United Leaves 9-Year-Old Boy At Chicago Airport For 8 Hours

9-year-old Julien Reid was forgotten in a waiting room at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for almost eight hours on Saturday after a representative from the airline failed to place him on a connecting flight, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

The boy was headed home to Ottawa on a United flight from San Francisco, where he was visiting his father. When the boy's mother showed up at the airport to pick him up, he was nowhere to be found. That's when Julien, using his cell phone, called, telling her he was still at the Chicago airport in a "tiny, little room cramped with kids," where they played the same video on a loop all day. The only food he'd been given was McDonald's, but Julien is a vegetarian. He said the other children were yelled at to "stop being kids."

The mother then spoke with the attendant who told her that no one had come to pick Julien up for his connecting flight. Poor Julien finally got on a flight after eight hours.

Asked about his experience, Julien told the Ottawa Citizen: "I'll tell them to get me a better flight next time."

Comments

[maidenofdforest]

10:36 AM on 07/29/2010

System is not flawless but leaving a boy like that could invite lawsuits. At least he was man enough not to have a fit and if a man wedre left behind, expect a fit and a lawsuit, whichever comes first.

[mmike1969]

06:27 PM on 07/28/2010

Nice job United! Tell me again why you are not bankrupt? Again?

[SteveDenver]

11:02 AM on 07/28/2010

The airline offers the service and charges a fee. Regardless of how "busy" or burdened an airline becomes, children in their care are a priority. Otherwise they can refuse to sell a ticket. The airline is at fault and there is nothing to support the ugly speculation of some posts that these parents do not love their boy.

The airline failed badly.

[Donns]

10:07 AM on 07/28/2010

I tried leaving my kids at an airport once. Little buggers still found their way home.

[maidenofdforest]

10:38 AM on 07/29/2010

Hahahahaha...you've trained them to be good navigators. My own children would do the same.

[up420oz]

09:27 PM on 07/27/2010

in Vancouver BC International airport, cops will TAZER you to death for being upset that you have been left alone in a secure area for 8 hours.
Count yourself lucky.

[Ordog]

07:10 PM on 07/27/2010

Back in the 70's, when I was his age, my parents would hand me $100 bill, and airline tickets the day after school ended. Dad gave me his American Airlines Club card, too (with a SASE to mail it back!) and I was off on my own, connecting flights and all.

Wondered all around in between connections.....

Different times, or bad parents (or both?)?

[abdallac]

06:19 AM on 07/29/2010

What's a SASE?

[KIVPossum]

02:11 PM on 07/29/2010

LOL.

You are aware in the old days people used a system of communication known as Letters? These letters were placed in a thing called an Envelope. After sealing the envelope you put a Stamp on it and a government official delivered it.

If you wanted something sent back it was common to include an evelope along with your letter. This envelope would have your Address on it. As a courtesy you would put a Stamp on it, too, so the sender only had to drop it in the mail to you.

Thus - a Self Addressed Stamped Evelope was born

[maidenofdforest]

10:40 AM on 07/29/2010

No, bad airline and bad coordination.

[JMcCoy]

03:00 PM on 07/27/2010

I have so many issues with this situation. Why put a child on an airplane by themsleves? If the plane experienced troubled, who would be there to comfort that child? How would one live with the guilt that if that place went down and your child was alone on that plane with no one to comfort him. If you are going to let your child fly unaccompanied, insist on a direct flight as to decrease the likelihood of your child getting lost, abducted, molested or left in an airport for almost 8 hours. It seems that some parents are willing to entrust their child or children with anyone just to ensure that their schedules are not interrupted. If the child was going to have a lay over, should not the parents have pinned a note on him indicating that the child had strict dietary restrictions?

[SteveDenver]

10:58 AM on 07/28/2010

There are lots of kids who are shuttled between separated parents on a regular basis, and when airlines started offering services for "unaccompanied minors," it was a far cry better than this operation. The airline failed.

[jamuelle]

11:32 AM on 07/28/2010

Not all children come undone when their parents are not present believe it or not. And as far as entrusting a child to just anyone, I guess that leaves out sending a child to any type of care that the parent isn't present at. Including daycare if a parent works before a child is school aged, school bus and school itself, if the parent is not the teacher.

At 9 years old, a child knows if he is vegetarian or not, and what that entails. And from the tone of the article, this is not the first time he as flown by himself. Nor will it be the last time. It is the first time he has had a problem. He understood the concept his flight was delayed and didn't fret about it. He didn't realize there was a problem until the airline employee put up a fuss with his mother. That is when he became alarmed.

Overprotecting and coddling children is one way of raising kids. Teaching kids to be aware, self sufficient, independent and responsible is another way of raising kids. I prefer the latter and think the former is a irresponsible way to raise a child to be a well adjusted, productive member of society. Some prefer the former and think my free range style is irresponsible. At least I know and trust my kids can function on their own when I am not present.

[trikkegirl]

12:22 PM on 07/27/2010

Parents seem to be expecting the airlines to not only operate the airports and planes but also provide babysitting services. As this appears to be the expectation of modern parents with long-distance visitation schedules, I guess the airlines better get with it and start hiring people who can dedicate their time to the jobs of supervising, monitoring, and escorting these children. The system they have in place appears to be ineffective in a lot of cases.

[Charlie Eh]

12:44 PM on 07/27/2010

Actually, the child (if under 14 years of age, as he was) must travel as an "Unaccompanied Minor" and is in the charge of the airline personnel at all times.

This is not a babysitting service but rather a paid escort service that is provided by the airlines.

My daughter traveled several times a year on Air Canada this way, with a hat, tag-bag and badge that identified her to all Air Canada personnel. She was NEVER left alone but would be passed from one attendant to another if there was a connecting flight and those attendants were required to sign the UM form in her tag-bag. I was required to sign when she reached me in Montreal; her mother was required to sign when she returned to SF.

This is supposed to be a professional service, but obviously the level of professionalism exhibited here was less than expected, required and contracted.

[k1k2lee]

02:00 PM on 07/27/2010

And it would seem to be a significant safety issue for the children, not merely a comfort issue. If there is no one monitoring children who are so far from home, that is terribly terribly dangerous. I would have been terrified if my child had not walked off the plane when scheduled.

[trikkegirl]

08:55 AM on 07/28/2010

Thanks for that info, that was educational. Canada apparently has a real "chain of custody" system, sounds like what a police investigation uses, and that makes sense. U.S. airlines clearly need to step it up. You can't just have undocumented kids lingering in an airport.

[jamuelle]

11:48 AM on 07/28/2010

I flew as an unaccompanied minor as a child. That was 30 years ago. I don't know what you would consider modern parenting, but this is not a new concept. And yes, there is a protocol airlines follow. What happened here was a total breakdown in that protocol. Hopefully the airline will take severe action against those who dropped the ball on this.

[unimatrix0]

12:18 PM on 07/27/2010

He must be Canadian, no mention of a law suite.

[Rasberryrum]

12:04 PM on 07/27/2010

This is absolutely unacceptable. The airlines charge very high fees for unaccompanied minors. They should not be "left" anywhere! If they are going to take them to a lounge area, they should be handed off to another agent, who should be told when their connecting flight leaves. Completely irresponsible, negligent, and maybe even criminal.

[iowamiddleguy]

11:44 AM on 07/27/2010

just put my 9 year old daughter on a direct flight form KC to Cleveland and all the folks at the airlines (Continental) where great!

They had a wrist band and a special packet so her ticket stood out and everyone could see.

Here is the kicker - the airlines all charge extra for children flying alone. Most won't even allow for a connecting flight until they reach a certain age.

Anyhow - my choice of flights was united or continental.... glad I went with continental!

[jwoww]

03:02 PM on 07/27/2010

agreed I flew all 3 on my kids 2 young teens and 8 y/o form NJ to Fla on Continental and they were fanstastic. The kids told me a flight attendant stood right next to them while other passengers were deplaning both ways and then only after the captain signed the paperwork were they allowed to get off with a Continental agent who took them to an area we were waiting for them.

the service fee is worth every penny. I just hope United does not try to cost cut what Continental is doing.

[sheila]

03:18 PM on 07/27/2010

You know United just bought Continental, right?

[jwatso7]

11:26 AM on 07/27/2010

I believe with every fiber of my being that United is by far the worst U.S. carrier. I avoid them at all costs.

[OKSunny]

10:24 AM on 07/27/2010

Airlines are full of total idiots...I take Amtrak

[saskatoonie]

12:37 AM on 07/28/2010

Dealing with the public is a thankless bloody job.......I would go nuts!

[svnjewels]

10:14 AM on 07/27/2010

I'm sorry, but if I'm putting my 9 year old on a flight, it's gonna be direct. Why would you even risk a connecting flight? Maybe it's just me..

[lizla]

11:09 AM on 07/27/2010

Sometimes there aren't direct flights - possibly because of the day, or just because there isn't a direct service and you have to go through a hub. Shame on United.

[Rasberryrum]

12:08 PM on 07/27/2010

There are no direct flights from San Francisco to Ottawa.

[Autumn Banter]

09:40 AM on 07/27/2010

This is a bit ridiculous - considering all the fees/rules/restrictions/penalties and pain the airlines cause for people, to simply forget about a child passenger and to treat them so poorly is truly disgusting. What will United do to make up for this and will the attendants who left him there be punished??