowed she said "well can't the flight attendants take care of her? What else are they doing anyway?" I'm sure we all know they certainly have more to do than that!!

There has been a lot of bad weather in ATL recently (and of course NYC all the time) so with it being summer and lots of UMNRs, parents call in to see where their child is. There isn't a set policy of what happens if their flights are canceled! Or at least if there is it has not been relayed to us. They aren't allowed to be on the last connecting flight of the day, but with the last few days I was at work, there were 3/4 flights from jfk to somewhere canceled, so it can happen that they get stuck! Just talking to supervisors at work, the unoffical policy is that the f/as or someone takes the kid to a hotel and babysits or sits outside the door all night. That would be fun... you have 8 hours off after dealing with bitchy people delayed, and now you get to spend your 8 hours babysitting some kid! Like I said, that is just the rumor going around of what happens in that situation, but there should certainly be an offical policy of what happens in that situation!

Another thing, if the minor is 15-17 and the parents didn't pay the umnr fee (its optional at that age), and their flight is canceled, they are on their own! So if the cxl or delay is due to weather, they get no hotel or any compensation. A 15 year old can't even book a hotel if they wanted to!

Now this is just the Delta policy, but I definitly think it needs to be looked over again. But again, its the parents that send their kids on these flights! Although when I was about 11 I flew to DEN alone. Mom took me to my gate and grandma picked me up at the next gate. I don't think I could have done connecting at that age, though. I did it when I was 16, but with friends and I was ok with it then.

[Mistress Trista]

The problem with one way flights is even those can be diverted due to maintenance or weather. The way things are now, it's just way too scary to fly them alone at all.