OMG. I would have been scared $hitless. What the heck is wrong with people?!! How can you just brush off a 10 year old traveling alone like that?
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My first question is: why the hell are the parents so cheap that no one flew with her in the first place?! I get being pissed but really? You couldn't pay me 99 bucks to put my kid at that age on a plane alone!
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@Nskillet: I flew alone as a kid. My parents were with me until it was time to get on the plane and the flight crew was extra nice to me, then someone from the airline had to escort me in the airport to my family members who were picking me up. It wasn't a $$ thing, they just didn't have time to fly across the country to drop me off, then fly back, then do the same for picking me up.
That story is terrifying though! I wonder how often it happens, seems like I hear of more kids being left by camp or daycare workers. It's especially scary that she would repeatedly ask for their help & be ignored! If I sent my kid on a plane, I'd want them to call/text so I knew where they were.
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@mrs. bird: @Nskillet: My brother and I flew alone a lot as kids too. We probably started around age 7? We would take the delta shuttle from Boston to NY to visit my aunt. But back in those days our parents could take us all the way to the gate and wait until we were on the plane. And then my aunt could pick us up right at the gate in NY. So the only time I wasn't with a family member was for the 1 hour flight and the flight attendants were always really nice to me and kept an eye on me.
I probably wouldn't feel comfortable letting my child fly as an unaccompanied minor these days since I wouldn't be able to escort them to the gate. And I definitely wouldn't be comfortable with a lay over. Too many opportunities for confusion.
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@nkskillet: My husband flew alone all the time as a kid to visit his dad. The first time he was 7 years old. He loved it. He got a special meal and got to meet the pilot. I don't think they do things like that anymore though.
It's terrible that the flight attendants ignored her like that. I don't know if I would let my kids fly alone these days.
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While United is clearly at fault, I don't understand how the parents let the kid travel without a cellphone! You can get a prepaid phone for $20!
My parents always made sure I had a few quarters to use a pay phone if necessary. I also knew to call collect if it was an absolute emergency.
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@Leialou: @mrs. bird: I agree that is the part that annoys me. That she repeatedly asked for help but they ignored her. Then when the parents called they pretended like it was no big deal?
FYI, with Jetblue at least, you can call them and get a temporary gate pass to escort them to the gate. I was able to do that when my mom & nieces & nephews came to visit us last summer. I explained to them that my mom can't speak english and the kids were too young. So I just had to leave my id at the check in desk. Was able to walk with them to their gate. Then my brother did the same thing and picked them up at their arrival gate at JFK.
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I flew alone as a kid too. It's pretty common actually, it's kind of like the same thing as hiring a babysitter.
This story makes me bright red with rage. I hate the airlines enough already, I mean they treat us worse than prisoners, then of course they don't take ANY responsibility for this. They only finally apologized after the press started digging into it. My DH and I actually drive halfway across the country to see his family to avoid flying. I am sick and tired of paying over $1,000 for our plane tickets to see his parents then being treated like dirt - like we aren't paying customers or something. I've been on a flight where we landed and were stuck on the tarmac for over 2 hours and when passengers started asking why we weren't pulling into a gate the flight attendent (who was hiding in the cockpit with the captain) got on the mic and threatened to have us all arrested if we asked again! No explanation, no apology - just threatening to have us arrested.
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@MamaMoose: I flew out of Boston too, I'd go to my aunt in CA. I loved the warm chocolate chip cookies! They would play card games with me too. I thought it was so cool:D
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Yeah i think the parents share part of the blame, atleast give her a cellphone to call just in case.
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I might allow my child to fly unaccompanied if it were a direct connection, and I dropped them off and a family friend picked them up.
I don't think I'd do it if there was a connection, though.
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this is so scary! that poor girl. my sister is 11 and would have been TERRIFIED.
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Most airlines, you have to pay a fee for unaccompanied minors, and they will only let them fly on a direct flight. My sister came and stayed with us for a month this summer, and because she is 14, the only airline she could fly without paying for a flight attendant to be with her was jetblue. Every other airline you had to be 15, and you had to pay the fee for the airline to be responsible if you were underage.
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Personally, I wouldn't let my kid fly alone but I've seen kids fly alone and I wasn't phased by it. I am usually impressed that the kids are pretty well behaved.
I do think it's awful how United responded to situation. I think it was a customer service fail.
ETA: I didn't fly until I was in middle school so I never had this chance. Also most of my family was close, too. But now that I'm across the country from my parents and if I had kids and wanted them to see them but I couldn't go for one reason or another; I guess I would let them fly alone. I guess its better then not letting my kids see my parents. Also RT flight are $450 from where I live. That's a whole lot of money to spend if I didn't have it. I fly US air or Alaska so the flight attendants were always very nice to the kids that were flying alone.
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my brother and i flew to korea once by ourselves... middle school.
regardless, United's response is inexplicable!
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On a positive note, saw this article on that page...love this idea! I want to do this too!
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I would only let my kids fly alone if it was a direct flight. I flew from ATL to LA once and sat next to a little boy who was traveling alone. He was probably 5 or 6 years old. Poor thing was crying, but the flight attendants took really good care of him.
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@chopsuey119: ohmygod that is WAY too young!
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I used to fly by myself to summer camp with a connecting flight. I would probably let my kids do it too, if the circumstances warranted it.
I can't believe the airline handled this situation so badly, though!
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Just echoing what others have said: Flying these days just sucks all around. It used to be such a fun, special experience. DH didn't get on a plane until he was much older, and I always like to tell him about the good ole days pre-9/11 when traveling by plane was a fun experience. Will the airline industry ever recover from 9/11??
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@mrbee: agreed. A connection would be so stressful.
Also, that might be the one time I would allow my ten year old to have a cell phone. I would be wanting them to call or text with frequent updates!I don't blame the parents at all, it does make me mad at the airline. I wonder if they will see a decline in ticket sales because of this incident. I know I'm not buying from them!! (actually I've never flown with them)
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@tequiero21: that is super cute. the bathtub one made me laugh
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@Coco Bee: I agree even though they I didn't fly them previously I DEF won't now!
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