Airline loses girl at Dulles Airport
Judy and Jeff Boyer, of Reston, faced a parent's worst nightmare last week.
Their 10-year-old daughter Jenna flew unaccompanied Aug. 17 to Washington Dulles International Airport from Boston, where news reports said she had been visiting her grandmother.
When her parents went to pick her up, they were told she was nowhere to be found.
"Only one parent is allowed to go to the gate with a security pass to pick up an unaccompanied minor," Judy Boyer said Aug. 21. "When I got there, they were closing the gate like everyone had been let off the plane -- and Jenna was not there."
Boyer said she asked the United flight's ground crew where her daughter was and received only blank stares in return.
"Two passengers from that flight, both mothers, told me they had seen a little girl get off the plane by herself and follow the crowd to the shuttle tram," Boyer said.
According to the United Airlines Web site, flight attendants are instructed to turn over any children traveling alone to a United representative at the child's destination. The representatives are responsible for accompanying children and seeing that they are released to the proper person at that airport.
"I was going ballistic," Boyer said. "The ground crew said, 'You might want to check the bathrooms,' and I was like, 'Me? My child was put under your responsibility, and I should check the bathrooms?' It was unbelievable."
Jenna was eventually located safe and sound in the baggage claim area after a benevolent man took her by the hand and led her to a United counter, where her mother could meet up with her.
"We have a well-established process for unaccompanied minors, and it wasn't followed," said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski. "We are so sorry and sincerely apologize to the family."
Boyer said, "The crew showed no concern. They were oblivious to the fact that they had lost a child, and I saw very little action in front of my eyes that they took any urgency to rectify the situation. It was pure luck that this man wasn't someone who wanted to take advantage of a helpless 10-year-old girl."
Boyer said she did not receive any follow-up phone calls about the incident after returning home Sunday night. She added that she wants some answers and wants to make sure this never happens to another parent.
"You know, when I think back now, I realize that if they can't keep track of a dog, I should have never trusted them with my daughter," she said, referring to another recent United incident.
Jeddah, a 4-year-old female pharaoh hound, was scheduled to board a July 10 United flight to Saudi Arabia from Dulles Airport with her owner, a U.S. soldier. Before the flight, the dog's kennel was found empty, dented and broken.
"We are still investigating that incident as well," Urbanski said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the dog is still believed to be loose somewhere in the Chantilly area, and the owner's wife is still searching for her, more than a month later.
"We haven't had a chance to talk to Mrs. Boyer about her daughter yet," Urbanski said Thursday. "But we want to take her and her family on a field trip to Dulles to walk through our process and see how it should work and see if they have any ideas on how to improve it."
|
|
Comments
This is a LAAAAME STORY. It should be retitle 'Girl lost at airline for 3 minutues" The girl went to the baggage claim to get her bags and mom goes ballistic. Mom must not have been paying too much attention when her girl got off the plane, so lighten up people..Nobody got lost, nobody was at fault. I've had things stolen at the airport and the security refuse to report it stolen saying I lost it! I even know who took it and they refused to check him..now that's soemthing that deserves going ballistic over
UNITED AIRLINES IS DYSFUNCTIONAL!
Haven't you noticed? This airline has
lost it. Whatever you expect of an
airline, forget it. Find another way
to get there. The majors are albatrosses;
Southwest, Jet Blue,Virgin Atlantic, AirAsia X,
these are the airlines of today. The majors
are wage and management heavy; they are
toppling.
The service being offered by the airline for unaccompanied minors is exactly what it is - a SERVICE. If the airline cannot keep to their end of the bargain, then, DON'T OFFER IT!!! My children have travelled unaccompanied several times on Sri Lankan Airlines and it was very comforting to see the staff take charge of them after check-in and staying with them until the designated person took charge of them on their arrival. Also, during the jouney, my children reported how well they were looked after and kept occupied with books and games etc.
So, the airline that undertakes to carry unaccompanies minors MUST TAKE THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY and not try to FOB OFF their failures on to the parents.
Thank the good Lord that a good Samaritan looked out for this child and took the responsibiity of accompanying her back to the counter. I for one dread to think of what could have to her otherwise.
Shame on you, United. You would do well to give ALL of your staff, both ground and cabin, a thorough training in unaccompanied minor care.
Hyacinth
Are you another one of those hillbillies that has never flown anywhere in your life ? Read my lips, the parents paid United Airlines extra fees for the unaccompanied minor in addition to the airfares. They
expect United to deliver in return - a very simple straight forward transaction.
United Airlines' responsibility is to wait
until the parents show up at the gate - as a rule, United have the parents contact numbers as well. Trust me, if United agents followed their procedures and guidelines - this wouldn't have happened in the first place - Capish !
Hi Cheryl,
If you ever consider flying to any South East Asian destinations - give Singapore Airlines a try. The only difference between their First, Business and Economy
are the seats - the service on board is the same regardless of whether you are in First , Business or Economy. I flew on Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles to
Singapore (17.5 hours) and was sitting in Economy - not only I was getting drinks on the house, I also had a menu with 3 selections of the main course. The service
on board is second to none - smiling flight attendants who always came around offering refreshments and snacks. Best of all, its not a "SIN" to press the button when you need assistance from the flight attendants. No wonder the airlines is being voted "Best Airlines
In The World" !
From my experience, airlines loses baggage! How much more children and teenagers!
The parent should have been at the gate when the plane arrived. Period. Then she was wondering why she should check the bathrooms?! It's your child! Look anywhere for your child you self centered stupid individual!!!
It's not united's fault at all its the STUPID parents!
I don't trust my baggage to get to its destination with the airlines; why would I think my child would?
My son (13) always flies alone to visit family all over the States during his holidays. I always make sure I am at the gate 30 minutes before his plane is due in. I always check the status of the flight on my phone and if the flight is early I always leave an hour before. If I am going to be late which has only happened once. I would text my son. In this case the parent failed to report to the gate on time and effectively trusted a third party to take care of his/her child. In my opinon this is unacceptable. United should not be blamed for this incident.
Just to add about the service of lack of it on US airlines. I once experienced First Class on American Airlines from Denver to Chicago- not a short distance by any means - and what were we served - pretzels. We were "spoiled" on the return journey Chicago to LAX and we actually served some sort of food - perhaps because it was a four hour flight. Can understand that sort of thing in Economy or on some huge discounted fare, but First Class?
Shame.
What a lot of misinformed people there must be out there. Thanks to the contributor who advised about the fee that United and ALL airlines charge for unaccompanied children to be cared for (you hope) by the airline employee. and as for the child travelling without a parent to visit Grandma what sort of insular lives to some of those people live? Having travelled regularly since I was a young child (and particularly in this huge island/continent that I call home) I can see nothing odd about a 10 year old flying from one major city to another so long as he or she is supervised by a responsible person whether that be a parent, a trusted family friend or an airline employee. Like Mr Yap I have watched them being feted by the attendants. The contributor who said the child should have stayed on the plane is a bit askew though - but she should have been kept at the arrival gate with an attendant until the parent arrived - even if they were unavoidable delayed for a short time. Just part of the paid "service".
This is an incredible story. Boo United! I absolutely cannot believe people are blaming the parents! I think you people are seriously defective and need to get the hell off my planet.
This is a service industry without service! If we ran our businesses like this we'd be out of business.It's not a matter of this family telling "Untied "Airline how to improve their policy. It's up to" Untied" to follow their own policy!!!!!
Good Luck fighting the big dog.
Wow some of the comments are amazing. The bottom line is the child was left to her own devices, and that is not acceptable. This entire bashing of the parents is crazy. It's a service many people use. I am not one of them. However that doesn't make the people who do bad parents. If I leave my child in the care of someone that is what they are suppose to do, take care of them.
The parents tardiness is not an issue it is the airline letting a 10 year old leave the gate with out the adult carrying the proper identification to pick her up that is.
This could've ended horribly and it would have in my opinion been entirely the airlines fault
Linda,
Read the story again...
Both parents were there but only 1 was allowed to go to the gate. When the parents got there, the little girl wasn't there anymore. I don't know how familiar you are to the process of unaccompanied minors, but they are usually the last ones out of the plane, and usually come out with an employee. If the parents got there, no matter how late it was, and the flight was still de-boarding, their kid should still be inside that plane... Unfortunatly, in this case, the parents are NOT AT ALL IN FAULT !!!!
Ms Jackson probably lives in a tiny little
Godforsaken Town out in the middle of nowhere and she probably doesn't even know what an
airport looks like.
Hope United will give her a complimentary
one way ticket and fly her somewhere one way and loose her as well.
I don't think the parents should be blamed - as passengers, have you heard any good news from our so called "Flag Carriers"
lately - the one that proudly display our
"Stars and Stripes" on the tails of their
planes ??? Flights delayed, luggage that never get to the destinations, passengers stranded inside the plane for hours before take off and now, loosing unaccompanied
minors ? Just to remind Ms Jackson, the parents entrusted their Children to the airlines (there is an extra fee for the service) and its the airline's responsibility to make sure that the child arrives safely at the destination and pick up by an authorized adult or parents upon arrival into the gate.Ms Jackson probably does not believe in Traffic Delay especially traffic around the airport terminals.
I was on Singapore Airlines from Taipei to Singapore and was observing how the
flight attendants took care of their young unaccompanied passengers on their flight. Not only they got their meals ahead of the other - the flight attendants always checked to make sure that they were comfortable throughout the journey. Maybe United should give their flight attendants extra training
regarding handling their passengers - minors or not !
United has always been a laughing stalk
among the Asian Carriers. They provide one of the worst on board service - you definitely get better service flying Economy on Singapore Airlines than flying First Class on United Airlines and that is a reality.
United charges a MANDATORY fee for unaccompanied minors of $99.00 each way.
United offers unaccompanied minor service for children from 5-17 years of age.
For the safety of minors traveling alone, unaccompanied minor service will ensure that your child is boarded onto the aircraft, introduced to the flight attendant, chaperoned during connections and turned over to the appropriate person upon arrival at their final destination.
The above is Uniteds policy on unaccompanied minors, NO excuse for what happened to this child. This is in NO WAY the parents fault, even they were late getting to the gate. They PAID for United to take care of their child and as usual got nothing for the $ or the effort, typical.
What? They asked the customer to run through their process and tell them how it should work? And give them ideas? How about consultation fee then? What did the management do? I suppose when they receive a complaint, they should reply / give a report to their customer?
I cannot believe some of the comments I see here, Have you ever paid a babysitter for your kids or left them in the care of others, Sure you have!! I am in the travel industry and see the neglect the airlines have for their own policies, Some don't even know what their own policies are. Trust me, I have been dealing with them for over 21 years. This is a paid service and the parents had every right to expect the child to be taken care of. Please get off your high horse and realize this or something similar could have happened to you. Where have the empathetic people in this country gone? So many have opinions, to bad they are not positive and solution oriented, just negative and mean spirited. God Bless the parents and the little girl!
We tend to be quick to cast blame. Let's start with ourselves. Lets talk about what we did wrong. (Parents)
Lets flip the coin, how about the parents of this 10yr old child pay the airlines restitution for their negligence. The airlines did their part, where were the parents when the plane landed? No excuse can justiify allowing this child to exit this plane and the parent(s)or someone not be there to accompany this child.
I feel bad for the child, not those awful godforsaken parents.
You probably live alone with only a cat that doesn't leave your house. It's amazing that ignorant people like you feel the need to judge others.
simply stated, the airlines are not qualifying their employees for their jobs, not paying them enough to really care about their job or the people they encounter everyday, just try and ask a desk agent a questions and see how rude they are to you!
God for bid one of you who are blaming the parents ever have this happen to you! are you perfect, do you think it can't happen, well guess again because one day it will and you will experience the pain, fear and anger these parents are dealing with. The airlines are not safe, the employees just don't care and it can happen to you!!! For the airlines - they should be fined and held accountable for losing animals & humans...this is cruelty and in most states punishable by law... why do the airlines get away with it?
A child of 10 years is too young to be traveling alone on a plane...shame on the parents. Airlines need to re-think their policy in this area....
My 12 year old was escorted thru Dulles this summer with UA and was treated like a king. I received phone calls from the staff when the flight was delayed an extra 3hrs, and he was fed watched and happy. I agree with another poster...why were they not there before the door even opened for disembarkation of the aircraft, and why did the child not have instructions to wait, and not leave the plan unescorted? If you make the decision to allow your child to make a trip like this, you prepare them, and make sure you and the party at the other end are responsible to do your part. The kids are flying UM, not babysat. No one wants to have a child lost or scared, but as with all things today, WE have to take precautions, prepare them, AND take resposibility for our part of the process. I am sure someone at UA messed up, but if prepared the child would have asked a flight attendant, and the mom would have see the child exit the plane. Let's not be so quick to want $$ compensation for every hick-up in life.
The same thing happened to me -- my two sons, aged 8 and 4, flew unaccompanied from Chicaago to new York. I got there early but the plane was very early. I found my sons calmly walking hand-in-hand down the terminal toward who knows where. The crew was supposed to not let them leave the gate until a parent showed up.
Scary!!
Make sure you talk to your kids so they know exactly what to do if they land and they don't see you right away.
Shirley Linde, Editor
www.SmallShipCruises.com
Shirley Linde
UNITED AIRLINESD & TSA...
SHAMED ON YOU BOTH!!!
You make such a big deal for an adult child to accompany an elderly parent to the gate OR for a parent to accompany their child to the gate, frisk us at security check points (including a 80-yr old woman who beeped b/c of a metal plate inserted during major knee reconstgructive surgery even after having identified herself and presented proper medical documentationto the fact...and then??? once "under your care" these horrific situations occur!!! Too often and UNACCEPTABLE!!
American air carriers are also now losing credibility in the world....please get your act together before any more serious damages occur!
A VERY concerned citizen and flier
When I read about the 10 yr old girl that was lost in Dulles, I could only wonder where was the mother when everyone alighted the flight?! If my 10 yr old daughter was flying alone, I'd make sure I'm at the gate at least a half hour before the plane arrives. Granted extenuating circumstances may not allow me to be at the gate. In that case, I would contact the airline and request special assistance. The airline personnel are not a babysitting service.
Granted, I would have flown to grandmother's city to fly back with my 10 yr old daughter.
It's amazing people can't take care of their own kids.
If Ms Boyer was so concerned over her daughter she would have never let a 10 yr fly alone in the first place. It's different if it is necessary. This was a leisure trip in which the parents were just too lazy to go and had enough money to pay to ship their kids around the states and expect other people to watch out for them, while they went about their own lives. Guaranteed they will try and get something out of this monetarily. If they don't they will hire a lawyer I'm sure to guaranteed they make something off this. I'd like to see them watch their own kids, as inconvenient as that might be, or tell the child she can't travel like an adult when she's only 10.
I presume that this family paid an extra fee for their unaccompanied daughter. Usually airlines charge something extra for supposedly monitoring children traveling alone. Was this fee refunded?
Post new comment