ladiflier

I'm a parent of two boys and I certainly can't imagine 1) putting my kids in that situation with connections and no escort 2) blaming Delta. It is clearly the Travel Agents fault for misguiding the parents, and the parents fault for frankly not using their heads. Good thing it sounds like their son is more intellegent then they are.

I fly all the time and as educated as I am about travel, I would never consider such connections for sending UM. Heck, I wouldn't have scheduled myself for those connections and I'm an adult! It's more than the $75 this guy was trying to save. Why not book an airline with more direct routes? Sounds like they were just going on the cheap to start with and this was the result.

I too am tired of what turns into litigation and lawsuits because everyone wants to deflect the blame from themselves. The parents are holding the ball on this one and should fire their TA.

swilshire

I haven't read all the responses, but a lot of 15yos look much older. This would have been easy for the Delta employee that was trying to take care of all those passengers to miss during all the confusion. It sounds like Delta made an effort at least to do the right thing.

Sheila

sushibear

From USA today:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...d_N.htm?csp=34

Recreation

100% blame with the parents. They are divorced and living in cities a few thousand miles apart. It is their responsibility to communicate with each other about the transportation of these children. If my children were flying unaccompanied, I would have paid for the escort service. I would have also had their flight numbers so that I could check their progress. I would have been in frequent cell phone contact with my child once he called to report that he'd be delayed.

Both parents sound like idiots. Their son, however, sounds mature and responsible. Good for him. Now the parents should quit pointing fingers and learn to communicate -- with the airlines, with their children, and with each other.

Oh, and FYI the minimum age for a child to hold a credit card is 15. My daughter is 15 and she has an AMEX in her name.

BackOfTheBus

Are you people for real? Blame DL, blame the travel agent, blame the parents, blame the hotel, blame the government? Kids "traumatized" by overnight in SLC? Gimme a break!

When I was 15 y.o. I remember spending several nights alone on forced overnights inside the FRA airport. B/c of connections from the home country to the US and Germany's refusal to let me in, a layover of 18-20 hours was required. Back then even my parents did not have credit cards, and mind you, even though I was in the "secure zone", it was secure the other way around, keeping "dark subjects" out of Germany, essentially!

So here we go with a 15 year-old who lives in Fairbanks, AK (Have any of you people been up there in the winter? Do you know how difficult and dangerous driving can be up there? Do you know how toughened up most locals are to these little perils of life???) ends up in, oh my God, Salt Lake City, Utah! Well, if a kid should ever get lost (in a Radisson hotel room!), wouldn't you kind of prefer SLC over EWR or PHL?

So we have a 15 y.o. with a cell phone, credit card, living in FAI, who can order pizza at 1:30am with his little sister "stranded" in a nice Radisson hotel room in SLC... my God, would they have survived without the ensuing search and rescue party???

Recreation

There doesn't have to be trauma in order to assign blame for an issue that arises. Allowing minor children to fall through the cracks is a big deal because of the potential for tragedy. And all parties, most especially the travel agent and the parents, should use this scenario as a learning opportunity.

Note that it is the family of the children who turned this situation into a big deal and pointed the finger at Delta. I am defending Delta, not because I have a pony in this race, but because it seems patently unfair to board your kids on a plane, lie about their ages, and somehow expect the personnel of that aircraft to know that your children are minors and should be taken care of.

BFG

[QUOTE=LowlyDLsilver;8068823]

Does anyone have empirical evidence of this being enforced?? Would DL indeed refuse to book a (known) UM on the last flight out ...QUOTE]

Yes, as an employee I can confirm that we would not only refuse to book them but if they get booked via the web and show up to check in we will deny them boarding and rebook them for the next day.

Corptraveller

My son, 14, was recently booked to travel from Cincinnati to Fairbanks, Alaska on a Delta ticket. He made it from Cincinnati to Memphis and then to Seattle and then was denied boarding on Alaska Air to Fairbanks (even though that is what the ticket said and it was confirmed by Delta that he was on a legally correct routing). Alaska said that he was on the last flight of the day and Delta should not have ticketed him that way. He spent the night at Seattle airport sleeping in the lounge and then was sent to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks the next morning. He landed up in Fairbanks 23 and a half hrs after leaving Cincy !

My wife and I spent most of the night talking to him and worrying about him since he was with unknown folks for the night and was really embarassed about being put into an awkward situation for no fault of his. What are Delta's obligations for compensation ? They denied him boarding even though they had seats on the plane and we had someone at the other end waiting for him ?

zsmith2

OK....CVG-MEM-SEA????? What part was Delta metal...who checked him in? Seems like a lot of holes in the story.
Plus DL:"To provide consistent and improved service to our customers, Delta will discontinue the acceptance of unaccompanied minor (UNMR) passengers on flights that are not operated by Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection or Delta’s Joint Venture partner, AirFrance. This includes all other interline, codeshare and SkyTeam partners effective March 1, 2008."

CarolDisney1

It sounds like Alaska Air is actually who denied him boarding? Not sure what to tell you! Glad he did get there safely.

Did you pay the unaccompanied minor fee? If so, I would certainly be complaining that for your "unaccompanied minor fee" he should NOT have been left alone in an airport. I am pretty sure DL has put kids up at hotels in the past!

If you didn't it gets more complicated. In that case it's really Alaska Air you have to go after!

Good luck!

Corptraveller

He was originally booked on Delta from Cincy to Salt Lake City and then Delta to Fairbanks. Delta cancelled the Cincy to Salt Lake City flight due to mechanical. They rebooked him on Delta to Memphis, Northwest frommemphis to Seattle and then Alaska Air from Seattle to Fairbanks as an unaccompanied minor. That is how he landed in Seattle and became a case of Sleepless in Seattle !!

CarolDisney1

So was he traveling as an unaccompanied minor in Delta's system. (i.e., you paid the fee) If so then you have a big complaint. If he wasn't then I am not sure what happened.

Corptraveller

Yes I paid the fee. The ticketing agent and then the airport agent confirmed and reconfired that he could travel. I did write their names down. Shoudl I copy the complaint to DOT also - if so what is their address and contact !!

MikeyZBT

Due to DL having the mechanical it was ABSOLUTELY DL's responsibility to make sure he reached his final destination properly. You definitely have a case to complain.

In retrospect, and you might want to tell your son for future reference, next time, he should go over to the Delta desk since that was the original ticket. But he still should have been taken care of, this is terrible.

andryas

I think what happened was that the DL agent that made the rebooking was unaware that AS does not accept unaccompanied minors for flights between 9 pm to 5 am.