Conference moira::parenting

    My grandmother used to travel to my sisters from Logan to O'Hare before
    she entered a nursing home.  She was very forgettable at this point and
    we worried about her so we talked to the airlines.  My parents were
    allowed to go through the boarding gate and a special stewardess was
    assigned to her to make sure she had everything she needed.  When the
    flight was over, this stewardess would go out with her and wait until
    my sister showed up who was also allowed past the gate.
    
    I'm sure they would do the same for any children and might even have
    some special games to keep them interested while in flight. 
    
    Although I too would be worried, your really going to have to put your
    faith into the airlines on this one.
    
    cj
    

    We've been thru this twice so far, and here's what we learned thru
    experience...
    
    o Call the airline in advance and ask them what their gate procedures
    are for picking up unaccompanied children. You might be required to
    pick up some sort of 'boarding pass' at the ticket counter that will
    get you past security. Remember, the security personnel don't work
    directly for the airline, and they tend to follow their own rules,
    which says that no one gets past them without a boarding pass.
    
    o Bring a second person with you to the airport for the pickup. Have
    one person go to the assigned gate, but leave one person behind at the 
    baggage carousel or at the arrival monitors. It's not uncommon for a
    plane to be listed as arriving at gate "A", and then have it come in at
    gate "B". We learned this the hard way last year when picking up my
    12-yr-old niece. My wife went alone, waited at the assigned gate only
    to find out 15 minutes later that the gate had been changed. She found
    a very upset 12-yr-old crying her eyes out at the United security desk. 
    
    Good luck!

As a divorced parent whose ex has seemed to live all over the place :-(, I
have a lot of experience with sending my daughter alone by plane.  My experience
is with Boston Logan, btw.

Your 8-year-old should be listed as an "unaccompanied minor".  This is the
process as of a few years ago:

o A responsible adult (I'm inferring that it will be you) takes your son
to the ticket counter (leave time for this), hands over the ticket, and
identifies your son as an "unaccompanied minor" (UM). 
o  You will be given some paperwork to fill out; you may be able to do
this in advance, depending on the particular airline's policy.  The
paperwork includes:
    - age &full name of the child 
    -  your name, address and phone number
    - the full name of the adult meeting the child, plus address & phone number

o You should ask for a "gate pass" after filling out the paperwork.  You then
accompany your son to the gate, go up to the counter at the gate, and
hand over the paperwork.  You remain with your son until they pre-board him.

o Airlines used to recommend that you remain in the gate area until the
flight has taken off, just in case the flight gets scrubbed for some
reason.  I tended to bring a book and hang out for ~20 minutes after the
airline was pushed back from the gate.  The frazzled ground crew usually
couldn't tell me whether the flight had taken off or not, but I never had 
a problem.

o At the other (in your case, Mass.) end, the adult meeting the child goes
to the ticket counter of the airline and identifies him/herself as the person
meeting a UM, and requests a gate pass.

o the adult goes to the gate, and waits for the plane to arrive, checking
the gate listings frequently to ensure that there hasn't been a gate change.

o the UM's "de-plane" last, as they are accompanied by member of the flight
crew.  The adult meets the child, and identifies him/herself to the
flight crew member (usually, you have to produce a photo ID, btw).
Depending on the airline, the adult actually signs-off on the paperwork.

The airline has a legal responsibility for UM's, which every airline my
daughter has flown on takes very seriously.  If, for some reason, the
meeting adult has been delayed (I once was caught in a subway car for
more than half an hour), the child is accompanied to a lounge, but is
never left alone.  

Recommendations:  

o Adults on both ends should plan to allow for lots of time
at the airport before departure and arrival.
o Try to schedule flights that aren't in the "busy time" -- the flight 
attendents will be less distracted and will hopefully have more time to
attend to your son's needs.  Also the handoffs will be less chaotic.


o Try to relax :-)  Unless you plan for your son never to fly, you're going
to have to get used to this :-).  Also, UM status ends at about 11 (or 12) --
my hairiest experiences were when my daughter didn't have UM status, but didn't
have the maturity to handle being alone.

Good luck,

Bobbi Fox

    The advice in the last reply was great - my oldest son did this a
    couple of years ago and both he and his brother are flying United this
    summer to visit my sister.  My oldest is 11 now and he is still
    considered an unaccompanied minor.  The flight attendants usually spend
    alot of time with the kids - mine got to meet the pilot, etc.  We had
    to show (at both ends) a picture ID (which they REALLY checked out) and
    sign a form.
    
    Try to get a direct flight - the airline will, most likely, want this
    also.

    My daughter has flown alone at least 12 times. So the information in
    the last two notes is still correct. (She flew alone last week) 
    They also place a button on the childs shirt so that if for some reason
    they get separated from the attendant, anyone who works in the airport
    sees him/her alone, will attend to them quickly.  
    
    If you cannot get a direct flight, all the airlines charge an
    assistance fee ($35-Continental) so that an Attendant can escort them
    from one gate to the next.  This usually has to be paid at the counter
    of departure.  I tried paying it along with the ticket and they
    wouldn't let me.  Ask the airline for their policy.  
    
    My daughter likes flying alone, cause they seat her in front so the
    attendants can keep an eye on them. She says she gets more snacks,
    and stuff.
    
    Rose
    

    My son flew alone last summer complete with a connection in Nashville.
    We paid a small fee ($35.00) for each way to have him escorted.  I do
    not believe there is an age limit on the service.  He flew American,
    got the special attention, met the pilot and generally had a good time.
    He was put on the plane first before other passengers and was taken off
    last as there is an escort and a signing over process.  He did object
    to having to wear a "dog-tag" style pouch containing his ultimate
    destination.  Kind of a modern day Paddington ;-)  He has flown a couple 
    of international flights so he was accustomed to flying a long trip.  
    
    I had two older nieces fly out to visit alone and the process was similar. 
    I think all airlines have a "kids" lounge, where the kids can wait for 
    connections if they aren't flying direct.  When my nieces flew out they
    connected in Chicago and New York and had to wait between connections with 
    a flight attendant in the "lounge".
    
    One thing I did confirm with American is if a child in making a
    connection and one leg of the trip is delayed what is the process for
    your child to be supervised overnight.  American's response is to avoid 
    putting an unaccompanied child on the last "flight" of the day, so they 
    minimize the risk of having an unaccompanied child stranded between 
    flights.  However, if it does happen they have the child stay with the 
    flight crew to make the next connection.
    
    I also have the sender/reciever call from the airport to confirm
    everything went according to plan.
    
    Tracy

    My daughter, almost 13, has been flying along since age 5.  The
    airlines are wonderful!!!  She enjoys herself everytime.  She's flown
    with alot of different airlines and all were very good about
    "unaccompanied minors".  You are REQUIRED to be at the gate NOT baggage
    claim to drop off and pick up your child and they check identification
    of the person picking the child up.  PLEASE DON'T WORRY... your child
    will have a blast!!!  They get to go in the cockpit and they get
    freebies (buttons, cards, earphones for movies), and chances are they
    will meet other kids travelling alone!!  
    
    Hope this helped!!
    
    -Terri

    
    Thank you so much everybody for your input.  I feel much better
    about this now. 
    
    Pam

    
    re: -1
    
    Yikes!  Sounds petrifying.  I would have been ripped at my mother
    too!  It kind of brought something to mind that I went through last fall.
    
    My parents were traveling by car to Florida and I was their point
    on contact each night.  Unfortunately, they FORGOT to call me when
    they arrived and I kept trying to call them with no answer at their
    end.  Finally, I called the sherriff on Marco Island and had them
    send a car over to verify if they were there or not.  My parents
    were SOOOOO embarrassed and extremely sorry for the hell they put
    me though.  Turns out the reason they were not answering was the
    phone company was forwarding their calls to New Hampshire (an
    arrangement they made since my father has a business in Florida).
    
    Needless to say, on their return trip (less than 1 week before
    my due date) I refused to be their point of contact!
    
    Karen