One of the signs of aviation chaos in the world: Airlines are "losing" children

Due to the heavy congestion at airports around the world, many complain about lost luggage.

But what do you do when the airline "loses" your child?

This is what happened to a 12-year-old in the United States and a 13-year-old in New Zealand

Walla!

Tourism

07/07/2022

Thursday, 07 July 2022, 08:27 Updated: 08:48

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Passenger lost her son on an American Airlines flight (Photo: Tiktok)

The aviation frenzy in the world is giving its signals not only regarding the loss of thousands of luggage - and recently airlines have also begun to "lose" children who had to fly alone in the service of airlines, called "unaccompanied minors' flight", for passengers up to 18 flying without a parent or guardian.

American Airlines has apparently "lost" a 12-year-old girl at Miami International Airport after the flight attendants parted ways with her leaving the plane without a parent or guardian.

The girl's mother described the airline's treatment of her daughter as "complete abandonment" and "complete failure".

The American media reported that the incident took place last Saturday, after Monica Gilliam dropped off her 12-year-old daughter at Chattanooga Airport in Tennessee to board a flight to Miami, where she was scheduled to meet her father.

Monica did not fly with her daughter but used American Airlines' unaccompanied minors flight service.

This service includes accompaniment by air or ground crew personnel, who accompany the child to and from the aircraft.

Upon arrival at the destination, the company staff members meet him and verify the identity of the person meeting him, to make sure that the child has indeed been delivered to the right person.

To make sure everything is going well, the child must wear a necklace with a prominent identification tag.

The badge shows the child's details, flight details and information about relatives.

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A queue of 1.5 km passengers at the airport

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Children who are forced to fly alone are forgotten due to the rush at the airport (photo illustration) (Photo: ShutterStock)

The flight attendants simply said "bye" to her

On this flight, however, Gilliam said the flight attendants simply said goodbye to her daughter as she got off the plane, unaccompanied, straight to Miami Airport.

"Almost an hour after her flight landed, I got a call from American Airlines ... it was an American Airlines manager in Miami and he told me 'your girl is missing, we closed the terminal, we do not know where she is,'" Gilliam said in a TikTok video she uploaded to the network.

"Apparently the flight attendants waved her goodbye from the plane and said 'bye'. She said she did not know what to do so she kept going because they told her 'bye'."

"And so, she walked around the airport with the big sign on her, unaccompanied, in one of the busiest traffic hubs in the country," Gilliam said, adding that the girl's father was finally able to find her, but on the way out no American Airlines employee stopped her to check If she has an adult escort.

"None of the Miami airport staff stopped her.

In response, American Airlines claims to take the allegations "very seriously" and turned to Gilliam to find out more about the case.

An airline spokesman told the media that "American Airlines is very concerned about its young passengers and is committed to providing them with a safe and pleasant travel experience."

A 13-year-old passenger in New Zealand also had a difficult night at the airport (photo illustration) (Photo: ShutterStock)

13-year-old in New Zealand: A nightmare night

This case is joined by another case, which took place at the Australian airline Qantas and was published today (Wednesday) on the Newstalkzb website.

This is a lone 13-year-old passenger who was on a flight from Sydney, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand.

Due to severe weather conditions at the destination, the flight was delayed late at night and landed at Christchurch Airport in New Zealand.

One of the passengers, Jan Tate, said that due to the deviation from the original route, she thought that the passengers would receive assistance from the airline at the destination, such as accommodation options and the like, but this did not happen.

Tate, who was traveling alone, connected with several passengers, including the young passenger who was unaccompanied.

"We were all in shock. If we were his parents, we would be insanely worried," she said.

"We knew he was fine, and he knew he was fine, but he was hungry."

She said no representative from the airline was there to help.

Later, the boy's mother brought up a post in which she said that he had a difficult night at the airport.

"He was really poor. I was very worried. He did not sleep at all. Thank God he found a group of people who took him under their wing," she wrote.

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