Comments on: Oops we did it again. United misplaces a child in Chicago

By: Leah L

Leah L — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:10:13 +0000

I’ve been through the UA service going from Bangor, Maine to Charlotte NC, and I was not impressed. I had a connecting flight in Detroit and had to stay in the Kids Room there for 3 hours. The staff there were overworked and didnt have time to accompany kids to nearby stores or restaurants. By the time they realized that I needed to get to my gate, It was almost time to board. We had to literally run to the gate which was in a completely different terminal and then found out that the flight was delayed. In the hour and a half wait at the gate they still wouldnt accompany me down the hall so I could buy myself something to eat. I know that my experience could have been a lot worse. I feel bad for those kids who get put on the wrong plane.

By: Arizona Road Warrior

Arizona Road Warrior — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:14:14 +0000

I can’t confirmed it but I heard that UA outsourced their UM services.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:14:38 +0000

You’d also think that alarm bells would go off in Ottowa when the flight arrived without the child. One smart thing that was done – whoever booked the flight picked one that was early enough from San Francisco so that if things went wrong with the connection there opportunities to continue on later flights.

By: Arizona Road Warrior

Arizona Road Warrior — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:34:08 +0000

“Ditto you might think someone in the children’s room at O’Hare might notice a child being there for a very long time. (Though to be fair on this one, I can imagine the room being relatively full and chaotic in July.)”
- – - – - — – — – - —
I don’t buy it…it comes down to the procedures, processes, etc. that UA has put into their unaccompanied minors program. It seems like UA doesn’t care and/or doesn’t enforce it.

When a child is dropped off at the children’s room at O’Hare, there should be sign in where the children is given a wrist band with a ‘pager’ (like the ones that restaurants use). The child’s flight information is entered into a computer so that it is tracked by the attendant or attendant(s) of the room as well as by the pager. Twenty (20) minutes before the boarding of the flight, the pager goes off. This should allow plenty of time to get an UA ‘escort’ to come to the room, for the child to use the restroom and be escorted to the gate by the UA escort.

The next step is at the gate. If an unaccompanied minor hasn’t pre-boarded, a gate agent needs to track down the unaccompanied minor. There should put something in their software program that will prevent the plane from departing if an unaccompanied minor has checked in for the first flight and has arrived in the connecting airport.

In regards to the children room being full, they could be in violation of state laws governing day care in regards to the number of children and ‘care givers’.