BMI and an Unaccompanied minor problem

[B412]

For those of you that send children unaccompanied, a word of warning! Recently I sent my daughter to Texas via Chicago with BMI. Her flight was delayed at MAN, it happens, but sadly that resulted in an 11 year old being left at Chicago for 16 hrs. It appears minimal attempts were made to reschedule her within the US. I guess that its is difficult as they have so few airports and carriers and the flight to the US is so fast!, leaving no time for re-scheduling. Worse still was, NO contact at all was made with her parents to advise of this problem! And upon arrival at her final destination her bags were lost. (Naturally not BMI's fault they say!)
And to end the sorry saga, they lost her bag on the way home again! And for all that grief a dear sir we are so so sorry. But as for compensation or anything else, we don't thik it is warrented in this case. Not even a lousy upgrade.
As a pilot and a regular flyer, It sticks with me knowing that the paying public are really there purely to grease the shareholders wallets. That as a modern day air traveller, with all the baggage restirictions, security etc, an airline cares so little for an unaccompanied minor!
My advice to you all, check out very carefully the airline before entrusting them with your children, and stay away from sending them with BMI!

[agent x]

No contact was made to her parents to advise them of the problem? You've written in you post that she was YOUR daughter so didn't you already know the flight was delayed before you passed her to the groundstaff?!! :ugh:

The issue here is that she unfortunately had a long wait in Chicago which can happen when flights are late and connections are missed. The issue isnt that she did not arrive at her final destination safely, she was badly treated, left unattended or unsupervised or not given the due care which is afforded to unaccompanied minors by airlines when travelling alone.

So your word of warning should be....Delays happen, missing bags happen thats air travel fo you.

[SXB]

Delays do happen, especially on multi sector trips and I'm not sure what obligations the airlines have in such situations regarding keeping parents informed. From a personal point of view I wouldn't have sent such a young child on such a long journey on their own. That said, even if I did I would be watching the arrivals and departures like a hawk for any possible delays concerning my children.

[Globaliser]

The big question in my mind is what did the airline do for the UM after arrival. A 16 hour layover means an overnight. Did the airline find accommodation? Were meals provided? Was the UM chaperoned? And was the adult taking delivery at the destination kept informed? (That's more important than keeping the parents at origin informed, though that would have been courteous.)

If all that was done, then it seems to me that this is exactly what the UM service is designed for where there's a long delay.

I would have thought that the airline wouldn't readily have thought it worthwhile to do all this, than to re-route the UM, on other airlines if necessary, to ensure a same day delivery at destination. I wonder what prevented that?

[wiggy]

You must have had your reasons for sending her via Chicago but I must admit if it had been my daughter I would have tried to organise UK-Texas non-stop, ( Gatwick- IAH or DFW). As a pilot you obviously know that with the best will in the world missed connections happen.

[B412]

To those who have posted thank you for your comments, and for those of you who read the post I hope you think twice about choosing BMI for the UM service.
I certainly understood that delays do happen, and in fact said as much. However one would think that a carrier when entrusted with our most precious cargo would exercise a serious duty of care for them. The fact that no calls were made to her parents was disgraceful.
I would love to post the pathetic responses from BMI so people could also read how little was their concern after the event. Another disgrace!
For your information this event took place over a month and a half ago now, and it was only in the last few days when a non form letter apology was made. Sadly the apology will do little to entice me to offer one red cent of my own money to travel with these people again.

[rmac]

Agent X, looks like you are a little jaded from your job. The tone of your response appears to lack a little empathy which could be expected from someone who has regular contact with customers as part of their job.

[B412]

I thought some of you may be interested in the final word from BMI after losing an 11 year olds bags on both legs of the journey, holding her at a room in an airport in the USA for 16 hrs, and now misplacing the correct phone number of their passenger.
From the Customer (lack of) service manager:
"See the note from our management in Manchester. Normally we deliver delayed bags except if the journey was on separate tickets as was the case here. The bag is available for collection therefore as soon as you wish."
From the duty manager:
"We are holding the bag here and have been since the 10th September!
We were given the incorrect telephone number for the passenger so have been unable to contact them regarding them collecting it and have been waiting for them to contact us!
They were however on separate tickets so will have to collect the luggage but we do have it here ready and waiting for them."
That is that then. A 2 hour drive to and from Manchester for the joys of travelling with this airline. Say what you may about air travel delays and the like, but it is apparent that in this case, keeping down costs, maximising share dividends, and arrogance is the motto of this mob!
Not worth thinking about if you have to send a UM with them....:mad:

[apaddyinuk]

HANG ON JUST A SECOND HERE B412.... You booked a UM on TWO SEPERATE tickets??? What were you thinking? No wonder everything went wrong. That was a very VERY stupid decision on your part and totally exhonerates BMI in my opinion.

However, Maybe I have missed something here!

P.S...Never EVER book a UM with a connection with TWO SEPERATE tickets. You are asking for trouble. Your children are precious, dont cut corners!!! :ugh:

[B412]

No, it was the good old E ticket versus paper ticket thing I believe. I personally have this problem all the time when travelling with VS and BMI. (The problem has nothing to do with VS, as it is on their tickets...)
You did miss something here.....

[PAXboy]

Non-parent speaking.

I guess that, if this journey is a one-off, then there is not much more by way of precautions. The only one might have been to ensure that the child had local money to pay for phone calls, or could make a reverse charge (collect) call. That will depend upon the child, of course.

If the route is to be travelled more often, then a mobile (cell) phone with a pay as you go SIM for the destination country will allow the child to be telephoned by parents/guardian/greeter.

[apaddyinuk]

Thanks for putting me right! Seems like you need to explain things again to BMI. I have never worked for them but it seems highly unlikely that BMI would knowingly treat a UM in such a way, not so much out of duty of care but more out of fear of being prosecuted!!!

[Globaliser]

No, it was the good old E ticket versus paper ticket thing I believe.As I understand it, if you book travel on one ticket and it can't be e-ticketed throughout because the carriers can't interline e-ticket or something like that, the whole thing should be paper ticketed. If you e-ticket part of the trip and paper ticket the other part of the trip, it's two separate tickets.

bmi's response certainly appears to be consistent with two different tickets having been issued for the trip.

Who booked the travel? If it was a travel agent, you probably need to take that up with them.

And what did happen to the UM during the long unscheduled delay? Was she looked after or not?

[lexxity]

Quick question B412, did you remain in the aiport until the flight had departed which is part of the requirements for UM travel?

Also how come she was on two seperate tickets, if you booked through a travel agent they need talking to as well?

It is standard practice to not deliver bags on a seperate ticket booking.

[Little Blue]

As a parent and as someone who has worked for an airline for 18 years (and I'm not telling you which one !) I would never send either of my children as UM's, whether it be to ORD or to EDI.....I've seen too much of what can go wrong. Any kind of delay can complicate the process. Of course, the parent/guardian has to remain at the point of departure until the a/c is airbourne, but I've seen many of them leave as soon as the littl'un has wandered thru' security.
Is it ever worth the risk?

[Max Angle]

As a bmi employee let me apologise for what seems like a less than perfect performance by my company. However, and it's a big however, I reckon that the airline companies and the parents are as mad as each other. The companies for offering to do it in the first place and the parents for putting their children in the situation. No UMs on long haul and no UMs on any flight with a connection would be a good idea, there is far to much to go wrong and the stakes are too high. It sounds a bit unhelpful I guess but problems keep occurring and one day it will end in disaster for someone.

[Globaliser]

... I would never send either of my children as UM's, whether it be to ORD or to EDINo UMs on long haul ... would be a good ideaIsn't this taking it a bit far? I grew up flying long-haul as a UM. LHR-HKG, HKG-LHR, repeat as necessary.

[Leezyjet]

Bmi's treatment of UM's is appalling. My other half works at LHR for SQ and they had an 8, yes 8 year old child that came in with Bmi that was left to make her own way from T1 to T3 to make the SQ flight with her bags because of Bmi's policy of paying for UM's and a payment had not been made for this child, so Bmi left her to her own devices. It happens regularly too from what I hear from friends at other airlines.

This also happens going the other way too. The airline inbound escorts the UM over to Bmi, who then refuse to accept responsibility for them as no payment has been made, and as they are at a transit point, the inbound airline then looses one of their staff in having to look after the child until the Bmi flight is ready to depart.

Truly appaling treatment if you ask me.

:mad:

[lexxity]

Leezy I think you will find that a lot of airlines charge for UM's these days. If the parents are too cheap to pay for it (and a lot are) then why should the airline have to take the blame? I believe BA charge and I know the US carriers do. If they didn't help an UM does that make their treatment appaling or does it make the parent irresponsible? As an aside I see you mention that the 8year old had to carry her bags between terminals, so her parent/guardian didn't book her a through ticket either.

[sukigirl]

Some of memory is a bit sketchy but as a child i flew to florida from the uk as a um. I did this a few times but i do remember that my dad would pay the extra charge to have someone meet me the other end and escort me through the airport. He would never have considered skimping in this area or booking me on a flight with a connection no matter what cost, I would have been terrified at the thought! Parents have to take responsibility instead of placing ALL blame on the airline.

[chornedsnorkack]

Leezy I think you will find that a lot of airlines charge for UM's these days. If the parents are too cheap to pay for it (and a lot are) then why should the airline have to take the blame? I believe BA charge and I know the US carriers do. If they didn't help an UM does that make their treatment appaling or does it make the parent irresponsible?
Airlines charge for tickets, too. Why should an unaccompanied minor with tickets paid but the UM fees not paid get any further than an UM with no tickets at all?

[agent x]

Why blame themselves for their own irresponsibility when theres an airline that they can blame instead?....all to do with compensation culture. :ugh: . All this fuss is merely a result of the parents own embarrasment at their own short comings through booking their CHILD on 2 separate tickets on a long haul journey and that child suffering as a result of the parents making a choice to book them in such manner.

[10secondsurvey]

The poster mentioned problems with BMI when connecting with Virgin. I have had very similar problems. I had a single itinarary through ticket from regional to usa via BMI to LHR and then on to JFK with Virgin. Could not for the love of money get through checked. All I got from BMI staff was "we don't through check bags", despite my repeatedly pointing out the nature of my ticket -which was confirmed by both BMI and Virgin as being a single itinerary and therefore could be through-checked!!

It put me off using Virgin again,when connecting from anywhere other than LHR itself.

BMI are a budget airline now. Expect very little.

[agent x]

One single itinarary does not constitute a through ticket. They are two different things entirely. Someone can hold a separate paper/eticket with one airline and a separate paper/eticket ticket with another airline for the same journey. The travel agent then takes it upon themselves to type the information onto a sheet of A4 thus producing one single itinarary and incorrectly tell the passenger that they will be through checked:ugh: ......however both tickets still remain separate and through check-in is not an option!

[lexxity]

In point of fact VS agents seem to be stars where linking seperate PNRs is concerned. They will eticket the sector from the regions to LHR and then issue paper tickets for the sector from LHR. This is not a through ticket, but will the agents be told?

[spiritedamerican]

It is obvious that most of you do not have one clue about real life, or you might show an ounce of empathy! In this day and time, families live in separate countries and long-haul flights for minors are necessary in certain instances. In this particular situation, there were extenuating circumstances that prevented the booking of the entire trip all at one time. HOWEVER, ALL the flights were linked via reference numbers and I was told that was all that was required...by the airlines, since I booked the tickets myself DIRECTLY with the airlines. ALL UM fees were paid for EVERY leg of the journey. As one of the parents involved, I can tell you that I took every precaution to make sure that my daughter would be looked after. Yes, I waited at the airport until the plane left! The problem here is that...like some of you...the airlines just don't care...and THAT is why they get sued, and why they should pay! She was given a camping bed to sleep on in the airport, and the idiots who were supposed to be watching her were so busy playing that they kept her awake with their raucous shrieks and laughter. Just reeks of responsibility, don't you think?

Sure...you could say that they did their duty because she eventually got to where she was supposed to be going, but why even have the need to watch her overnight when she actually could have been sent on a later flight...and with only a minor amount of adjustment, would have seen her to her destination that very night?! The main issue here is that no one cares. If an airline is not going to do all it can to look after a UM by getting them to their intended destination ASAP, then they should NOT take them in the first place! And yes, it is their responsibility to notify the parent if their child is going to be made to sleep in an airport overnight when that was not part of the schedule!

So...those of you who must work for BMI as you share the same attitude, it is NOT the parents who are at fault here. I paid a LOT of money to make sure that my daughter would be looked after and made a priority. She was not! And...can someone please explain to me how it is that a BMI employee would not know how to call a UK mobile from the States?!!!

[10secondsurvey]

The ticket I had was valid for through check in, as later confirmed by both BMI and Virgin. I fly a lot on business and specifically discussed this point and had confirmation from Virgin themselves (with whom I made the booking direct), prior to flying.

For the record, on the return journey, checking through at Virgin check in in the USA, I got the same crap, and the situation was only remedied when I insisted I speak to a manager. I was of course correct.

It seems the check in staff for both BMI and Virgin, assume the ticket will not be valid for through checking, without even looking at the ticket.

Incidentally, if you are flying on from LHR after an overnight flight from West coast USA, ensuring bags are checked through is very important. I do not take the risk, and fly BA because of this.

[B412]

I started this thread a few years ago, but was wondering if things have improved? I still will not willingly buy a ticket from the airline I named on this thread, and neither do my colleagues, but it would be nice to hear if UM's are now being better cared for by all carriers. (mine has gotten older....)

[apaddyinuk]

To be honest B412, UMs are being treated just the same as they were back in 2006 despite the cost cutting that is currently taking place. And that is that they are being treated well. Two years on and re-reading your post there still seems to be a question mark over the form of booking that you made. Regardless of whether the passenger is a UM or not I do not understand why they would not rebook the customer onto the next available flight after a missed connection unless of course that 16hour wait was the next available. Also, as for sleeping on a camper bed in the floor, well adults perhaps would have been offered a hotel but when it comes to UM I would imagine it would be very difficult to find an airline employee willing to babysit a UM in a hotel room in this day and age of random accusations! Sounds like they made do the best they can!

I personally would never book a UM via somewhere but if I did I would make sure it was with the same carrier. So for example if I needed to get someone from IAH to Lagos I would book with BA or KLM all the way so that the UM does not become a football being kicked from one agency/airline to another! Booking a UM via somewhere on airline A with a connection onto airline B via agency C and D is only going to create problems. Also with UM's, as they are generally held back during disembarkation etc it is best to ensure that their have sufficient time to make a connection, I personally would say minimum three hours in airports such as ORD or LHR!

You need to appreciate that perhaps your particular incident was unique and a product of a catalogue of errors that took place from the moment you made the booking instead of making a sweeping generalisation about treatment of UM's industry wide!

[angels]

I realise this thread is old, but is a person aged 16 a minor??

He/she can have sex, get married (with permission), be arrested and charged etc.

Are you a minor up until the age of 18 then?

[lexxity]

If the journey involves the US, then 18 and under is classed as an unaccompanied minor. You then end up in the ludicrous situation of escorting someone taller than you through the airport. :}