on the internet – they have to be
made by phoning the airline or travel
agent directly, and there is additional
paperwork to be
completed.
One of the most
crucial elements when
sending children
alone is to plan
who will pick
them up at the
other end well in
advance – the
airline has to
be notified of
the designated
person, and
any deviation
from this
plan can cause problems. Amanda
explains, “We were super-picky about
who picked the child up. The person
had to have photo ID. If it wasn’t
the person on our details, we could
not hand the child over. Nine times
out of ten, it was just that Mum was
parking the car and Aunty ran in to
pick up the child, but there were a few
situations where there was a custody
battle going on and the other parent
would turn up and try to pick up the
child.”
Fasten your seatbelts
With all the preparation and
paperwork completed, the flight over,
and the child safely delivered to the
designated person on arrival, sending
a child as an unaccompanied minor
can seem a time- and cost-efficient
option. But however efficient, it
can never be a completely seamless
babysitting service, and it will not be
suitable for all children. The child
will have to deal with different airline
staff in the departure lounge, on the
flight and on arrival, and while in the
air, staff will not have time to sit and
hold a child’s hand throughout the
whole experience. Regardless of their
age, some children will take this in
their stride, while others will find it
unsettling – parents will be the best
judge of how their child will cope.
Additionally, children who might need
medication during the flight will not
be allowed to fly solo, unless they can
take responsibility for their medication
themselves, and some airlines refuse to
accept children with severe allergies,
such as a peanut allergy, in case the
child has a reaction that requires
medication.
And despite the stringent checks
and double-checks made at each
stage of the journey, unaccompanied
minors have occasionally gone astray.
In one high-profile case in the States,
a ten-year-old girl was left stranded
at Chicago’s airport where she was
supposed to be taking a connecting
flight, as the airline had outsourced
the escorting of their unaccompanied
minors to an outside company, who
had failed to turn up. In another
case, two children ended up in the
wrong destination as both of their
flights left from the same gate and
staff got the children mixed up.
Even more alarmingly, there have
been occasional reports of predatory
paedophiles switching seats to sit next
to unaccompanied minors. Some
airlines have a policy of not seating
unaccompanied children next to men,
although after various complaints
and court cases on the grounds of
sex discrimination, some airlines are
either reviewing or abandoning this
policy.
Smooth landing
But despite the occasional horror
story, for the vast majority of the
hundreds of thousands of children who
January 2014
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