"I just wanted to Fly"

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
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Montgomery County PA
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Display name:
Adam Zucker
Three kids under 16 from Jacksonville decided they wanted to fly one was 11 and I think the others were 14 so they used money they saved from babysitting and bought a SWA ticket to Nashville. I can really relate to the girls comment " I just wanted to Fly"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38689612/ns/travel-news/?GT1=43001

This story has so much in it. First as a parent yeah I get a bit concerned at how an airline lets some kids just buy a ticket and get on a plane. But a big part of me says "WAY TO GO" First obviosly is the desire the girl had to fly but What an Adventure!!! I'd probably freak a bit if my daughter called and said hey I'm in Nashville I need to get home but there is just something about this story that is just drenched with the sprit of adventure of my youth that I just don't see anymore. Its not planned Its not scripted its got some risk, its the stuff they make movies about involving a great adventure with some best friends. Am I wrong for thinking " Way to Go"? The kids used their own money that they earned, had an adventure, were creative as hell and will remember this for the rest of their lives. I don't know I am a bit torn but am actually happy for the kids.

Of course the entire TSA security element of the video speaks for itself.
 
I dumped out after a few seconds of the commercial. Not worth waiting through the garbage to see the story.
 
wsuffa said:
I dumped out after a few seconds of the commercial. Not worth waiting through the garbage to see the story.
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Bill the commercial last about 10 seconds and the text is below the video box. Just scroll down.
 
Why did SWA refund the money? That perplexes me.
 
AdamZ said:
Bill the commercial last about 10 seconds and the text is below the video box. Just scroll down.
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On mine, the commercial indicated :60. Not worth it. I did read the text.
 
SkyHog said:
Why did SWA refund the money? That perplexes me.
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Good question; the airlines are not responsible for checking ID; that's duty resides with the exceptionally-competent gummint minions.
 
I'd be a tad upset if my Allison or Isabella was that age and did something like that,... my wife would be a mess,.... and once we calmed down I'd have to call the flight school and see if I could get a block rate to go get her :thumbsup:
 
If they don't have ID, how does TSA know they're really under 18?

It's easy for us to applaud these kids for the ambition to pursue their dreams, but as an attorney, Adam, I'm sure you realize that transporting minor children across state lines without their parents' consent is fraught with legal peril for the transporter who lacks "in loco parentis" authority. Can you imagine what the parents would have done to SWA if anything had happened those kids? If I were SWA, I'd be writing a few new self-protective rules on this even if FAA/TSA don't.
 
Ron Levy said:
If they don't have ID, how does TSA know they're really under 18?

It's easy for us to applaud these kids for the ambition to pursue their dreams, but as an attorney, Adam, I'm sure you realize that transporting minor children across state lines without their parents' consent is fraught with legal peril for the transporter who lacks "in loco parentis" authority. Can you imagine what the parents would have done to SWA if anything had happened those kids? If I were SWA, I'd be writing a few new self-protective rules on this even if FAA/TSA don't.
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No dobut Ron. And I'm not applauding SWA or the Cab driver and if I knew these kids and knew of their planes I am sure I'd put a stop to it, call their folks etc. but something about it just struck a chord. My initial way to go statement was not intended to mean that the kids should get an " atta boy " or "atta girl" infact just the opposite its the kids job to push the envelope its the parents job to reign em in and address the serious issues involved. But there really is a bit of a sense of adventure here. It just needs to be tempered a bit.
 
AdamZ said:
No dobut Ron. And I'm not applauding SWA or the Cab driver and if I knew these kids and knew of their planes I am sure I'd put a stop to it, call their folks etc. but something about it just struck a chord. My initial way to go statement was not intended to mean that the kids should get an " atta boy " or "atta girl" infact just the opposite its the kids job to push the envelope its the parents job to reign em in and address the serious issues involved. But there really is a bit of a sense of adventure here. It just needs to be tempered a bit.
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As the father of a son who in his mid-late teens really needed that "reining in," I'm with you all the way. If I were talking to those parents, I'd be asking whether they knew of their kids' dreams, and if so, why they didn't do something to channel their energies positively, say, via Air Explorers or CAP Cadets, or Young Eagles, i.e., where there was proper adult supervision and parental awareness/consent.
 
Ron Levy said:
As the father of a son who in his mid-late teens really needed that "reining in," I'm with you all the way. If I were talking to those parents, I'd be asking whether they knew of their kids' dreams, and if so, why they didn't do something to channel their energies positively, say, via Air Explorers or CAP Cadets, or Young Eagles, i.e., where there was proper adult supervision and parental awareness/consent.
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Give 'em a copy of this?

http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Passag...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281734244&sr=8-1

:cornut:
 
TSA doesn't require ID.
SWA policy allows children 12 and up to fly unaccompanied (and those under 12 to be accompanied by someone over 12).

So no rules were broken except by the kids leaving home and not telling their parents.

That said, if I was a ticket agent and three kids came up to buy tickets with cash on the day of the flight - I'd ask where their parents were. But for all I know the agent did so and the kids gave her/him some BS.
 
Ron Levy said:
I'll bet SWA is thinking about adding some parental permission slip to that rule.
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If nothing else SWA could not allow minors to purchase tickets. So that kids have to show up with the internet printed boarding passes that were paid for by an adult, or they have to show up with an adult who purchases the ticket.
 
11 is slightly young, but 14? What's the problem here?

I flew from Europe to Canada by myself and went skiing for a week at 15. I don't think 14 is too young for a short plane ride....

I don't even understand why people would be concerned about this.

-Felix
 
I think that story is pretty funny. I've done similar things myself as an older teenager. My father was an airline pilot, and in the 1980s the passes were blank and the destination would be handwritten in. So a blank pass was a free ride to anywhere, and I had a passport. One weekend I was supposed to be at a friend's house, but we went to Amsterdam instead. It was great fun, but I didn't realize that the tickets would come back on my Dad's work stuff, so my parents found out later. My Mom was livid, my Dad thought it was hilarious. I love to travel, I think that should be instilled in children at a young age.
 
sba55 said:
11 is slightly young, but 14? What's the problem here?
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Many legal issues for the carrier, starting with the fact that generally speaking, nobody that age can enter a legally binding contract, leaving the carrier open to all the things from which the normal ticket contract protects them should the child be injured in any way. There are also the issues of aiding/abetting a "runway child," and there's no evidence the carrier did not know they weren't runaways.

As for the usual "unaccompanied minor" journeys, the normal air carrier procedure is to give the delivering parent (or other person acting in loco parentis) a receipt and obtain a signature from the receiving parent. They had neither in this case. Even if the 14-y/o's were OK for unaccompanied/unsigned travel, the 11-y/o needed paperwork, and normally the person signing must be over 18, so the 14's couldn't fill that role for the 11.

All in all, methinks someone at SWA dropped the ball on this, and there will be some internal investigation and review to prevent a recurrence.
 
Al well & good - I agree that SWA will prob'ly do some policy revisions. But I think some people are reading (projecting?) a bit much into the teeny-bopper quote of "I just wanted to fly". Despite what we might hope, it's just as likely that the notion they were pursuing was not one of flight, but of adventure away from home.
In one account, they were described as heading for Dollywood, a few hundred miles from Nashville, where they went on Southwest. Ooops, wrong town, and with $40 in hand. Not the sort of cross-country planning you'd be proud of.
But ya gotta love the impetuous adventure of youth: "hey let's run down this canyon and see where it goes!" At that age, I was exploring creek-beds and riding my bike up Braddock Mountain so we could coast down at 30 mph. But by 15 I had ridden an airliner to Nova Scotia unaccomplanied. Hey, it was 1959 - people were not so nervous. It was with my parents' permission, though.
 
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