Would You Let Your 6 Year Old Fly Alone? This Child Was Put On Wrong Plane!

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

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Location
New Jersey
When I saw this story on the news I couldn't believe it. No way in h*ll I would let my 6 year old child take a flight alone. I'd be hesitant to let my preteen or early teen do it. Yes, there are protocols in place for tending to a minor who is traveling alone, but I wouldn't have trusted that. This child, who boarded in Philadelphia PA, wound up in Orlando FLA, 160 miles from where he was supposed to be. I know his grandmother, who he was sent to visit, was frantic and he must've been frightened too. Good thing she had proof he was supposed to be on that flight otherwise she would have gotten the run around. Somehow, however, his luggage made it to the right airport...Fort Myers.

Now the parents are looking to sue. IMO, they bear some blame. If at least one parent wasn't able to accompany their son, they should have kept him home and made a Facetime or Zoom call, or something. This is not the first time a child has wound up in the wrong place.
"Unaccompanied minors have traveled on incorrect flights in the past. In 2019, a boy was put on a United Airlines flight to Germany when he was supposed to be headed to Sweden. In 2009, two different unaccompanied girls — ages 8 and 10 — were placed on wrong Continental Express flights. The airline blamed "miscommunication among staff."
Unaccompanied 6-year-old boy put on wrong Spirit Airlines flight: "Incorrectly boarded"
 

I would certainly not do it today but I have done it. My eldest who is now 49 went to visit my parents 2x in the UK from Toronto on his own, we are talking around 1980. One plane, no stops , I placed him in the care of the air hostess and she in turn took him to my parents waiting at Gatwick. But that was then and this is now, I would never contemplate putting a child or a pet unaccompanied on a plane.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
When I saw this story on the news I couldn't believe it. No way in h*ll I would let my 6 year old child take a flight alone. I'd be hesitant to let my preteen or early teen do it. Yes, there are protocols in place for tending to a minor who is traveling alone, but I wouldn't have trusted that. This child, who boarded in Philadelphia PA, wound up in Orlando FLA, 160 miles from where he was supposed to be. I know his grandmother, who he was sent to visit, was frantic and he must've been frightened too. Good thing she had proof he was supposed to be on that flight otherwise she would have gotten the run around. Somehow, however, his luggage made it to the right airport...Fort Myers.

Now the parents are looking to sue. IMO, they bear some blame. If at least one parent wasn't able to accompany their son, they should have kept him home and made a Facetime or Zoom call, or something. This is not the first time a child has wound up in the wrong place.
"Unaccompanied minors have traveled on incorrect flights in the past. In 2019, a boy was put on a United Airlines flight to Germany when he was supposed to be headed to Sweden. In 2009, two different unaccompanied girls — ages 8 and 10 — were placed on wrong Continental Express flights. The airline blamed "miscommunication among staff."
Unaccompanied 6-year-old boy put on wrong Spirit Airlines flight: "Incorrectly boarded"
Click to expand...
I would never let my child fly alone at that age.
 
I wouldn’t have allowed that either. I let my oldest son fly at the age of 12 in 1985 on a nonstop flight to his grandparents. On the way home his flight was cancelled and my FIL let the airline rebook him on a flight where he had to change planes at an airport by himself.

Obviously it wasn’t a nonstop and I didn’t find out until he was already in the air. I was furious and upset the entire day until he got off the plane at ohare. That was the first and last time any of my kids flew alone.
 
No, I would not. I used to fly alone to visit my grandparents when I was 14, but that was in the early 70's. It was a very different time. My parents could go right to the gate and see me off. I was also a pretty mature 14 year-old.

I can't imagine letting a 6 year-old child fly alone. Shame on these parents.
 
I absolutely would not let my child fly alone, that would never happen. I don't care what protocols are allegedly in place for attending to an unaccompanied minor child. There's too much that could go wrong and too many predators out there for my comfort to allow it under any circumstances.
 
I was a pretty free-range parent. My daughter was definitely a free-range kid. She took two flights on her own when she was five. Short flights; I'd hand her over at the plane door to an attendant and my mother would be waiting at the other end at the end of the jetway.

But then, I have a picture of her sitting in the pilot's seat of a 747 when she was four months old. She was also working for the airlines when she was 16. I guess some of it rubbed off.

We were at the airport putting her on her second 5-year-old unaccompanied flight when an elderly couple near us started to fuss. The husband had decided he really didn't want to get on the plane and the wife was fussing at him. My daughter, unprompted, walked over to them and said, "I fly by myself alla time, so I know all about it. I'll sit with you and hold your hand. You won't be scared, I promise." And just like that, off they go hand-in-hand onto the plane.

As I said, she was a free-range kid. That was back in the mid-70's, though. I'm not sure I'd do it now.

My step-niece used to fly between Egypt and the U.S. by herself starting when she was nine. Another free-range kid.
 
Many years ago, in the 1970s, I drove my brother's youngest,
brother-in-law, who was 7 or 9 years old, to Heathrow Airport
and handed him over to an "Auntie", a service run by British
Airways, he was flying to the Middle East, where his parents
were, his father was an oilman.

The "Auntie", was travelling with him and would keep him with
her until she met his parents, there was a lot of paperwork and
photographs of the parents, everything went smoothly and he
was delivered safely to his mother.

I don't know if that service is still available.

Mike.
 
hollydolly said:
I think it's illegal for any child under 14 to fly alone in the UK...
Click to expand...

It's 12 years of age and up, although it's not a law, so airlines can set an age limit that applies to only that carrier. In the US, amazingly, this isn't against the law either. In the US the youngest to travel alone (which essentially means a member of staff looks after them) is 5 years of age.

Would I allow a 6 year old to fly alone - or even a much older child such as a 12 year old - no, no I wouldn't. I'm not so much worried about nefarious passengers, I just think there's too much risk and responsibility involved. We've likely all flown, so know how flights/journeys can get complicated by unforeseen circumstances.

I'm trying to think of any extreme circumstances where I'd be okay with it, such as in the instance of refugee's. But on a commercial flight for fun - nah.
 
I flew alone in my teens. I didn't know it was a big deal. The stewardesses were always very sweet and helpful. When my mom was 6 she traveled to NY from MA by train alone which sounds pretty scary to me. Maybe we were all tougher in those days? IDK. :unsure:
 
From Easy Jet the UK's budget airline...

Child​


2 - 15 years old
Children between these ages cannot travel unless they are accompanied by an adult who is 16 years or older. Unaccompanied children aged 15 and under are not permitted to travel alone and will not be permitted to board the plane as easyJet does not provide an escort service or special requirements for unaccompanied children.
https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/flying-with-children
 
My niece started flying annually from NJ to Los Angeles unaccompanied since she was 14. No drama. An airline employee would hand her over to me after I showed ID and signed for her. When taking her to the airport for the return flight I was given a special no-fly ticket allowing me to go through TSA and stay at the gate with her. When the plane was fully loaded, she would board. I needed to stay at the gate until the plane pushed back, but always waited until I knew it was in the air.

6 years old is pretty young to fly solo, but my bigger question is, Spirit Airways??? Lowest of the low budget? Bare bones from start to finish. Trusting luggage to that airline would require a leap of faith. A child? No way, Jose.

My niece always took United. They were very professional with her from start to finish.
 
Mike said:
Many years ago, in the 1970s, I drove my brother's youngest,
brother-in-law, who was 7 or 9 years old, to Heathrow Airport
and handed him over to an "Auntie", a service run by British
Airways, he was flying to the Middle East, where his parents
were, his father was an oilman.

The "Auntie", was travelling with him and would keep him with
her until she met his parents, there was a lot of paperwork and
photographs of the parents, everything went smoothly and he
was delivered safely to his mother.

I don't know if that service is still available.

Mike.
Click to expand...
That service is available in the US. They're called Companions and Carers, depending on the airline.

I think the cut-off age is 12.
 
It depends on the 6 year old kid. If the kid is comfortable flying alone and is behaved enough to sit in a seat for a few hours, why not? There are 100+ closed by adults to take care of the kid. If the kid is put on the plane by his family and a family member is at the door when the plane lands, it's kind of hard to go missing. Again, it depends on the kid. I had to accompany my 86 year old mother, who was threatened being arrested by the TSA.
 
jujube said:
I'd hand her over at the plane door to an attendant
Click to expand...
This sounds like a good way to avoid a child being on the wrong plane, at least as long as it is a non-stop flight that doesn't require changing planes.

I sent my daughter alone on flights a few times, tho she was maybe 10 or 11, it seemed okay except one flight she said she was uncomfortable because she was sitting next to a man who smelled of alcohol.
 
so many questions so few answers .....
if an employee boarded the child did they NOT scan the boarding pass?
did flight possibly change gate? many a passenger do not read or listen to gate changes saw several and when they attempted to board their boarding pass were rejected and then they looked to see they were at wrong place....

In the article said a plane was diverted in another instance when a Dog was put on wrong plane........ but kid is ok to just go anyway?

I am not a fan of sue happy culture.......... especially when this family should have thought of all the down falls and what if.......... but my guess is low price ticket and took the chance all is good....yes i think the airline should certainly review where the ball was dropped ..........and make a policy change to protect children whose parents chose to take this chance...... no policy is fail safe.
 

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