When I was a kid and my dad worked for Pan Am (in the 70s and 80s) I used to fly alone many, many times, from the age of about ten on, most often from boarding school in England to New York, but after that The DRC Congo to England.

I would imagine a whole lot has changed.

Question: my son is half Japanese. He's been semi-kidnapped by my ex-wife and lives with her in Japan. By semi-kidnapped I mean she refuses to help me renew his Canadian passport and I have no idea if his Japanese passport is still valid.

Still, I'm lucky compared to some left-behind dads -- I know where he is, I video chat with him almost every week (he will be 12 in August) and I'm going to visit him in Nara, Japan, in July for two weeks.

My flights are a dream come true: before 9/11 it seemed there were quite a few carriers who flew direct from N. America to Osaka, the nearest airport to Nara, but now only United, maybe Delta and then the Asian airlines do. Air Canada is only feasible if I go through Narita, which I loathe.

But the time has come for perhaps my son to come to ME. This time around I managed to find a flight with Delta from YUL to JFK, and then -- the miracle -- China Airlines direct to Osaka! No further stops in the US, no Narita! I can't believe my luck.

So I was thinking that in 2014, I could have my son (he'll still be 12) could fly as an unaccompanied minor from Osaka-Kansai to JFK, I could meet him there and then come back to Montreal.

But what is the state of unaccompanied minor travel these days? I'd imagine most airlines do the same thing, so please if you know anything about China Airlines (not Air China) let me know.

But I'm assuming that I pay an extra fee -- I'd seen it at around $100 last time I looked -- and he gets to fly unaccompanied on a direct (non-stop) flight, one leg only.

Now for the hard part -- my ex is ultra paranoid about letting him fly by himself, even though we've been flying back and forth to Japan almost every year since he was born, and he knows the ropes very well -- so I have to persuade her that everything will be fine.

Do they let the parent come with the child to the boarding gate? If not, who brings him there? Do they help with his passport/immigration? Do they just leave him at the gate, or do they take him on board and seat him?

At the other end, how does it work? I'm assuming he'd have to change terminals, but I've never done this in JFK. He would have to get to a place -- or I would -- where we could meet, so I could take him from there. Who would take him off the plane? Would they take him through customs? Would they bring him to me, or would they explain to me where to go?

Questions, questions . . . has anyone ever done something like this? All I'm afraid of is the airline staff getting screwed up and somehow not connecting with him at JFK.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!