Originally Posted by
bevoinva
Actually this "new" policy is the same policy that was in effect at US prior to the merger. US had required UM service for 5-14 year olds until January I believe when they aligned their UM policy with AA. Now it looks like they are going back to the old US policy and aligning AA with that.
I believe that this is also a reversion to the previous policy at AA. IIRC, AA's age was 14 and younger until a few years ago, when AA lowered it to 12.
I believe that WN has also moved its age back and forth in the past several years.
Originally Posted by
arlflyer
This seems more like a strategic move to me. If AA wants to brand itself as a business airline, then deterring UMs would probably appeal to its target audience.
I disagree. Many unaccompanied minors are kids heading to/from expensive camps and schools and kids of divorced parents who shuttle back and forth for visitation, and both of those groups tend to be higher-income and, IMO, the parents are more likely to be business travelers.