United "loses" 10-year-old girl on flight

[Elliotte Friedman]

Not sure if this is the right board, but what the heck. Unreal story:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/United-Airlines-Loses-10-Year-Old-Girl-166214646.html

A few of the comments blame the parents, but as a former camp counsellor, this kind of thing is normal to me. Jesus, is United useless.

 

[imjustagirl]

Sweet Jesus. When I read the headline and the start to the story, it just seemed like something that could happen.

But then I read the parents' letter, and I will not fly United ever again if I have a single say in it.

 

[WolvEagle]

While there's no excuse for United screwing up so badly, why in God's name would someone let their 10-year-old fly across the country ALONE??? There's no way in hell I would have allowed my children to do that. None.

 

[imjustagirl]

I remember thinking that the first time I heard about it. But that was like 10 years ago. It no longer shocks me. If the kid's old enough, I have no real beef with it IF IT WORKS THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK.

 

[MileHigh]

I remember thinking that the first time I heard about it. But that was like 10 years ago. It no longer shocks me. If the kid's old enough, I have no real beef with it IF IT WORKS THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK.

Exactly. It happens a lot.

 

[trifectarich]

C'mon, people, this is the airlines we're talking about. Why is anyone surprised by what happens in an industry with no desire to provide even the basics of customer service? Expect the worst; anything above that is a bonus.

 

[User 11148]

I have had friends do that with their children, and while I'd never do it unless absolutely forced to, it's worked out fine. I'd only do it for a direct flight, because the probability of a glitch grows substantially when you get into the whole "making a connection" realm.

 

[dmc]

I did it with a 5 year old a few times about 25 years ago. Things were a bit simpler back then.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

United is the worst of the major airlines by a thousand miles.

 

[Care Bear]

My parents had me fly alone every summer for five years. I guess between the ages of five and ten. They flew me from Denver to Tampa to visit my grandparents. Never had a problem. I remember being treated like absolute royalty. **** United.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

My parents had me fly alone every summer for five years. I guess between the ages of five and ten. They flew me from Denver to Tampa to visit my grandparents. Never had a problem. I remember being treated like absolute royalty. **** United.

After my parents split when I was 8 and my sister was 6, we would fly across the country all the time without an adult. We were treated like royalty as well. They would bump up us to first class if there was space. Most of the time we were flying direct from San Francisco to New York, but we also did SF to Savannah, which always had at least one stop. It was never an issue.

United sucks ass.

 

[jackfinarelli]

My wife and I sent both of our sons on flights without us when they were 10 years old or a bit older. Of course, there were adults there to meet them at the other end of the journey and in those days the adults could get right to the gate to meet our kids as they got off the plane. That does not happen today because TSA will require a boarding pass to let you thru security.

Regarding United Airlines, my wife has flown just under 1,000,000 miles on United Airlines over the past 35 years. My total mileage is a bit less; I have flown just over 400,000 miles on United Airlines. Obviously, neither of us would have racked up that quantity of miles if United's service was routinely as shoddy as described here.

 

[Azrael]

Regarding United Airlines, my wife has flown just under 1,000,000 miles on United Airlines over the past 35 years. My total mileage is a bit less; I have flown just over 400,000 miles on United Airlines. Obviously, neither of us would have racked up that quantity of miles if United's service was routinely as shoddy as described here.

One can only assume the vast majority of that mileage was logged before the mega-merger with Continental.

It remains to be seen whether or not the combined companies will equal a great deal less than the sum of their parts.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

My wife and I sent both of our sons on flights without us when they were 10 years old or a bit older. Of course, there were adults there to meet them at the other end of the journey and in those days the adults could get right to the gate to meet our kids as they got off the plane. That does not happen today because TSA will require a boarding pass to let you thru security.

Regarding United Airlines, my wife has flown just under 1,000,000 miles on United Airlines over the past 35 years. My total mileage is a bit less; I have flown just over 400,000 miles on United Airlines. Obviously, neither of us would have racked up that quantity of miles if United's service was routinely as shoddy as described here.

Do you fly through O'Hare? I had years where I would routinely fly around 75,000 miles and most of it would be fine. But if it was United through O'Hare, it was the biggest joke of all-time.

 

[Webster]

From ages 4-12 I flew all the time with my brother (who was 4 years older) from New York to LA. But those were a very, very different times for the airlines. They make no money and outsource every single thing that they can. Not that this makes the behavior correct in the least, but the .

One thing I think is a little strange is that usually if you are a passenger with special needs (like a child flying solo), the flight staff makes you wait on the plane and then does a handoff to the next people responsible.

 

[BTExpress]

Cheap flights and "being treated like royalty" do not mesh.

Gotta pick one. We picked cheap flights. And there is a whole industry of websites insuring that we get that damn lowest price possible.

Orbitz and Expedia and Kayak don't let you filter your choices on "best service."

 

[Armchair_QB]

United is, hands down, the absolute worst major airline in this country. I think they make their employees take a class called Asshole 101. Surliest group of airline employees by a mile.

 

[User 11148]

Cheap flights and "being treated like royalty" do not mesh.

Gotta pick one. We picked cheap flights. And there is a whole industry of websites insuring that we get that damn lowest price possible.

Orbitz and Expedia and Kayak don't let you filter your choices on "best service."

Very good point.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Holy **** is that an unbelievable story.

And a small bit of advice to United: When doing customer service training for Harold and Kumar over in Delhi, you might want to tell them that - when dealing with the next parent of a child you're going to lose - the words “it does not matter” are absolutely not an acceptable answer to any question.

I don't have kids and I'm so mad about what they did to these people that I'm shaking.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Cheap flights and "being treated like royalty" do not mesh.

Gotta pick one. We picked cheap flights. And there is a whole industry of websites insuring that we get that damn lowest price possible.

Orbitz and Expedia and Kayak don't let you filter your choices on "best service."

Very good point.

This kid's father is a ****ing United Premier member and they still ****ed the family sideways. If he was just an average traveler his kid probably winds up in Kabul and her luggage gets shipped to Shanghai.