WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight

CD · Post by CD » Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:02 pm

WestJet allows stranger to walk five-year-old girl off flight

Last Updated: Friday, December 14, 2007 | 4:37 PM MT
CBC News

The parents of a five-year-old girl travelling alone are furious with WestJet for breaking its own guidelines and allowing a stranger to accompany the child off a flight.

Sara-Maude St-Louis, 5, was taking her first plane ride Thursday from Edmonton, where she lives with her mother, to Montreal to see her father. The parents paid a special fee to ensure someone from the airline would look after her.

Her mother and stepfather took Sara-Maude to the gate under the impression that WestJet staff members would check on her during the flight and then escort the little girl off the plane when she arrived at her destination, which is the company's policy for unaccompanied minors.

Instead, nobody checked on her at all, said her father Steve St-Louis. He's furious with the airline and says Sara-Maude could have been kidnapped or hurt if not for a Good Samaritan who sat next to her.

Pierre Cataford, a father of four from Montreal, played games and drew pictures with Sara-Maude during the long flight.

The girl was wearing a large VIP tag around her neck, but Cataford told CBC News that he did not see flight attendants check on her.

When the plane landed in Montreal, Cataford said he waited for someone to escort Sara-Maude but no one came, so he walked the five-year-old off the plane as crew members waved goodbye to them.

Sara-Maude's father said he was shocked to see a stranger walking into the arrivals area with his daughter.

"She was alone. Nobody came to see her. Nobody asked if she was okay. I mean it was terrifying. It was unbelievable," St-Louis said from his home in Pontiac, Que.

WestJet confirmed it's investigating the incident and issued a statement Friday: "The situation is of utmost concern for WestJet and we are taking this matter very seriously. We have apologized to the parents of the child and are doing all that we can to ensure that this does not happen in the future."

No federal rules for unaccompanied minors

Canada does not have a policy that makes it mandatory for airlines to look after children who travel alone.

"Canadian laws are set out that way as we speak right now and they give all the flexibility to air carriers to establish their own rules," said Jadrino Huot of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

The agency said it asked Air Canada to clarify its policy on unaccompanied minors last month after a 13-year-old girl was not escorted by airline staff to meet her mother in Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Sara-Maude's parents say they plan to sue WestJet.

The airline is flying Sara-Maude's mother and stepfather to Montreal to pick her up at the end of the month, and the parents said they won't let the girl fly alone again until she's much older.

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:14 pm

They're gonna have a helluva hard time sueing the airline for that.

twotterman · Post by **twotterman** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 10:08 pm

Who sends their 5 year old on an airplane alone anyways. People expect everyone else to look after their own kids. As far as I'm concerned the airlines should not offer this service at all.

chief · Post by **chief** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:03 am

twotterman wrote:Who sends their 5 year old on an airplane alone anyways. People expect everyone else to look after their own kids. As far as I'm concerned the airlines should not offer this service at all.

No doubt. My son is 5 years old and I wouldnt have him travel alone under any circumstance. Shame on the parents. Maybe the publicity should be redirected to how irresponsible these parents are.

prop2jet · Post by **prop2jet** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:45 am

Sometimes parents have no alternative but to send their children and not themselves. Perhaps 5 is a little on the young side however not much different from 7 or 8. The fact remains this is a service that has been provided for many many years and when properly handled should not even be a big deal.

Many many years ago this is how i travelled, as a UM. It was a pretty straightforward process: Parent arrives at airport a little on the early side, check in, hand off to ground agent, escort to gate, wait at gate, hand off to incharge FA and then seated in the cabin. Disembarking follows the reverse process. Not very complicated is it? Obviously there was a breakdown in the communication process and I am certain WJ will be getting to the bottom of this as would any other carrier in the same situation.

Realitychex · Post by **Realitychex** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:05 am

Airlines don't charge parents even close to the cost of what parents really want, ie, one on one babysitting from check in to hand off.

Lets say it's a 5 hr transcon flight. Add an hour outbound and 20 mins on arrival.

If you have a 10 year old, you know what the going rate for 6 hours and 20 minutes of babysitting. It isn't $50.....

Having employees do it, with benefits, and having to staff accordingly is at least 2x as much as what is charged.

This isn't an excuse. This should never have happened, but charging $50 for UM's, as a standalone business case, makes no sense at all.

prop2jet wrote:Sometimes parents have no alternative but to send their children and not themselves. Perhaps 5 is a little on the young side however not much different from 7 or 8. The fact remains this is a service that has been provided for many many years and when properly handled should not even be a big deal.

Many many years ago this is how i travelled, as a UM. It was a pretty straightforward process: Parent arrives at airport a little on the early side, check in, hand off to ground agent, escort to gate, wait at gate, hand off to incharge FA and then seated in the cabin. Disembarking follows the reverse process. Not very complicated is it? Obviously there was a breakdown in the communication process and I am certain WJ will be getting to the bottom of this as would any other carrier in the same situation.

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:46 am

The point of weather or not parents should do it or not is moot.

WestJet accepted the responsibility, and according to the parents and one stranger, didn't uphold their part of the deal.

Flightlevels · Post by **Flightlevels** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:18 am

agreed inverted...

ivanhoe · Post by **ivanhoe** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:30 am

CD

Having a good time this morning spraying this little piece of non-news all over every internet site you can think of?

Every airline on the planet has this happen from time to time.

What I'd like to know , is who the hell was this guy who walked her off the airplane? Talk about brainless...

Legacy · Post by **Legacy** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:47 am

The fact that these parents want to sue pisses me off. I cant stand it when people want to get rich this way. Do they think they will "teach" westjet a lesson by doing so? Regardless, WJ will take this matter very seriously whether there is a lawsuit or not. If the couple wants to practice this way of getting rich quick they should move to the states and spill coffee on themselves through drive-through.

CD · Post by CD » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:54 am

ivanhoe wrote:Having a good time this morning spraying this little piece of non-news all over every internet site you can think of?

Oh, come on now... It was last night and only three sites...

ivanhoe wrote:Every airline on the planet has this happen from time to time.

What I'd like to know , is who the hell was this guy who walked her off the airplane? Talk about brainless...

Very true. There have also been incidents reported on US airlines of UMs being sexually assaulted while on board the aircraft. Also, something the parents haven't likely considered, is what happens if the aircraft diverts somewhere and the child has to spend the night in a hotel...

In fact, there are some airlines that no longer accept UMs for these reasons.

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:51 am

CD some airlines no longer accept UM's for various reasons.

CanJet back in their domestic days used to take UM's regardless of the flight.

After a couple of weather delays and cancellations, the only time UM's were accepted was on non-stop flights, IE those without a stopover, since there was a possibility now greater of that UM getting stuck, and/or sneak off the airplane at the wrong airport.

Huge Hammer · Post by **Huge Hammer** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:13 am

Very true. There have also been incidents reported on US airlines of UMs being sexually assaulted while on board the aircraft.

You have a link for this?

joe to go · Post by **joe to go** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:26 am

So the guy sitting next to the girl decides to take the little girl off the plane himself without talking to the flight attendents. He should be the one getting sued. He had also mentioned that the reason he took her off the plane was because no one else was coming over to do it. Well in my past experience, the UMs are usually the very last to get off, after all of the other passengers have deplaned. If the dude on the plane would have let the airline do their job, this may have not happened.

Just my 2 cents

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:28 am

It's the job of the agent on departure to hand over the UM info to the FA, the FA then to the agent on the ground on arrival... the agent on the ground should be actively looking for the UM to ensure they don't wander off on their own.

The fact this man was able to walk off with her without being questioned is quite disturbing, thankfully he was a kind hearted soul.

tonysoprano · Post by **tonysoprano** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:41 pm

Not only does the kid wear a huge tag, they also give paperwork to the FA in charge who then hands it and the kid over to the agent upon arrival. Were the cops ever allerted? Did they even know the kid was missing? I'd like to stick up for the employees, but in this case a huge bobo was made on the part of more than one person. They got off lucky. I'm sure it won't happen again.

Inverted2 · Post by **Inverted2** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:58 pm

What kind of disfunctional parents allow a 5 year old to travel across the country alone??

It shouldn't be the airlines job to be a babysitter. Mom or dad should have accompanied their daughter on the flight!!!

invertedattitude · Post by **invertedattitude** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:59 pm

Inverted2 wrote:What kind of disfunctional parents allow a 5 year old to travel across the country alone??

It shouldn't be the airlines job to be a babysitter. Mom or dad should have accompanied their daughter on the flight!!!

Some people can't afford that believe it or not.

As I said above, WestJet accepted the responsibility, end of story.

Mustard · Post by **Mustard** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:04 pm

I was led to believe that as "owners" they cared a lot more than that.
Perhaps they were busy swapping clothes with other passengers due to the weather on arrival.

CD · Post by CD » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:46 pm

Huge Hammer wrote:
Very true. There have also been incidents reported on US airlines of UMs being sexually assaulted while on board the aircraft.
You have a link for this?

Child allegedly molested during flight - August 8, 2001
Airline Sued After Girl Flying Solo Allegedly Molested - Oct. 12, 2007
13 Year Old Molested on United Airlines Flight - 5/10/2006
Airlines' children policy 'insane' - November 29, 2005
Know the Rules...When Your Child Is Flying Unaccompanied
Unaccompanied Minor News

tonysoprano · Post by **tonysoprano** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:49 pm

Inverted2.
I don't know where you've been all these years but UM (unaccompanied minor) service has been around a very long time. Parents who are divorced and live in separate cities send their kids back and forth all the time. There are many other reasons for the service. At any rate if the airline provides the service, they have to do it right. If I'm not mistaken AC has lost a dog or two in the past. That's not much different.

CD · Post by CD » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:56 pm

tonysoprano wrote:If I'm not mistaken AC has lost a dog or two in the past.

Oh, don't go there... Sila Fly Safe

complexintentions · Post by **complexintentions** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:57 am

f*ck what IS WestJet's policy on UM's? My girlfriend is having her two kids (9 and 11) travel from their fathers later this month on a WJ flight to be with her for Christmas...both she and the father were pretty nervous about having them travel on their own for the first time, but I assured them the industry has strict policies in place to look after UM's. Now this?

And yes, the debate about whether an airline should or shouldn't look after kids in transit it bs...if you offer something, do it right, or don't offer it. If my roster would allow me to get to them to accompany them myself on this flight I would. Should I be ponying up a couple grand for a last-minute ticket to have a responsible adult travel with them? I wasn't even concerned until I read this, having taken dozenss of UM's on my own flights over the years.

forbes · Post by **forbes** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:34 pm

Hey Complex,
Not to take away from this topic, or downplay it, because it is serious, but your comment "if you offer something. do it right, or don't offer it" could play into your airline. If I buy a full fair ticket i would expect to get on the flight I purchased the ticket for, not get to the gate only to be told you don't get on this flight because it is "oversold " Don't offer me this ticket/ service if I am not going to get on the flight. Again this is not to downplay this incident IMHO

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:22 pm

Hey forbes that’s a pretty silly comparison not worthy of further comment. Shit happens, If WJ doesn’t have the proper procedures in place, then get them in place, or don’t offer the service. By the way it’s a cost item, something WJ try’s to avoid however a lawsuit is over the top..

WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight

WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight

UM's

Re: WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight

Re: WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight

Re: WestJet allows stranger to walk 5-year-old girl off flight