American Airline Allows Unaccompanied Minor to Exit Plane Alone; Georgia Mom Wants Policies Tightened

georgia Monica Gilliam American Airlines Miami Airport Emily Kaufman The Travel Mom Kimber

By Camille Hutchison , Parent Herald Jul 10, 01:47 pm

Monica Gilliam of Georgia Mom furious upon knowing her daughter exited the plane alone after the flight.

The family of a 12-year-old paid extra for the unaccompanied minors' service. According to the airline's unaccompanied minors travel policy, the service assigns airport escorts to assist children to deplane, make flight connections, and meet the authorized adult picking them up.

Gilliam told Good Morning America (GMA), that her daughter Kimber, flew on an American Airlines flight from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Miami, Florida, to pay a visit to her father. After her daughter's flight landed, Gilliam received a distressing phone call from American Airlines.

American Airlines told Gilliam that her daughter is missing and Gilliam asked how did they lose her child, and how did the airline lose an unaccompanied minor, per Head Topics .

Prioritizing Unaccompanied Minors

Gilliam stated that her daughter had gone on several flights alone when she was 5 and 6, with different airlines. Kimber told her mom, that she felt she had to get up and leave the aircraft once it landed, following other passengers who were getting off and asserted a flight attendant even waved goodbye to her.

Kimber was seated in between two people on row eight. When the person at the window started getting off, she felt like she was also supposed to get up too and started moving into the aisle. Flight attendants just waved at her and Kimber didn't know what to do so she kept walking.

The Georgia Mom told her daughter that when she got on at Chattanooga, her escorts would be there with her and they would make sure she stayed safe until she meet her dad.

Gilliam stated that Kimber had flown unaccompanied before and she has other children that have, too and it never crossed their minds that such an incident will happen, per ABC News .

Reassuring Minor's Safety

Kimber's family had not gone over specifics about what to anticipate in the unaccompanied travel procedure or complete and detailed safety instructions on flying alone but said she was familiar with air travel in general.

The family flies together often and so, Kimber is aware of the typical protocol whenever they get off the plane and go to baggage claim together and had been told she would be looked after the flight.

According to her mother, Kimber's father used FaceTime to assist his daughter to navigate the Miami Airport by herself after she get off the plane and gradually was able to guide her to a baggage claim area where he could reunite with her daughter.

Gilliam stated that the full ticket price and additional unaccompanied minor fees for the trip were refunded and received several free flights that American Airlines offered, along with several other VIP Services but Kimber's mom turned all those down.

The airline was apologetic according to the mom but Kimber became scared and doesn't want to fly now.

With regards to the incident, American Airlines stated that the company cares deeply about its young passengers and is committed to providing a safe and pleasant travel experience for them. They added that they are looking into what occurred and is treating the incident very seriously.

Emily Kaufman, a travel expert and the CEO and founder of "The Travel Mom," advised parents that:

"Inform them about the plan on the plane, getting off the plane, and when they're in need of something that they can ask a flight attendant," per Local Today News .