First teachers. Now the airlines.

[wivabef]

It seems cross-country parenting is being done by automatic pilot.

Now after people get divorced and then "get on with their lives" -- which requires taking children away from the other parent, they ship their kids back and forth at the mercy of the airline industry.
And then when the airline people -- who are not babysitters by the way -- screw up (as they admittedly so often do) let's blame them instead of looking inward.

Two "duh" tips for parents:

Don't put your children unaccompanied on a flight with connections. ANYTHING can happen. Flights are delayed. Connecting flights can get canceled. Bad weather can put your children hundreds of miles away from their original destination.

And because of the last sentence in the previous graph, don't let your children fly unaccompanied at all. As an airline pilot's daughter who spent a few times as a teenager sleeping in an airport because flights in Europe were canceled or strikes occur, it was scary -- and I was a seasoned traveler. Even then, my father had set me up with phone numbers of pilots and attendents in every city I visited.

Imagine and 8 and 11 year old grounded in a strange airport unexpectedly because of thunderstorms.

I understand divorce is tough -- and that new families mean moving to new places. So why should kids put their lives on hold and their fears out in the open when the other parent could get on a plane on their own and visit -- staying at a hotel or what have you?

America West is wise to no longer allow unaccompanied children on flights with connections. Perhaps we need to ask parents this question:

Would you send your purse or wallet all alone on a plane to arrive safely because of the service of some stranger?

Then why would you do it to your children?

[jnbmoore]

Let me see if I've got this right Elizabeth

You are saying. They are ones children. If one made the choice of getting divorced, it's one's responsibilty to get them from Point A to point B safely. One should take the extra trip to safeguard their priceless off springs.

Novel concept. No arguements from me......

Would you send your purse or wallet all alone on a plane to arrive safely because of the service of some stranger?

Then why would you do it to your children?

It's more convient for me??

Wonder if any background checks are made on folks who escourt kids around in a (probably) not much more than minimum wage job?


Bridgette
yes there are spelling errors but I'm on pain pills, it's hotter than Hades in my room and I'm up past my bed time. Want to argue with me

[nicholmere]

Hey, sounds like me! Except for the getting lost part. From about nine or ten years of age I regularly made the flight from Ontario to British Columbia.

I never ran into problems with delays or missed flights, but I don't think it would have caused me much grief if it had happened. I was always thrilled to take the flights, and probably would have seen any delays as just more chances to get more candy.

Our financial situation was such that one parent travelling to get me from the other was just not an option; getting the money for my trip was difficult enough. If I hadn't flown alone then it probably would have meant that I wouldn't have been able to see all members of my family very often.

[cristina1]

When I flew from Seattle to NY with my son, it was impossible to get a non-stop flight to Albany airport. I made sure that the first leg of my flight went straight to Newark, NJ where at least if we got stranded due to weather, I have relatives nearby that I can call. I wouldnt be comfortable sitting in an airport all night, and I am a grown woman. I cant understand how people can take the chance with their children.

My in-laws keep telling me to send my oldest on a plane to visit them in Oklahoma. The answer is a flat out no, and it will still be a flat out no 10 years from now. If they want to see the kids, they can shake their little booties up to NY or wait for us to visit them. I am not sending my kids travelling around the country alone. And I certainly would never trust an airline attendent to make sure they go where they should.

I know a divorced man that lives in Seattle. His ex lives in Georgia with their 8 year old daughter. This man wanted his daughter to visit him for the summer, got a plane ticket, flew to Georgia, picked her up and brought her home. That is what needs to be done in these situations.

[poseidon]

I've got to agree here. As flying gets worse and worse via a customer service perspective, I can't imagine torturing a child by sending him or her on a flight alone. While many kids are pretty bright, unless they've got experience travelling and actually explaining themselves clearly (and many bright children cannot), dealing with delays, changing planes, etc. can be a very harrowing experience. Top that off with finding luggage when adults act like @$$holes trying to get their luggage off the cart first and shoving everyone else out of the way, and you've got a disaster waiting to happen.

Then, of course, let's not forget the sickos out there who would just love to take advantage of a child travelling solo...

If parents want to get divorced and move cross-country, I guess that's their business. But when it comes time to send your kids cross-country, they should be making sacrifices to ensure their kids' safety above all else.

Jeff

[poseidon]

Would you send your purse or wallet all alone on a plane to arrive safely because of the service of some stranger?

I'd have no problem sending your purse and wallet all alone on a plane.

[jenninca]

Just out of curiousity, what does this have to do with teachers? (Thread title)

[frazzledspice]

My sons flew alone (with each other) at about 14 and 11. They had friends who flew to visit them alone at similar ages.

We were never divorced but lived away from extended family.

I think that much depends on the maturity of the children and how frequently they fly. It also depends on how assertive they are.

My daughter's friend flew alone from St. Louis to Seattle several times when her dad was on a long time assignment there. She is the oldest of four children, and, at 10, she was so assertive that no flight attendants would be able to ignore her.

It probably also depends on what they fly with. A cell phone, as long as the child new it had to be off on the plane, would be a great help and comfort to a child, and parents could use it to check in with the child and ease their own minds also.

Slipping a flight attendant a tip might not hurt if you want extra service. It's much cheaper than paying three round trip airfares for one person to take a trip.

What you are all suggesting would have a similar effect to the proposed law (never passed) that carseats would be required for young children on airplanes, and that even children under two would need their own tickets.

It wasn't passed because legislators realized that it would force more families to travel long distances by car, which is less safe than air travel.

Requiring children to be chaperoned on airplane trips would probably drive parents to sending them unaccompanied on Greyhound or Amtrak. Would that be safer?

Or it would prevent them from seeing their kids at all. Would that help cement relationships?

[erik_kosberg]

Can I tip the pilot and ask that the plane not be crashed?

Slipping a flight attendant a tip might not hurt if you want extra service.

[poseidon]

Requiring children to be chaperoned on airplane trips would probably drive parents to sending them unaccompanied on Greyhound or Amtrak. Would that be safer?

Or it would prevent them from seeing their kids at all. Would that help cement relationships?

I think you're jumping from Point A to Point C when Point B doesn't even lead to Point C...

I don't think that anyone has suggested (I may have overlooked something in this thread) that there should be legistlation forcing parents not to send their kids unchaperoned on an airplane, bus or taxi. From what I'm gathering from the conversation, this is a question of what would a "good" parent do.

The best situation would be to either not get a divorce to begin wtih, although that's not always possible.

The second best solution would be for the parents to not move to a different part of the country and thus force the children into this sitaution. Perhaps it would be easier and better for the children to simply have both parents remain within reasonable driving distance so that the children can see both parents whenever they want.

Then again, that's just my pipe dream, so what's it really matter?

[wivabef]

Originally posted by jenninca
Just out of curiousity, what does this have to do with teachers? (Thread title)

Teachers are usually the ones to be blamed for stressed children as opposed to the parents taking the blame for creating an environment that is stressful to their children.

Now airlines get blamed for bad baggage, er, I mean, kiddie handling.

[frazzledspice]

It wouldn't take a law to prohibit children from flying unchaperoned, just an airline regulation.

And believe me, I don't think that very young children should fly unaccompanied. But I do think there is a category of children--perhaps fourth grade and up--who should be allowed to fly if supervision is adequate.

My parents flew many times when they were elderly. My Mom died at 83 and my Dad is 84. Neither was disabled, but they often couldn't walk quickly enough to make connections. They had wheelchairs meet them at the gates, and they always arrived on time. When I was recovering from a broken leg, I had a wheelchair meet me for the same reason, although I hobbled into the plane once I reached the gate.

How much trouble can it be for an airline for a flight attendant to put the child in an aisle seat and give him a little extra attention during the flight, walk him to the gate, and make sure there is some sort of supervised transport for him to get to the other gate, where he is deposited on the plane and perhaps allowed to board early? They do it for seniors, why not kids?

My youngest child had flown about six times before she was six months old (we were in the process of moving) and has flown several times a year ever since.

Now that she is twelve, I think she could probably fly alone with a little help, although I would not want her to be completely unsupervised simply because I think pretty young preteen girls are at a particularly vulnerable stage of life.

[jenninca]

When we were 14 and 11, my parents let my brother and I fly from Ohio to Iowa to visit my grandmother by ourselves. We did have one connection to make, but plenty of time to make it in. They didn't inform the flight attendant that we were flying alone or anything. We were both pretty responsible kids and had been well-versed in "what to do if...." I don't think I would want anyone younger than we were traveling alone, but I guess that's not always possible.

Cindy

[wivabef]

Originally posted by frazzledspice
.

How much trouble can it be for an airline for a flight attendant to put the child in an aisle seat and give him a little extra attention during the flight, walk him to the gate, and make sure there is some sort of supervised transport for him to get to the other gate, where he is deposited on the plane and perhaps allowed to board early? They do it for seniors, why not kids?

Again, they DO do this for kids -- and then some. In the quoted article after making their mistakes -- and mistakes happen as horrifying as they are -- America West went to great lengths to make it right.

Unaccompanied children are usually seated in bulkhead seats near the attendants. They are usually pampered. In the air, they are safer than they are anywhere. But connecting flights are stressful and unfamiliar people are handling somebody else's children. Flights are delayed or cancelled, things get hectic and the people watching after the children are also watching after other people.

My point is there are too many unknowns in air travel. Parents -- not lawmakers or airlines -- should put their kids first. They should not force their ten and under kids into a situation that can be horribly stressful for adults. When something goes wrong, in my opinion, it is the parent who is at fault for trusting an industry that frequently loses luggage with the well being of their child.